NCCR PlanetS

03/09/2026

BepiColombo: a crucial day at Mercury! 🚀 After eight years in space, ESA/JAXA’s BepiColombo mission reaches its next major milestone today. The Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will separate at 12:00 UTC, followed by the eagerly awaited acquisition of signal from the spacecraft from 13:53 UTC. ESA will broadcast the key moments live from mission control in Darmstadt, starting at 11:45 UTC. The University of Bern is involved in the BepiColombo mission with two scientific instruments.
🎥 Watch live: ESA on YouTube · ESA on LinkedIn

BepiColombo: Heute wird es spannend! 🚀 Nach acht Jahren Flug beginnt heute die entscheidende Ankunftsphase der ESA/JAXA-Mission BepiColombo am Merkur. Ab 13:45 Uhr MESZ überträgt die ESA live aus dem Kontrollzentrum ESOC in Darmstadt. Der erste Höhepunkt folgt um 14:00 Uhr mit der Abtrennung des Mercury Transfer Module (MTM). Nach einer Unterbrechung wird der Livestream um 15:30 Uhr fortgesetzt; ab 15:53 Uhr wird das erste Signal von BepiColombo nach der Separation erwartet – der entscheidende Moment, um zu bestätigen, dass alles planmässig funktioniert hat. Die Universität Bern ist an der BepiColombo-Mission mit zwei Instrumenten beteiligt.
Livestream: ESA auf YouTube · ESA auf LinkedIn

01/09/2026

LIVESTREAM: After eight years in space, ESA/JAXA’s BepiColombo mission is about to enter its Mercury Arrival Phase. On 3 September 2026, ESA’s Mercury Transfer Module will separate from the mission’s two science orbiters – the first major step in one of the most challenging planetary arrival sequences ever attempted by ESA. On board are two instruments developed and built at the University of Bern: the laser altimeter BELA and the innovative mass spectrometer STROFIO.
📡 Watch the milestone live: ESA’s livestream starts at 11:45 CEST. Tune in and follow the mission’s next big step live from ESA Mission Control: https://tinyurl.com/4teyyrrh

LIVESTREAM: Nach acht Jahren im All steht die ESA/JAXA-Mission BepiColombo kurz davor, in ihre Ankunftsphase am Merkur einzutreten. Am 3. September 2026 trennt sich das Mercury Transfer Module von den beiden wissenschaftlichen Orbitern – der erste grosse Schritt in einer der anspruchsvollsten planetaren Ankunftssequenzen, die die ESA je durchgeführt hat. An Bord befinden sich zwei an der Universität Bern entwickelte und gebaute Instrumente: der Laserhöhenmesser BELA und das innovative Massenspektrometer STROFIO.
📡 Der entscheidende Meilenstein wird ab 13:45 MESZ live von der ESA übertragen. Seid dabei und verfolgt den nächsten grossen Schritt von BepiColombo live aus dem ESA-Missionskontrollzentrum: https://tinyurl.com/4teyyrrh

26/08/2026

60 years ago, on August 10, 1966, Lunar Orbiter 1 launched as the first of five NASA spacecraft in the Lunar Orbiter programme. Until 1967, the probes photographed around 99% of the Moon’s surface, providing crucial data for selecting landing sites for the later Apollo missions. Lunar Orbiter 1 was also the first US spacecraft to orbit the Moon and the first to photograph Earth from near the Moon. A decisive step on the road to the first crewed lunar landing! Read more about the Lunar Orbiter missions at https://lunarorbiter.org/

25/08/2026

An international research team led by the University of Bern has used high-resolution computer simulations and comparisons with the latest images from the ESA space probe Hera to show that a single asteroid impact shaped the Martian moon Deimos and created its smooth, dusty surface. This is the first scientific publication to use data from the ESA space probe Hera flyby of Deimos and provides an important foundation for future space missions, such as the MMX mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Read more at https://tinyurl.com/4j2m2vpp

20/08/2026

Today 51 years ago, on August 20, 1975, NASA’s Viking 1 began its journey to Mars. The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a powerful Titan IIIE/Centaur launch vehicle – combining the Titan IIIE booster with the Centaur upper stage. Viking 1 then embarked on an almost eleven-month journey to the Red Planet. The launch marked the beginning of one of NASA’s most important Mars missions and a new era in the systematic exploration of our planetary neighbour.

19/08/2026

The European Space Agency (ESA) is offering European researchers and companies a rare and exciting opportunity to deploy their innovative software directly in space, on board the ESA’s Hera mission, in an environment millions of kilometres away.

Die Europäische Weltraumorganisation (ESA) bietet europäischen Forscher*innen und Unternehmen die seltene und spannende Gelegenheit, ihre innovative Software direkt im Weltraum an Bord der ESA-Mission Hera in einer Millionen Kilometer entfernten Umgebung einzusetzen. 

17/08/2026

Flying robots could one day explore the hidden caves of Saturn’s moon Titan. NASA is funding the SPARK concept: spherical “Aerobots” designed to navigate Titan’s complex terrain using ion thrusters – offering a completely new way to explore one of the Solar System’s most fascinating worlds.

The robots' designer says SPARK Aerobots have a good chance of doing well on Titan with their novel ion thrusters.

22/07/2026

Observations made with the ESO’s VLT have revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Unlike moons in our Solar System, the newly found object does not orbit a planet, raising questions about what to name it. Instead, it circles a brown dwarf, an object larger than a planet, that orbits the CD-35 2722 star. If confirmed, this could be the first ‘moon’ discovered outside our Solar System. Read more at www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2610/?lang

Beobachtungen mit dem VLT der ESO liefern Hinweise auf ein mondähnliches Objekt im System CD-35 2722. Im Gegensatz zu den Monden in unserem Sonnensystem umkreist das neu entdeckte Objekt keinen Planeten, was Fragen bezüglich seiner Bezeichnung aufwirft. Stattdessen zieht es seine Bahn um einen Braunen Zwerg – ein Objekt, das grösser als ein Planet ist und selbst den Stern CD-35 2722 umkreist. Sollte sich die Entdeckung bestätigen, könnte dies als der erste Nachweis eines «Mondes» ausserhalb unseres Sonnensystems gelten. Mehr dazu unter www.eso.org/public/germany/news/eso2610/?nolang

21/07/2026

Fifty years ago, NASA's Viking 1 made history with the first successful landing on Mars. It returned the first images from the Martian surface and carried out life-detection experiments that remain controversial to this day. New analyses suggest Viking may have detected signs of microbial life that were misunderstood at the time. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/42msvbtk

18/07/2026

Planetary defense is becoming a global effort: China has announced plans to build a comprehensive early warning system for potentially hazardous asteroids. A network of telescopes and satellites is intended to detect possible impact threats much earlier in the future.

The country is mapping out an asteroid early-warning network. But what will it look like?