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Astrophysics

Observations from HST and the Kepler space telescope have provided evidence for the first moon discovered orbiting a planet outside of our solar system. The discovery was announced on 03 October 2018. The moon may be the size of Neptune, orbiting a planet several times the mass of Jupiter with the designation Kepler-1625b. More...

Heliophysics

The Voyager 2 became the second spacecraft (the first was Voyager 1) to escape the heliosphere and enter insterstellar space. More...

The Parker Solar Probe made its first perihelion pass on 05 November 2018, coming within 25 million km of the Sun. The probe will orbit the Sun over the course of the next seven years, ultimately coming closer than 7 million km from the Sun's surface.

Lunar and Planetary Science

The NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission launched successfully on 30 July at 11:50 UT (7:50 a.m. EDT). It is targeted to make a landing in Jezero crater on 18 February 2021. The mission also carries a small rotorcraft named Ingenuity.

The Chinese Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter and lander/rover launched on 23 July at 04:41 UT from Wenchang Space Launch Center. It will go into Mars orbit in February 2021, and the lander and rover will touch down in Utopia Planitia 2-3 months later.

The United Arab Emirates Hope Mars mission launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on 19 Julyat 21:58:14 UT (1:58 a.m. 20 July UAE time). It will arrive at Mars in February 2021.