Humans have watched and tracked the planets for thousands of years but only recently have we been able to take a close look at them using robotic spacecraft. Our Solar System contains a range of very different worlds, from gas giants to icy rocks. By studying these in detail and comparing them to Earth, we can work out how the planets formed, how life might have arisen on Earth and what might be the future for our planet.
We are currently experiencing one of the busiest times in the history of planetary exploration. Below is a brief outline of the many missions happening and planned for the future.
Cassini Huygens is an international mission to study Saturn and its largest moon, Titan. NASA’s Cassini orbiter is investigating Saturn’s atmosphere, magnetic field, rings and icy moons. On 15 January 2005, the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe will descend through Titan’s opaque atmosphere and reveal what lies beneath. For more information visit www.uk2planets.org.uk/m_cassini.
Genesis is the first mission to bring samples of the Solar Wind back to Earth for analysis. The Solar Wind is a stream of electrically charged particles ejected into space from the outer layers of the Sun. The Genesis return capsule lands on 8 September 2004. For more information visit www.uk2planets.org.uk/m_genesis.
The search for life in the Solar System is one of the most exciting areas of research. Mars Express has recently discovered traces of methane in the Martian atmosphere, which could indicate the presence of life on the Red Planet, and is finding out why Mars turned from a warm and wet planet into a cold and dry one.
Mars Express is the European Space Agency’s first mission to another planet. Since going into orbit in December 2003, Mars Express has been making a detailed survey of Mars from the top of the atmosphere to beneath the surface. Mars Express carried the British-built lander, Beagle 2, which was lost on landing. For more information visit www.uk2planets.org.uk/m_mars.
Rosetta is the first mission to attempt to land on a comet. Launched in March 2004, it has a ten-year journey to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. On arrival, Rosetta will go into orbit around the comet’s nucleus and drop a lander, called Philae, onto its surface. For more information visit www.uk2planets.org.uk/m_rosetta
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