00:00A space mission like this has never been done before.
00:09Nearly 20 years in the making, it's so precise that even a millimeter of error could ruin the whole thing.
00:18Two satellites are floating hundreds of miles above the Earth with one big goal – to create artificial solar eclipses on demand.
00:27This could change how we study the Sun forever.
00:30But pulling it off is insanely difficult.
00:33And let's just say NASA and the ESA are holding their breath.
00:39Proba 3 has successfully launched and already shows promising results.
00:44It's made up of two satellites that will fly in perfect formation.
00:48Their goal is to block out the Sun in space.
00:52Well, why do we need that?
00:53Because solar eclipses are actually very useful for studying the Sun's corona, its glowing outer atmosphere.
01:00The Sun is obviously super bright, so its corona is only clearly visible during rare fleeting moments when the Moon perfectly covers the star during an eclipse.
01:10But what if we could recreate that effect any time?
01:13That's Proba 3's main task.
01:18One satellite acts as an occulter, a giant sun-blocking disk.
01:23It also carries a wide disk about 5 feet wide, which acts like an artificial moon, blocking out the Sun's light.
01:30The other is a coronagraph.
01:32It should capture detailed images of the corona.
01:35There's also a third device that should study space weather and how solar storms affect our planet.
01:41It's insane how perfectly precise they must be for this to work.
01:45They must stay perfectly aligned with their position shifting by no more than a single millimeter, about the thickness of a fingernail.
01:52All while they're floating high away from Earth in space with no strings attached.
01:59This project was a team effort and a pretty big historical moment.
02:04This is the first time that an ESA mission is launched from India since 2001.
02:09Proba 3 was built with contributions from 13 European countries, along with Canada.
02:15There was a small hiccup before departure, though.
02:17The Air Freight Company refused to accept the satellites because their batteries were still inside.
02:23The engineers had to remove the batteries and ship them separately.
02:27Not ideal, but a small price to pay for getting the mission to the launch pad.
02:32The idea first came to mind in 2005 to ESA scientists.
02:36And after years of planning, designing, and testing, the mission finally lifted off on December 5, 2024.
02:43For the first few weeks after launch, the two satellites stayed connected.
02:51Scientists run tests to ensure they were functioning properly.
02:54During this time, the coronagraph took its first-ever space image.
02:58It captured a beautiful star field in the Ophiuchus constellation.
03:02Then, on January 14, 2025, the real mission began.
03:07The two spacecraft successfully separated from each other.
03:10Over the following weeks, ESA's engineers carefully brought them back together to keep control distance.
03:17Now that they're in orbit, Proba 3's satellites work in a highly elliptical orbit,
03:21swinging between 372 and about 37,000 miles from Earth.
03:27This should help ease the Earth's gravitation,
03:29meaning the satellites won't need to burn as much fuel to stay perfectly aligned.
03:33The spacecraft also communicate with each other using lasers, adjusting their distances in real time.
03:40This level of control has never been attempted on this scale before.
03:44But the Proba 3 mission isn't only about looking at the Sun.
03:48The second satellite, the Occulter, has its own mission.
03:52It carries DARA, an instrument that will measure the Sun's total energy output.
03:57This is incredibly important for climate studies.
04:00Scientists need to know how much solar energy reaches Earth.
04:04If Proba 3 succeeds, it'll prove that satellites can fly in space autonomously while staying super precise.
04:11This could open the door to entirely new types of space missions.
04:15For example, giant telescopes in space, where separate satellites act as one enormous lens.
04:21Or more advanced climate monitoring, with precision instruments orbiting Earth together.
04:27Finally, deep space exploration.
04:30Spacecraft could team up to explore planets and moons in ways never seen before.
04:362025 is going to be full of insane space missions.
04:40It's packed with lunar landings, asteroid visits, and planetary flybys.
04:45But space is never easy.
04:47Missions get delayed, some never launch, and others surprise us.
04:52First, IMAP – Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe.
04:56This one will launch in September, and it should help us unlock the secrets of interstellar space.
05:02It will travel super far away to study the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space.
05:09This mission will help us learn more about cosmic rays, solar winds,
05:12and what happens when the Sun's influence stops and the actual terrifying space begins.
05:18Next, PUNCH and SPHER-X.
05:22These two were already launched on March 11, 2025.
05:26PUNCH will help predict solar storms before they hit Earth.
05:29It will track solar winds from the Sun to Earth and help us understand space weather better.
05:35Space weather is important because it can damage satellites and power grids.
05:38And SPHER-X will map the entire sky in infrared light, capturing the spectra of millions of galaxies.
05:46It could reveal the secrets of how galaxies formed after the Big Bang.
05:51Next, we've got TUN-2, which should launch sometime in May.
05:55It will visit the legendary asteroid Kama'o-Aliwa.
05:59Many years ago, this asteroid might have been a chunk of the Moon, and now it orbits the Sun.
06:04The next one is ESCAPADE.
06:07Once again, two spacecraft, one Mars mission.
06:10ESCAPADE should be launched somewhere during 2025.
06:14It will send two small spacecraft to Mars to study how the solar winds influence our red buddy.
06:22Many years ago, Mars used to be like early Earth.
06:25It had a thick atmosphere and liquid water.
06:28But it's now a dry, cold desert.
06:31ESCAPADE will help us understand what exactly happened.
06:34How and why did Mars lose its atmosphere?
06:382025 will also be packed with lunar missions.
06:41Unfortunately, not all missions are going to be successful.
06:44For example, the IM-2 lunar lander reached the Moon's surface on March 6.
06:49It was supposed to land near the Moon's south pole to search for water ice.
06:54Finding water on the Moon would be incredibly important for our future human missions.
06:58If we find a method to turn this water ice into normal water, we'll be able to build entire settlements there.
07:05Well, IM-2 was marched on February 27th.
07:09It traveled to the Moon successfully and prepared for landing.
07:12It made it to the surface, but something went wrong.
07:16Communication was lost temporarily, and no one really knew why.
07:19When NASA re-established contact, they saw that the lander wasn't in the correct position.
07:26One of its two radio antennas wasn't working.
07:28Turns out, it landed sideways.
07:31And now solar panels can't generate enough power.
07:33And without power, the lander couldn't keep working.
07:36By March 7th, the battery was completely drained, and the mission was over.
07:41But there are more plans.
07:43In late 2025, they should launch the Griffin lunar lander.
07:47The rover it will bring should explore the Nobile Crater, a key target for future Moon bases.
07:54In somewhere between 2025 and 2026, they want to try the IM-3 lunar mission.
08:00It's going to be a third lander with multiple science experiments.
08:04Now, what about the planets?
08:06NASA's Europa Clipper is currently headed to Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
08:11Scientists have suspicions that this place could have water.
08:15It might even become a place for future human missions.
08:18On March 1st, Europa Clipper flew by Mars and used its gravity to speed up.
08:23On August 31st, ESA's JUICE spacecraft, another one that aims at Jupiter's icy moons, will fly by Venus.
08:31They might even snap some pretty pictures along the way.
08:35Finally, Juno's mission nears its end.
08:37Since 2016, NASA's Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter.
08:42It gave us breathtaking images and crucial data.
08:45Now, it's running out of time.
08:47If all goes as planned, Juno will continue until September before being deliberately crashed into Jupiter to avoid contaminating its moons.
08:56All these missions are pushing the boundaries of human knowledge, and we're just getting started.
09:01That's it for today.
09:06So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
09:11Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.
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