¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ

space science

The physicist trying to build humanity's lunar future with moon dirt

Space

The physicist trying to build humanity's lunar future with moon dirt

When it comes to sending humans back to the moon, knowing how to work with the regolith that coats the ground will be make-or-break. Phil Metzger is studying how to mitigate its dangers and use it as a crucial resource

Features

Incredible images show the moment SpaceX's Starship exploded

Space

Incredible images show the moment SpaceX's Starship exploded

Regulars

Adrian Tchaikovsky:

Comment

Adrian Tchaikovsky: "Could life have gone any other way?"

Culture

Read an extract from Adrian Tchaikovsky's Alien Clay

Space

Read an extract from Adrian Tchaikovsky's Alien Clay

Culture

Atlas C2024-G3 Jan 11, 2025

Space

See comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) as viewed from Earth's orbit

¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 16: Portrait of Iain M. Banks being interviewed by SFX Magazine/Future via Getty Images on June 16, 2010. (Photo by Joseph Branston/SFX Magazine/Future via Getty Images)

Space

Rereading the best science fiction writers of all time: Iain M. Banks

Culture

The physicist on a mission to understand Mercury's epic solar storms

Space

The physicist on a mission to understand Mercury's epic solar storms

Features

n 2025 BepiColombo image1 Top three images from BepiColombo's sixth Mercury flyby 09/01/2025 619 views 4 likes ESA / Science & Exploration / Space Science / BepiColombo On 8 January 2025, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission flew past Mercury for the sixth time, successfully completing the final ?gravity assist manoeuvre? needed to steer it into orbit around the planet in late 2026. The spacecraft flew just a few hundred kilometres above the planet's north pole. Close-up images expose possibly icy craters whose floors are in permanent shadow, and the vast sunlit northern plains. At 06:59 CET, BepiColombo flew just 295 km above Mercury's surface on the planet's cold, dark night side. Around seven minutes later, it passed directly over the Mercury's north pole before getting clear views of the planet's sunlit north. European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher revealed the first image during his Annual Press Briefing on 9 January. As during BepiColombo's previous flybys, the spacecraft's monitoring cameras (M-CAMs) did not disappoint. This flyby also marks the last time that the mission's M-CAMs get up-close views of Mercury, as the spacecraft module they are attached to will separate from the mission's two orbiters ? ESA?s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA?s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter ? before they enter orbit around Mercury in late 2026. Celebrating the M-CAMs' final hurrah, let's explore the best three images from BepiColombo's sixth close encounter with the little planet, and what they reveal about mysterious Mercury.

Space

BepiColombo snaps Mercury's dark craters and volcanic plains

¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ

Mathematics

How a typo spoiled my proof of Fermat’s last theorem

¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ

The best new science fiction books of January 2025

Comment

The best new science fiction books of January 2025

From Cory Doctorow to Nnedi Okorafor and from fancy space opera to elegantly written visions of a flooded future world, there is plenty of great science fiction published this month

Culture

Comment

The best sci-fi TV shows of all time, according to ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ

Culture

Comment

The best science fiction TV shows to look forward in 2025

Culture

Comment

The best science fiction movies to look forward to in 2025

Culture

Comment

The best popular science books to look forward to in 2025

Culture

Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop