To the moon, asteroids and beyond, robotic explorers racked up the mileage in 2023. Here’s the latest status of space missions that made headlines this year.
Update: There’s not much progress to report yet; it will take about eight years for the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or Juice, to reach its destination. But once there, the spacecraft will fly by the Jovian moons Callisto, Europe and Ganymede numerous times before settling into orbit around Ganymede. Closely scrutinizing these moons will help verify whether they host liquid oceans beneath their icy outer shells and gauge whether these underground seas could host life.
July 1: The ESA launched the Euclid space telescope.
Update: Euclid’s aim is to create a 3-D map of the universe to help astronomers better understand dark matter, the mysterious substance that accounts for most matter in the universe, and dark energy, the unknown force that’s accelerating the universe’s expansion. In November, the telescope showed off what it’s capable of when it sent back its first full-color images, dazzling beauty shots of far-off galaxies.
2023-12-20 07:00:00
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