6 Incredible Space Exploration Missions Going on Right Now

The same curiosity that drove us to spread across our planet now drives us to reach out towards the stars.

These 6 incredible missions are teaching us more about our neighboring planets and sun while pushing our engineering capabilities to the limit.

1. Chang’e 4 — Lunar Lander and Rover

Objectives

The Chang’e 4 lander and rover are part of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program which aims to develop the required technologies in preparation for crewed missions to the moon in the 2030's.

Mission Updates

The current lander and rover are part of phase 2 of the program and demonstrated the ability to successfully land and navigate on the lunar surface.

Landing took place on January 3rd 2019 in the Von Kármán crater being the first to make a soft landing on the far side of the moon. A narrated video of the landing can be seen here.

The rover and lander continue to collect data from the lunar surface.

Capabilities

The lander includes:

1. The Terrain Camera (TCAM) used to capture panoramic shots such as the one at the top of the section.
2. A Low Frequency Spectrometer (LFS) was added to benefit from the radio frequency shielding from earths emissions offered by being on the far side of the moon. This device will be used to, for example, gather data on solar emissions.
3. The Lunar Lander Neutrons and Dosimetry (LND) is a neutron dosimeter used to measure radiation in preparation for future manned missions.
4. A 3Kg biosphere containing a selection of organisms that should produce a self sustaining environment. Except for gravity and radiation levels, all other environment properties are controllable to match with those of earth.

The rover includes:

1. A stereo panoramic camera on a mast to record images from around the rover.
2. A ground penetrating radar capable to analyze subsurface features.
3. A Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) capable of analyzing the chemical composition of surface materials and trace gasses.
4. An energetic neutral atom analyzer to assess the interaction of the solar wind with…