This week, Astronomy & Astrophysics publishes new 3D maps of the interstellar gas situated in an area 300 parsecs (about 1,000 light-years) around the Sun. A French-American team of astronomers presents new measurements of the absorption by the interstellar gas in the Sun's local area.

Introduction

Recent media reports suggest that China is stepping up their program to send people to the Moon just as America appears to be standing down from it. This circumstance has re-awakened a long-standing debate about the geopolitical aspects of space travel and with it some questions. Are we in a race back to the Moon? Should we be? And if there is a "space race" today, what do we mean by the term? Is it a race of military dimensions or is such thinking just an artifact of the Cold War? What are the implications of a new space race?

In recent dives through the water ice plume of Enceladus, the Cassini plasma spectrometer has found unexpected populations of charged molecules and dust that strengthen arguments for the presence of liquid water and the ingredients for life inside the icy moon.

Space shuttle Endeavour lit up the predawn sky above Florida's Space Coast on Monday with a 4:14 a.m. EST launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle's last scheduled night launch began a 13-day flight to the International Space Station and the final year of shuttle operations.

NASA: Recent drives by the Spirit rover from Jan. 14 to Feb. 4, 2010 (Sols 2145 to 2165) moved the center of the rover approximately 13.4 inches (34 centimeters) backwards. Since Jan 26 (sol 2157), drive commands have concentrated on placing Spirit into a favorable tilt toward the sun as the Martian winter approaches.

ESA: This Envisat image features the city of Vancouver in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Vancouver, the third largest city in Canada, is the Host City of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games from February 12-28. Larger images