Another small step: A new age of Solar System exploration

CORDIScovery – unearthing the hottest topics in EU science, research and innovation

What can distant planets and their satellite moons tell us about the origins of life on Earth? Is there enough water on the moon to support longer, manned missions? Are there lunar sources of oxygen that could make the moon a gateway to our Solar system?

And beyond the moon: can we look to Titan to better understand our own origins? And how can we build on what we know about the Earth’s geology to better understand Mars, and other planets?

Jeremi Gancet is responsible for the Technologies, Applications and Research Division at Space Applications Services in Belgium. His project is designing a new, lunar rover and sensors – what are they hoping to find? Nathalie Carrasco, professor in planetary science at the University of Paris-Saclay, is mimicking the atmosphere of Titan to trace the origins of life on Earth, what has her work revealed? And Stephanie Werner, professor of geophysics and planetary science at the University of Oslo, has almost completed a database of the composition of rocks on Earth which will be used to profile rocks on other planets, Was Mars ever habitable? Its geology can provide a clue.

For more info on the projects featured: visit: https://europa.eu/!nMNgnd