Scientific opinion on space and high technologies

The Solar Orbiter passed at a distance of about 7.5 thousand kilometers from the dense layers of the Venusian atmosphere. During the rendezvous, part of the probe's scientific instruments worked and collected scientific data on the electromagnetic fields of Venus, as well as the parameters of the plasma around it

The beginning of the year was marked by a whole series of scientific publications based on the results of the work of the ExoMars international space mission, in which Russia is also taking part. These articles contain a large amount of new data on the structure of the gas envelope of the Red Planet. Some of them do not so much answer the questions already posed about the atmosphere of Mars as describe new mysteries that require close study

The end of the 2010s was marked by the explosive growth of orbital groupings from different countries. And it's not just about Elon Musk's Starlink - the same China brings out three dozen satellites a year. And the more equipment in the near-earth space, the more acute the problem of debris becomes. And ESA decided to once again remind everyone of this extremely important topic

Japanese space agency JAXA said the new Hitomi Space X-ray Telescope (ASTRO-H) was lost due to an orientation system malfunction and a programming error

The start of the ExoMars mission to explore the Red Planet was postponed to 2022, explaining this by the unfavorable "epidemiological situation" in Europe, that is, the spread of coronavirus disease and the imposed restrictions on air traffic with some countries. Naked Science has figured out the real reason for the launch postponement. Experts are sure that the problems are connected precisely with the failed tests of the European-made parachute system

The automatic research apparatus Solar Orbiter did not have time to start the main program of its mission, but has already become famous for intriguing discoveries. Last year, his instruments recorded a new type of solar flare - relatively small "bonfires". Now scientists have proposed a mechanism for their formation, which at the same time clarifies one of the main mysteries of the Sun - the incredibly high temperature of the corona

European Space Agency ESA has announced a shortlist of projects for its next mid-range space mission. Three of the 27 applications were selected: projects for the study of exoplanet atmospheres; quasars, black holes and other high-energy objects; the influence of the solar wind on neighboring planets. One of these missions will soon receive € 450 million in funding and will fly in 2025

On March 26, the Japanese aerospace agency JAXA lost contact with the newly launched Hitomi X-ray telescope (ASTRO-H). It may have exploded and fell to pieces

In a new study, scientists analyzed the amount of radiation available to support photosynthesis that plants on known exoplanets located in habitable zones can receive. The results are disappointing for those hoping for the discovery of extraterrestrial life: the chances of discovering terrestrial biospheres have drastically decreased

This fall, the largest man-made space telescope, the JWST, will embark on a journey. He will not only replace the rapidly aging Hubble at his "post", but will also significantly expand the boundaries of our understanding of the Universe. American astronomers have used simulations to show how quickly this scientific instrument can detect biosignatures in the atmospheres of planets around other stars

Carbon-13 on exoplanet TYC 8998-760-1 b showed that it formed at a huge distance from its star - outside the snow line of carbon monoxide

To obtain exotic forms of carbon, scientists squeezed the diamond with record force, but it retained its structure even at the maximum pressure that was achieved

The larger the star, the normally larger the average radius of its planets. Until recently, the reasons for this were not entirely clear. Now astronomers have shown that the situation cannot be explained only by the fact that large stars have more massive planets: as it turned out, a completely different factor plays an important role

The Jace Webb Space Telescope, also known as JWST or NASA's premier long-term construction, is due to travel to its site at the end of the year. The launch vehicle that will launch it into space recently passed an important checkpoint - the prelaunch analysis of the mission. But the device itself turned out to be involved in an old scandal associated with the attitude of the person in whose honor the device is named, towards representatives of the LGBT community

The core of WASP-107b turned out to be so light that astronomers had to find a new explanation for how the planet managed to gain and hold its rarefied gas envelope

The telescope directly took pictures of a possible planet in the "habitable zone" of one of the nearest stars - the first in the Alpha Centauri system

Ten-year observations of one of the closest and brightest stars in the sky have shown that behind the surrounding disk of dust there may be a large planet, incandescent to almost 3000 ° С

A 10 billion-year-old star discovered a system of three planets of unusually low metallicity

The planet LTT 9779b is so close to its star that it makes a complete revolution in less than a day and heats up to incredibly high temperatures: nevertheless, its solid core somehow retained its gaseous atmosphere

A huge dark spot in the atmosphere of Neptune - a storm first noticed a couple of years ago - and does not think to dissipate: contrary to the expectations of scientists, it threw out a new smaller spot and changed direction, stabilizing again