compiled by Arlene & David Kaplan

Insight mission -BBC

InSight Diary: Mars mission ready to rumble
The InSight mission will investigate the interior structure and composition of Mars. Prof Tom Pike from Imperial College London is part of the science team on the US-led InSight mission to Mars. His group has supplied seismometers that will enable the Nasa lander to detect “Marsquakes”, which should reveal…more

Many universes -BBC

Prof Stephen Hawking’s final paper resolves universe paradox
Prof Stephen Hawking’s final research paper suggests that our Universe may be one of many similar to our own. The theory resolves a cosmic paradox of the late physicist’s own making. It also points a way forward…more

2001: A Space Odyssey – NYT

‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Is Still the ‘Ultimate Trip’
In honor of its 50th anniversary it is being rereleased at the Cannes Film Festival. Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece encourages us to reflect again on where we’re coming from and where we’re going…more

The Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) – SpaceX

SpaceX flies ‘lessons learned’ rocket
The California rocket company SpaceX has conducted what is arguably its most important launch to date. Flying out of Florida, the firm’s Falcon-9 vehicle lifted a standard telecommunications satellite for Bangladesh into orbit. But the booster incorporated everything SpaceX has so far learnt …more

Calendar of astronomy/space events
Sync your calendar with the solar system…more

A view of the Milky Way and neighboring galaxies, containing more than a billion stars, released by the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission.CreditESA/Gaia/DPAC

Gaia’s Map of 1.3 Billion Stars Makes for a Milky Way in a Bottle
Call it a galaxy in a bottle….more

Illustraion: 2004 EW95 orbits four billion kilometres from Earth

Lonely asteroid tells Solar System story
Researchers have observed the first object of its kind – a carbon-rich asteroid in the Kuiper Belt…more

Nasa provided this computer-generated image of the helicopter’s design

Nasa will send helicopter to Mars to test other worldly flight
Nasa is sending a helicopter to Mars, in the first test of a heavier-than-air aircraft on another planet…more

Illustraion: 2004 EW95 orbits four billion kilometres from Earth

Lonely asteroid tells Solar System story
Researchers have observed the first object of its kind – a carbon-rich asteroid in the Kuiper Belt…more

MACS1149-JD1 was originally found by Hubble, but was analysed using the VLT and Alma
The team is not quite finished

Scientists detect oxygen legacy of first stars
They observed it in a galaxy of stars that existed just 500 million years after the Big Bang…more

In pictures: Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017
The winning images from this year’s competition have now been announced, with Artem Mironov’s vibrant clouds of dust and gas in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex scooping first place…more

An illustration of a grey/white asteroid on a starfield

‘Permanent’ interstellar visitor found
An asteroid in Jupiter’s orbit may have come from outside our Solar System, according to a new study…more

The satellites were assembled in Europe by Airbus

Grace mission launches to weigh Earth’s water
The Grace satellites are replacing a pair of highly successful spacecraft that stopped working last year…more

Charles Duke is the youngest person to have walked on the moon

Moon walking: Ex-Nasa astronauts describe lunar experience
The last US mission to the Moon, Apollo 17, blasted off shortly before midnight on 7 December 1972. Its crew spent three days on the lunar surface, collecting samples and conducting experiments…more