Earth’s visitor from Alpha Centauri

Another interstellar object – 3I/ATLAS is speeding through our solar system and, as next-generation observatories such as Rubin swing into operation, we may discover interstellar visitors are far more common than previously thought.

Do look up

The space economy presents new investment opportunities as commercial space resource ventures grow, but investors must assess the risks and regulatory challenges involved as well as the potential for profit.

Star wars

The arms race developing between the United States and China is drawing in their respective space industries as each state aims for strategic advantage.

Extraordinary claims

‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’ − an astronomer explains the sheer weight evidence scientists need to claim major discoveries such as potentially finding extraterrestrial life.

The waters of Mars

Although a barren desert today, Mars had oceans billions of years ago and recent studies of meteorite strikes and marsquakes hint at a remnant underground ocean of liquid water on the Red Planet.

The return of Kosmos 482

More than 50 years after trying and entirely failing to reach Venus, a Soviet spacecraft is about to tumble from orbit back down to Earth.

The power of persistence

Knowing what is going on in orbit is getting harder—yet hardly less necessary. But new technologies are emerging to cope with the challenge, including some that have come from Australian civilian research.

Incoming

It may sound like the plot of a Hollywood thriller, but an asteroid could be on course to collide with Earth in December 2032. If it hits, there could be catastrophic consequences.

Don’t panic!

On 27 December last year, astronomers using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile discovered a small asteroid moving away from Earth. Follow up observations have revealed that the asteroid, 2024 YR4, is on a path that might lead to a collision with our planet on 22 December 2032.

Space precinct

Nation states must revitalise existing measures and consider them in international space policy debates to solve the ongoing difficulties in framing new rules for space governance.

Sea from space

Curtin University has joined forces with NASA, University of Miami, San José State University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on a new-generation satellite mission to study the colour of the ocean from space, providing vital information about ocean health and its role in climate regulation.

Detecting drought from space

Combining a number of observation techniques, including orbital observation, can help detect signs of drought in threatened habitats such as Brazil’s once verdant Amazon basin.