The New Frontier - Season 4

The JAXA-ESA joint "BepiColombo" Mission is moments away from launch. The target is Mercury, which has been too long neglected by the world's space exploration programs. This mission will shed new light on this strange, tiny world.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe Mission is on its way and will be shortly followed by Europe's Solar probe Mission. No spacecraft have traveled so fast or so close to a star before. The hope is to reveal the source of the solar winds that affect us here on Earth.

The commercial space flight companies are edging closer and closer to flight readiness. Paying customers will soon be launching into space; tourist revenue is projected to be a major stepping stone toward space exploration and colonization.

The New Horizons Mission continues deeper into space. With its next target looming close, some speculate that there may be evidence of a mysterious new planet, one long steeped in folklore. Could Planet X exist?

The Japanese Asteroid Sample Return Mission has reached its target and is surveying the space rock, ready to dip down to acquire its sample. The return of asteroid material to Earth will aid scientists in the development in planetary defense systems.

Two new space telescopes, Gaia and TESS, are in orbit with their primary missions coming to a close. They will be joined by the James Webb Telescope, and together they will open up a whole new vista into time and space.

This is the latest in Martian exploration, not just from orbit but also from rovers on the ground. New sources of water and planetary dust storms are a few of the stories unfolding on the Red Planet.

Cubesats are miniature satellites that have been used exclusively in low Earth orbit for 15 years. Now, these tiny satellites are growing in mainstream popularity and are being used for interplanetary missions as well. They have even been sent to Mars with the Insight Mission, in hopes of better understanding the red planet, our solar system, and beyond.

The evidence to prove some of Einstein's theories had long been elusive, beyond the capabilities of technology, until now. It appears that Einstein is once again triumphant as we discover the latest in deep space observations.

We're looking hard, but the numbers aren't stacking up. Is life on other planets really that hard to find? Does it even exist? We have not discovered so much as a signal, so maybe we really are alone in our neck of the galaxy!