Space: Our Solar System

As fascinating as the exoplanets are, light-years from our location in another part of the universe, there is plenty of interest in our own cosmic back yard. Perhaps not least our own moon, which despite several successful missions to its surface, remains a complete mystery to us in many ways.

Then there is Mars, the red planet that has fascinated humans since ancient times, much like Venus has on our other side, which modern science and research suggests, in theory, might even hold life – albeit microbial – high in its cloudy atmosphere.

While the gas giants in the outer reaches of the Solar System such as Jupiter and Saturn don’t have a surface to explore, might we one day send a probe as far as possible into the atmosphere of these behemoth-like planets in order to send footage back of what it looks like there? And, from the perspective of manned missions to these regions of space, might we explore the moons of these mammoth planets, some of which some researchers suggest could also hold life.

Indeed, as mysterious and intriguing as the wider universe is, there is plenty of interest and much to explore in our own solar system until we have the technology necessary to take us further…