Solar System
The Sun and objects orbiting it
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We include updates on Sailor Moon, Thanos, Oort cloud, Kuiper belt, Heliosphere, Solstice, Planet Nine, Vampire Hunter D, Krrish 3, Asteroid belt, Planets in astrology, Heliocentrism, Avenue 5, Destiny 2, The Book of the New Sun, The Wandering Earth ... and more.
| 2025 | Conclusion of the ten-year 'Light and Darkness Saga' that began with the first Destiny game in 2014. |
| May 2025 |
Sample-return mission
CNSA (China National Space Administration) launched the Tianwen-2 mission to return samples from the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa
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| May 29 2025 |
Sample-return mission
China's Tianwen-2 mission launched to attempt a sample-return mission from asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, expected to return in 2027.
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| May 29 2025 |
Solar System exploration
China launches Tianwen-2 mission for asteroid study and sample return.
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| May 8 2025 |
Exploration of Io
PJ72 mission flyby of Io
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| April 20 2025 |
Solar System probes
NASA's Lucy spacecraft performs a flyby of main-belt asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson en route to Jupiter Trojans
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| 2025 | Planned release of The Edge of Fate, beginning the next saga, scheduled for summer. |
| 2025 | Bungie announces it will continue to support Destiny 2 indefinitely following the announcement of the Marathon reboot. |
| 2025 |
Proposed Solar System probes
China proposed a Venus atmospheric sample return mission, aiming to collect and return atmospheric samples from Venus by 2033.
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| 2025 |
Proposed Solar System probes
China proposed a Probe to Neptune and Triton mission, targeting exploration of Neptune and its moon Triton, with a planned launch by 2039.
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| 2025 |
Proposed Solar System probes
China proposed a Mars Research Station for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), planned for establishment by 2038.
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| 2025 |
Heliophysics missions
NASA's EZIE mission is planned for launch in this year, focusing on studying electric currents in Earth's atmosphere related to geomagnetic activities.
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| 2025 |
Exploration of Mars
EscaPADE, a twin-spacecraft NASA Mars orbiter mission by the University of California, Berkeley, is scheduled to launch in Q2. The mission will study Mars' magnetosphere and atmospheric escape processes using two orbiters, originally planned for 2022 but now set to launch on a New Glenn rocket.
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| March 2025 |
Exploration of Mars
Additional planned Mars flyby for the Europa Clipper mission during March 2025.
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| 2025 |
Sample-return mission
CNSA plans to launch Tianwen-2, a sample-return mission targeting asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa.
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| 2025 |
Proposed Solar System probes
United States plans to launch EscaPADE, a mission involving two Mars orbiters
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| March 2 2025 |
Exploration of the Moon
Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed on the Moon at 08:34 UTC.
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| March 1 2025 |
Exploration of Mars
NASA Europa Clipper mission performed a Mars flyby as part of a gravitational slingshot maneuver to slow and redirect the spacecraft en route to Jupiter and Europa.
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| March 1 2025 |
Exploration of Mars
NASA Europa Clipper, NASA Psyche space probe, and ESA Hera missions conducted a gravitational slingshot flyby of Mars to adjust their trajectory and spacecraft velocity.
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| February 27 2025 |
Solar System probes
AstroForge launches Brokkr-2 mission to perform a near-Earth asteroid flyby, which ultimately fails due to communication and tumbling issues
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| 2025 |
Planet Nine
The orbit estimation for Planet Nine was further updated to an even more precise semimajor axis measurement, continuing the ongoing refinement of its theoretical orbital parameters.
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| 2025 |
Planet Nine
Amir Siraj and colleagues published simulations proposing a revised mass estimate for Planet Nine at 4.4 ± 1.1 times that of Earth, different from previous calculations.
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| 2025 |
Planet Nine
Amir Siraj, Christopher F. Chyba, and Scott Tremaine conducted a study using 300 simulations in the Rebound program with an expanded sample of 51 ETNOs, proposing new orbital characteristics for Planet Nine: semi-major axis of 290 ± 30 AU, eccentricity of 0.29 ± 0.13, and an inclination of approximately 6°.
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| February 18 2025 |
Solar System probes
Solar Orbiter performs gravity assist flyby en route to inclined heliocentric orbit
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| January 15 2025 |
Exploration of the Moon
Blue Ghost Mission 1, a robotic Moon landing mission by Firefly Aerospace, was launched.
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| January 15 2025 |
Active Solar System probes
Hakuto-R Mission 2 Resilience lander and Tenacious rover launched for a lunar far-side landing demonstration mission.
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| January 8 2025 |
Solar System probes
BepiColombo spacecraft performs flyby of Mercury with a minimum distance of 295 km
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| 2024 |
Sample-return mission
China's Chang'e 6 mission planned for a Moon sample-return mission.
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| 2024 |
Sample-return mission
Chang'e 6 mission successfully returned lunar samples.
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| 2024 |
Exploration of the Moon
ESA plans to introduce the Coordinated Lunar Time standard, a new time zone accounting for the Moon's different gravity and motion where time passes 56 microseconds faster per 24-hour period compared to Earth.
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| 2024 |
Solar eclipses in fiction
U.S. dark metal band Axioma recorded a live performance and video during a total solar eclipse on the shores of Lake Erie in Lorain, Ohio.
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| 2024 |
Solar System objects by greatest aphelion
Discovery of A/2024 D1, a minor planet with an aphelion of 3,875.88 AU and an absolute magnitude of 11.45.
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| 2024 |
Meteorite fall
The Charlottetown meteorite fall was the first known meteorite fall recorded with video and audio. The sound of the meteorite shattering upon impact was described as similar to breaking ice.
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| 2024 |
Observations and explorations of Venus
Rocket Lab, in collaboration with MIT, hopes to launch the first private Venus mission, Venus Life Finder, with a lightweight atmospheric probe to search for signs of life.
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| 2024 |
Orrery
LEGO Group commercially produces an orrery model featuring the Sun, Earth, and Moon, assembled exclusively from LEGO elements and reproducing solar and lunar orbits.
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| 2024 | The film remains in the top 50 highest-grossing Indian films, demonstrating its long-lasting popularity and cultural impact over a decade after its initial release. |
| 2024 |
Exploration of Mars
Originally planned date for additional uncrewed and first two crewed Starship missions to Mars (not achieved).
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| 2024 |
Exploration of Mars
Ingenuity helicopter's mission ended after scouting sites for the Perseverance rover.
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| 2024 |
Solar System model
Solar System Stroll in Bratislava, Slovakia began construction; Voyage National Program expanded to Troy, New York
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| 2024 |
Proposed Solar System probes
NASA suspended the VIPER lunar rover mission due to cost increases, launch date delays, and potential future cost growth risks. Despite suspension, VIPER passed all pre-launch tests in October 2024 and NASA expressed openness to industry interest in using the rover system at no cost to the government.
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| 2024 |
Proposed Solar System probes
ESA proposed the Ramses asteroid orbiter mission.
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| 2024 |
Proposed Solar System probes
Roscosmos proposed the Luna 28 lunar sample return mission.
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| 2024 |
Planet Nine
Brown and Batygin completed a simulation demonstrating how the hypothetical Planet Nine would modify the orbits of extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNOs), increasing their eccentricities over time and potentially causing them to cross Neptune's orbit.
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| December 1 2024 |
Solar System probes
BepiColombo spacecraft conducts flyby of Mercury at a minimum distance of 37,626 km
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| November 2024 |
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
Yukito Kishiro announces on his personal blog that Mars Chronicle will end with chapter 56 in volume 11, and a new series with a new title will continue the story.
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| November 25 2024 |
Exploration of Io
PJ67 mission flyby of Io
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| November 6 2024 |
Solar System probes
Parker Solar Probe performs gravity assist flyby en route to solar corona
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Timeline of Solar System exploration, Orrery, List of Solar System probes, List of active Solar System probes, Solar irradiance, List of heliophysics missions, Krrish 3, Sample-return mission, Exploration of Mars, Exploration of the Moon, Meteorite fall, Solar eclipses in fiction, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, Destiny 2, Observations and explorations of Venus, Planet Nine, Solar System model, Exploration of Io, List of Solar System objects by greatest aphelion & List of proposed Solar System probes, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.