When NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by the dwarf planet Pluto one year ago, the mission set a number of records. Beyond its own mission of discovery, the robotic probe also served as the delivery vehicle for a small relic that set a record of its own
The new platform of the Republican Party includes language supporting the use of public-private partnerships to develop space capabilities, an approach that has been used by administrations of both major political parties.
The European Space Agency’s penchant for a major lunar exploration program that would precede a full-scale exploration of Mars was fully in evidence on July 12 with the signing of a contract to put an ESA drill on Russia’s Luna-Resurs lunar lander.