The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) was launched April 14, 2023 from the ESA's space center in French Guyana. It is expected to reach Jupiter in July 2031 after four gravity assists. It will conduct flybys of Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa
At the end of 2035, Juice will impact on Ganymede when it runs out of propellant.
Soyuz MS-23, launched February 24, 2023, was an uncrewed spaceflight to the International Space Station to replace the damaged Soyuz MS-22.
A micro-meteoroid impact resulted in a 0.8 mm hole in the radiator of Soyuz MS-22, and doubts about the safety of the spacecraft. It returned to Earth uncrewed, and Soyuz MS-23 was launched.
Soyuz MS-23 docked with the ISS February 26 and returned to Earth in September 2023, with Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, and Francisco Rubio.
Lara Parker, best known for her role as the vengeful witch Angelique in Dark Shadows, passed away October 12 from cancer. Her death was announced by her friend and ex-co-star Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans).
Born October 27, 1938 in Knoxville, Tennessee, she was cast in Dark Shadows in 1967. She appeared as Bruce Banner's wife in the pilot for The Incredible Hulk. She had a cameo in the Johnny Depp movie version of the series, along with Jonathan Frid, Scott, and David Selby.
She also wrote four novels based on the Angelique character, with the most recent being published in 2016.
Katalin Kariko, a Hungarian scientist, and her US colleague Drew Weissman won the 2023 Nobel Prize for Medicine today. Their work on mRNA or messenger RNA contributed to an unprecedented rate of vaccine development during the covid pandemic. Their research contributed to a vaccine that helps stop the immune system from launching an inflammatory attack against lab-made mRNA, which has been a major hurdle in vaccination creation. Usually, a vaccine is made from a dormant version of the disease, but this works in a totally different manner. It could pave the way for treatments against other viruses or diseases.
NASA's first asteroid retrieval mission has been successfully completed with the sample return capsule from OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security - Regolith Explorer), which landed in the Utah desert near Salt Lake City yesterday.
The craft returned about 250 g of asteroid material, collected from asteroid Bennu in October 2020. The capsule and its contents have been secured in a cleanroom facility, awaiting analysis. Although a small amount, it will provide material for years of research to come.
After releasing its sample capsule, OSIRIS-REx became OSIRIS-APEX (APophis Explorer)and will go on a mission to observe 99942 Apophis, a near-Earth asteroid and potentially dangerous object in April 2029, when the asteroid makes a very close pass to Earth on the 13th.
