Space probes

Artistic concept of some multiple-planet systems found thanks to the Kepler Space Telescope (Image NASA)

2

Yesterday NASA announced a truly sensational discovery because 715 new exoplanets were found. These are the results of a new type of analysis performed on the data collected during the first two years of observations by the Kepler space telescope. This new method allowed to confirm that 305 stars have a multiple-planet system. So far, almost 1,000 planets were confirmed therefore confirming other 715 at once is a huge leap forward in the search for exoplanets.

Artistic concept of the Solar Orbiter space probe during its mission (Image ESA/AOES)

1

Burnt char bone, also known by other names such as bone black, a black pigment already used more than 30,000 years ago in cave paintings will be used to coat the heat shield of the Solar Orbiter (SOLO) space probe. It’s an ESA mission in collaboration with NASA whose launch is scheduled for early 2017. Its purpose is to study the Sun from a relatively close distance of about 42 million km (about 26 million miles).

1

In recent days the Chinese lunar rover Yutu, which means Jade Rabbit, had been given up for dead after what had been defined a mechanical abnormality announced on January 25, 2014. A part of Yutu was protected from the cold of the lunar night by the solar panels that were folded at the end of the day on the rover as protection. At the end of January this operation failed, leaving it exposed to the cold, but in the last hours it gave new signs of life.

The Mars Rover Opportunity's route on Mars (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NMMNHS)

0

At 5:05 UTC on January 25, 2004, the Mars Rover Opportunity landed on Mars. Therefore, it’s been 10 Earth years since this extraordinary robot started its 3-month mission. Two years ago, when I wrote an article celebrating the eighth anniversary of its landing, Opportunity was already the holder of the record for longevity for missions one the surface of Mars, today it’s also the robot that holds the record for the distance traveled on the surface of another world with 38.7 km (24 miles), more than the 37 km (23 miles) traveled by the Soviet Lunokhod 2 robot on the Moon.