Winterschule 2025
2025-11-23 - 2025-11-27
list of Lectures
Space science: from the Solar System and across the Universe
Mark McCaughrean
MPIA
Space missions are a vital way of studying the observable Universe, from in situ and remote exploration of bodies in the solar system, including planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and the Sun itself, to observations of stars, planets, and nebulae in the Milky Way and the vast realm of galaxies in deep space beyond spanning the entire electromagnetic spectrum and all of cosmic history since the Big Bang.
In this series of four lectures, I shall start by giving a broad overview of many of the astrophysics, heliophysics, and planetary physics missions from the fifty years of the European Space Agency's science programme, past, present, and future. This will discuss the commonalities and differences between the various classes of mission and their goals. In the next two lectures, I will give a deeper insight into the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Starting from its origins in the mid-1980s as a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, I will cover the top-level scientific requirements, the mission architecture, the necessary technological innovations, and the design, implementation, and testing ahead of launch on Christmas Day 2021. In the following lecture, I'll present an overview of some of the key scientific areas of study for JWST and highlights from the first three years of observing, from planetary science to star formation and high-redshift galaxies. Finally, my last lecture will look back at ESA's Rosetta mission, and its unprecedented rendezvous with, orbit of, and landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from 2014 to 2016. Again, I'll cover the main mission requirements, operations at the comet, and key scientific results, touching on both successes and failures that occurred during the mission. I will also put a spotlight on the innovative ways that the mission was communicated to the public, resulting in remarkable levels of engagement worldwide.
