In April 2023, the European Space Agency will launch the Juice program, which will aim to explore Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, three of Jupiter’s moons, in 2031. These moons are believed to hide oceans under a layer of ice, and would have the best conditions in the solar system to support life. Juice will be the first satellite to orbit another planet’s moon.
artists in the moon
The dearMoon project, launched by billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, is to take nine artists with no training or experience as astronauts around the Moon. The success or failure of this mission could be crucial for the future of space tourism. Launching the mission, however, depends on SpaceX’s Starship, which is still untested. The trip is expected to take six days.
Traces of the birth of the solar system
OSIRIS-REx will return to Earth on September 27, with fragments from the asteroid Bennu. Experts believe that the asteroid dates from the very beginning of the formation of the solar system, and could have been in contact with water in liquid form. The satellite, and its samples totaling over a kilo, is expected to make a soft landing in the Utah desert on September 24, 2023.