The Origin of Stars, Planets and Us
UK science teams are working on several missions that search for evidence of our origins in the depths of space.
Space telescopes like Hubble and XMM-Newton look out at the furthest reaches of space, collecting light from the youngest galaxies. They will be joined in the future by the Herschel Space Observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Planck mission, all gathering evidence on the origin of the Universe, stars and planets.
Spacecraft also look for clues about the origin of life. Hubble can detect molecules of life on planets outside our Solar System, while Cassini Huygens and Rosetta seek answers by visiting our neighbours in space.
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For twenty-five years following the Voyager mission, scientists speculated about Saturn’s largest moon, a mysterious orb clouded in orange haze. Finally, in 2005, the Cassini-Huygens probe successfully parachuted down through Titan’s atmosphere, all the while transmitting images and data. In the early 1980s, when the two Voyager spacecraft skimmed past Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, they transmitted back enticing images of a mysterious world concealed in a seemingly impenetrable orange haze. Tita
