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Daring gravity assist maneuvers in space
Ingenious maneuvers by missions to go over the Sun, chase a comet and sail using the Sun.
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By Jatan Mehta | Dives into lunar exploration, space technology, Indian space, planetary science, and more.
Talks
My article on Mangalyaan was rejected 8 times but I published it anyway
This is the behind the scenes story of my article on missing science from India’s Mars orbiter. September 24, 2020 marked the six-year anniversary of India’s Mangalyaan spacecraft entering Mars orbit. Like every year, I expected Indian media outlets to publish articles about the mission’s success. After
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What are permanently shadowed regions on the Moon?
And why explore them.
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Are the Universe's smallest stars promising places for life?
When all sun-like stars die in few tens of billion years, planets orbiting red dwarf stars might be the only options for life to take root on.
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Chang’e 5 landing site: Near the volcanic complex of Rümker
China has returned Moon samples from a sweet scientific spot for their first sample return mission.
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India’s Shukrayaan orbiter to study Venus for over four years, launches in 2024
Shukrayaan will be the first mission to map Venus’ subsurface.
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Why explore Neptune
This azure ice giant challenges our understanding of how planets form and offers a potentially habitable moon.
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What SOFIA’s discovery of water on the Moon is, and isn’t
NASA and the Germany space agency’s airborne SOFIA telescope has detected water on the Moon’s surface. There are many misconceptions floating around this discovery so I’d like to clarify the nature of the findings and what it means for lunar science and exploration. Different from Chandrayaan 1
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Japan wants to sample Mars’ moon Phobos with its MMX mission
This is the first time the martian moons will be fully mapped, and samples brought to Earth from the martian system.
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Debate: Mangalyaan’s low science output still reflects on ISRO
Only part of the missing science from ISRO’s highly held Mars mission may be due to inadequacy of academic institutions in India.
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The giant leap for humanity was not stepping on the Moon but getting to Earth orbit
The launch of Sputnik in 1957 marked not just the advent of the Space Age but had an even deeper significance.
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Why explore asteroids, comets, and other small worlds
They're cosmic time capsules that provide a peek at our origin story.