From solar sail-powered spacecraft, to laser communications, to asteroid detection systems, there is no shortage of Australian ideas and expertise to help NASA explore the Moon and Mars.
Articles on Planetary exploration
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Musk’s know-how cannot be dismissed but there are significant challenges standing between him and his dream of colonising Mars.
A true plan for the colonisation of Mars should include both the social and technical feasibility of living there. Unfortunately, Musk left that bit out.
What’s the best way to find out how people will cope with the journey to Mars and life on another planet? Lock a test crew up for a year in a simulation right here on Earth.
The existence of a “Planet X” in the outer solar system was the subject of great speculation, and was finally settled with the discovery of Pluto in 1930.
Photos from the spacecraft’s close approach are dazzling. They and other data from the mission will fill in some of the blanks about Pluto and provide a snapshot of the infant solar system.
What can the data from New Horizons tell us about the dwarf planet’s five moons?
Lack of impact craters intrigues space experts who say it suggests the dwarf planet may be geologically active.
Pluto is one of the most enigmatic objects in our solar system, and its secrets are soon to be uncovered by the New Horizons probe.
NASA has now formally started to pack its bags for the next big discovery mission, this time heading to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Last month NASA announced the instruments that will fly on this trip and…
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer, Murdoch University
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Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University
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Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
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Research Scholar, Academia Sinica
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Professor of Planetary Geosciences, The Open University
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Reader in Planetary Science, UCL
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Senior Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Harvard University
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Senior Instrument Scientist, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
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Kevin Orrman-Rossiter is a Friend of The Conversation.
Sterrenkenner, History & Philosophy of Science, The University of Melbourne
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Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland
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Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Science Studies, Lancaster University
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Andrew Dempster is a Friend of The Conversation.
Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW