Planetary and Space Science

The second moon race is in full swing, with the world's two big superpowers angling to score a new set of firsts on the lunar surface. NASA's Artemis program recently clocked up its first success with the splashdown of Orion, but China is looking to take the lead when it comes to setting up a fully-fledged lunar research station. One of the first steps in that process—figuring out where to put it. That is what a…

Mining the asteroids for resources like iron, precious metals, water, or other valuable species may someday become profitable. Mining will probably starting with near Earth objects (NEOs), asteroids whose paths cross the Earth's orbital path. In the long-term, however, mining will want to access the Main Belt of asteroids that orbit between Mars and Jupiter.

The tricarbon molecule (C3) is likely produced in the upper atmosphere of Titan by the reaction of abundant acetylene with atomic carbon.