by Jonathan Nally | Oct 31, 2021 | News, Planets, Space missions
ABOVE: The Dawn spacecraft’s ion engine allowed for slow but steady acceleration in order to reach the asteroid belt. Image credit: NASA/JPL. By David Ellyard WE’VE KNOWN OF THE EXISTENCE of ‘minor planets’ or asteroids in the Solar System since the start of the 19th...
by Jonathan Nally | Oct 3, 2021 | News, Planets, Space missions
THE BEPICOLOMBO SPACECRAFT HAS SUCCESSFULLY conducted its first trajectory-changing flyby of Mercury, three years after launch and almost four years prior to reaching its final orbit around the innermost planet. During the flyby on October 1 UTC (October 2, Australian...
by Jonathan Nally | Mar 3, 2021 | News, Space missions
ABOVE: Part of Perseverance’s new high-definition panoramic image of its landing site on Mars. NASA has released a new high-definition panoramic image from the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, as the wheeled craft prepares to start exploring its new home. Perseverance...
by Jonathan Nally | Aug 21, 2020 | Astronomy, News, Space missions
Above: Artist’s impression of Hayabusa2 nearing Earth in December 2020. Image ©Akihiro Ikeshita. AUSTRALIA HAS GIVEN the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) official approval to land the sample-return module of its Hayabusa2 spacecraft on Australian soil in...
by Jonathan Nally | Jul 31, 2020 | Astronomy, Planets, Space missions
NASA’S LATEST AND MOST AMBITIOUS MISSION to Mars was successfully launched in the early hours of Friday, July 31 (Sydney time), ascending on an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Carrying a rover called...
by Jonathan Nally | Jul 15, 2020 | Features, News, Space missions
ABOVE: An artist’s impression of Hayabusa2 returning to Earth in December 2020. Courtesy JAXA. THE LANDING DATE FOR THE HAYABUSA2 MISSION’S sample-return capsule has been announced. The craft will touch down within the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia on...
