On 29 and 30 June, the ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration, David Southwood, met NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science, Ed Weiler, in Plymouth, UK, to establish a way for a progressive programme for exploration of the Red Planet. The outcome of the bilateral meeting was an agreement to create a Mars Exploration Joint Initiative (MEJI) that will provide a framework for the two agencies to define and implement their scientific, programmatic and technological goals at Mars. (more…)

With excitement building as we near the 40th Anniversary of the first human Moon Landing, it’s no surprise that there are plenty of events and media happenings being lined up to mark the occasion. (more…)

UK broadcaster ITV1 will begin screening its mini series, Mission to the Moon: News of 1969, today. (more…)

ITV1 broadcasts Moonshot, a powerful new documentary charting next Monday (20th July), marking the anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon back in 1969. (more…)

Top Brit SF author Charles Stross has offered a fascinating opinion on the first Moon Landing on his blog, noting the reason why there isn’t a moon colony and why NASA didn’t continue the Apollo missions was because it was a stunt. (more…)

The latest issue of Science magazine carries a full feature on the intriguing news that NASA’s new exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet, demonstrating the telescope’s extraordinary scientific capabilities. The report is exciting for me because it’s another indication of how the search for life-bearing planets is cranking up as our ‘search tools’ become increasingly more sophisticated. (more…)

The findings of an Indian space mission supports other evidence that there is water on the moon, raising hopes that a manned base could be established there within the next two decades.

Although the mission was not a complete success and was cut short, data from India’s Chandrayaan-1, launched last year, allegedly found clear evidence of water there, apparently concentrated at the poles and possibly formed by the solar wind. (more…)