This special issue looks at iconic spacecraft and the current missions exploring the Solar System and the deeper cosmos. Plus find out about the plans for manned missions to the Moon and Mars, and our search for habitable planets - and aliens.

WELCOME

60 YEARS OF SPACE EXPLORATION • The spacecraft that have helped man explore the Solar System and beyond

TODAY’S MISSIONS

HUBBLE’S TOP 10 DISCOVERIES

Beyond Hubble

HOW ROCKET SCIENCE WORKS • The theory behind blasting something into space isn’t as mind-boggling as you might think. What is complicated is the engineering needed to put the theory into practice, as Brian Clegg explains

GETTING TO THE ISS • Soyuz-fg rocket launch

THE REUSABLE SPACE VEHICLES • Expendable rockets are incredibly wasteful, but solutions are being developed…

SPACE JUNK • While we wait for fully reusable space vehicles to be developed, debris jettisoned from rocket launches is piling up in orbital space.

THE CLEAN-UP CREW • Several technologies are being developed to take care of space junk

A NEW DAWN FOR NASA • Orion embarked on its maiden voyage in December 2014, putting NASA back in the manned space race. Neil Ashton straps himself in for the ride

BLAST OFF! • The Delta IV Heavy is the world’s most powerful rocket. It launched the Orion crew module and launch abort system into space

CURIOSITY THE JOURNEY SO FAR

THE NEW SPACE FLEET • Discover the spacecraft that are exploring our Solar System

JUNO • The spacecraft is starting to reveal Jupiter’s secrets

CASSINI • The spacecraft has helped to solve many puzzles on Saturn and its moons

UNCOVERING TITAN • Huygens gave us our first glimpse below the moon’s clouds

DAWN • The spacecraft is orbiting Ceres to help us understand how this intriguing dwarf planet has evolved over time

NEW HORIZONS • Having flown by Pluto in 2015, the spacecraft is currently exploring the rest of the Kuiper Belt

ROSETTA • The spacecraft revealed many secrets from its years orbiting the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

OSIRIS REX • The spacecraft that will bring asteroid samples back to Earth

OSIRIS-REX SAMPLE-COLLECTION PHASE • How the spacecraft will grab pieces of asteroid Bennu for us to study

Q&A SPACE SPECIAL

How ‘intelligent’ could we make space probes?

How do astronauts go to the loo?

Does zero-g affect sleep and dreaming?

Why don’t more planets have rings?

How do chemical reactions occur in the cold of space?

Does Earth have a second moon?

TOP 10

Could there be a Planet 9?

What does Martian water taste like?

THE THOUGHT EXPERIMENT • HOW HIGH COULD YOU JUMP ON OTHER BODIES?

Could we ever detect other universes?

Why is the Moon moving away from us?

What’s the oddest thing sent into space, and what did it cost?

Why haven’t spacesuits changed much?

Is it harder to think straight in space?

How are computers protected from radiation in space?

What does space smell like?

ASK AN ASTRONAUT • Shannon Walker is an American scientist and NASA astronaut who blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in June 2010 to spend five months aboard the International Space Station

What happens if there’s a fire?

FUTURE MISSIONS

CAN WE BUILD A BASE ON THE MOON? • ESA’s chief has suggested that a permanent ‘Moon station’ could be a successor to the ISS. Colin Stuart takes a look at the current contenders for the first lunar outpost

ONE WAY TO MARS • In 2015, both NASA and Mars One began preparations for a mission to the Red Planet, but huge obstacles stand in their way. We...