NASA ordered the Genesis spacecraft to close up its particle collectors this week, to prepare its sample-return capsule to enter the Earth's atmosphere. Over the last three years, Genesis has been collecting particles blown by the Sun on a special array made from exotic materials. This material should give scientists detailed information about the composition of the Sun. Genesis will release its capsule on September 8, 2004, and helicopter pilots will snag it in mid-air with giant hooks.

After 15 years of observation, over the course of more than 1,000 nights, a European team of astronomers has collected the most thorough survey of our local stellar neighborhood. The team performed an analysis of more than 14,000 stars to calculate their distance, age, chemical analysis, velocity and orbit around the Milky Way. Each star was measured 4 times over the course of this period. It turns out that the motion of stars through the Milky Way is much more chaotic and turbulent than previously thought.

Most of the asteroid sky surveys have been carried out in the Northern Hemisphere, but astronomers from the University of Arizona have taken the hunt down under. They're using a refurbished telescope at the Australian National University's Siding Spring Observatory. The new survey is funded by NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Survey, that hopes to locate 90% of the spacerocks larger than 1 kilometre, which have the potential to cause severe devastation if they strike the Earth.

On March 22, 2004, the ESA/NASA SOHO solar observatory spacecraft observed its 750th comet since its launch in late 1995. SOHO has a special instrument that blocks out the glare of the Sun, and allows it to see comets that graze the Sun. Amateur astronomers from around the world analyze the photographs taken by SOHO, which are published on the Internet - more than 75% of the discoveries have been made by amateurs. This one was discovered by Sebastian H?nig from Germany.

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory captured a rare event in January when Saturn's moon, Titan, passed in front of the Crab Nebula. The large moon was illuminated by the X-rays from the nebula, so it cast a shadow. This allowed astronomers to measure its atmosphere in the X-ray spectrum to be about 880 kilometres thick. This might be the first transit of Titan over the Crab Nebula since it was formed from a supernova explosion in 1054.

Since it was awarded a contract to study the feasibility of return samples of Mars back Earth, EADS Space has come up with two different directions. The first is to launch the sample ascent vehicle from the surface of Mars and dock with the return vehicle in space. In the second design, the ascent vehicle would reach orbit and then eject the samples for the return vehicle to "catch". How the samples are returned to Earth will make a big difference on the mission's cost, mass and complexity.

SpaceDev announced on Thursday that it has won a $43 million contract to build micro satellites for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The four-phase, five-year contract will see SpaceDev build a micro satellite distributed sensing experiment (three to six microsats), and an option for a laser communications experiment. SpaceDev launched its first and only satellite, CHIPSat, just over a year ago.

An international team of astronomers have mapped a sizable region of space around the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and have found the wreckage of many galaxies, torn apart by its massive gravity. One stream of stars has been found stretching back 50,000 to a satellite galaxy which is in the process of being consumed. They also found 14 globular star clusters floating far from Andromeda's centre; the remnants of destroyed galaxies. By studying these galactic fossils, astronomers can better understand the evolution of Andromeda.

Radio astronomers have successfully measured an object that surrounds the supermassive black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. The centre of our galaxy lies 26,000 light-years from Earth, but it's normally obscured by gas and dust, so visible light telescopes can't see it. By focusing on the object, called Sagittarius A, with high radio wavelengths, the astronomers were determine that its size is as about the same as the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. The supermassive black hole at the centre is likely the size of the orbit of Mercury, but it contains 4 million solar masses.

NASA's Spirit Rover has found a rock that seems to have been acted on by water in the past. The rock is called "Mazatzal", and lies partially buried near the rim of the Crater Bonneville; its light-toned appearance caught the eye of NASA scientists. Spirit used its rock abrasion tool to grind under the surface, and found a darker interior with a bright stripe that cut across both layers. This seems to indicate a fracture that water flowed through. More data about the rock is being transferred back to Earth while Spirit drives to Columbia Hills, located 2.3 kilometres away.

The Gravity Probe B spacecraft, which is designed to test two predictions of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, has been scheduled to launch on April 17. The spacecraft will use four precise gyroscopes to determine how space and time are distorted by the gravity of the Earth and its rotation. The spacecraft will orbit the Earth once every 90 minutes, and gather data for more than a year, comparing any drift in its gyroscopes to the position of a guide star.

Here's the latest desktop wallpaper of Saturn (1024x768), taken by Cassini when it was 56.4 million kilometres from Saturn. The resolution is about 25% better than its last full image, taken a month ago, and you can see fine details, like spots in the atmosphere. Three of Saturn's moons are also visible in this image: Mimas, Dione, and Enceladus. Cassini will arrive at Saturn this summer.

The European Space Agency will be supplying technology to assist adventurer Bertrand Piccard's attempt to fly a solar-powered plane around the world. Piccard was part of the team that successfully flew a balloon around the Earth. The solar powered plane will have a 70-metre wingspan (larger than a Boeing 747), and carry enough batteries to be able to fly in the night as well. The plane would fly at an altitude of 10 km; well above the clouds to capture all the available sunlight. The first round-the-world attempt will be made some time after 2009.

Although more than 100 planetary systems have been discovered, astronomers have only found large, Jupiter-sized planets. The real prize will be to discover Earth-sized planets in orbits where liquid water could be present. A new simulation by a team from Open University "injected" Earth-sized planets into the habitable zone of the star systems already discovered. About half of the systems already found could have Earth-sized planets in stable orbits in the habitable zone. It will still be several years before there are instruments built that can detect them.

A survey with the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) has revealed dozens of miniature galaxies the nearby Fornax galaxy cluster. These are a class of galaxies known as "ultra compact dwarfs" (UCDs). These objects were completely unknown until a few years ago, and now astronomers believe that they are very common. Perhaps they are leftover primordial building blocks that merged together to form larger galaxies. They are incredibly small, only about 120 light-years across, but they can contain tens of millions of stars.

Venus, currently the brightest "star" in the sky, will spend the next few days passing through the Pleiades star cluster, making for a beautiful sky show. Venus is easy to see, it's that blazingly bright "star" high in the Western sky after sunset. Pleiades is much dimmer; a collection of young stars that looks like a miniature dipper that's hard to see in polluted city skies. On April 2, Venus will be right below the cluster; on April 3 it will be in the handle; and then April 4 it will have passed completely through. Find some dark skies over the next few nights to really appreciate the view - it won't happen again for another 8 years.

Saturn's moon Titan is the largest in the Solar System; at 5,150 km in diameter, it's larger than Mercury and Pluto. It's unique because it has an unusual hazy atmosphere of nitrogen, methane, and hydrocarbons. The Voyager spacecraft took a quick look at Titan, but Cassini and the Huygen spacecraft will make detailed observations when they arrive later this year. Until then, huge observatories on Earth are working to gather as much information as possible about Titan. This will help give some perspective when the spacecraft arrive, and optimize the data they gather.

Instead of sending single, high-risk spacecraft to explore the solar system, researchers are thinking of ways to send fleets of co-operating spacecraft to get the job done. There are many advantages to this method: decreased risk of losing the whole mission if a spacecraft fails, lowered launch costs, the ability to replace a failed instrument by sending a replacement. Swarms of rovers could crawl the surface of Mars, or explore the oceans of Titan.

When the European Space Agency's Huygens probe reaches Titan early next year, it might encounter a hydrocarbon ocean different from anything we have here on Earth. Researchers have calculated what these oceans might look like, and found that the waves might be 7 times higher, but move more slowly and be further apart. Other scientists think Titan's surface is covered by an icy hard layer or maybe a hydrocarbon sludge. We'll find out for sure when the probe reaches Saturn's moon on January 14, 2005.