On 28 September, ESA’s Juice mission reached another important Jupiter-bound milestone with its penultimate gravity assist manoeuvre: a flyby of Earth. This encounter, however, was not only an essential step on the road to Jupiter, but an opportunity to rehearse the observations and operations that will define Juice’s exploration of the Jovian system.
Data from ESA’s exoplanet mission Cheops has led to the surprising revelation that an ultra-hot exoplanet that orbits its host star in less than a day is covered by reflective clouds of metal, making it the shiniest exoplanet ever found.
The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft is speeding towards its historic first close pass of the Sun. On 14 March, the spacecraft will pass the orbit of Mercury, the scorched inner planet of our Solar System, and on 26 March it will reach closest approach to the Sun.