Abstract The robotic exploration of Mars has entered a defining era characterized by a stark divergence in strategy and fortune between the world's two preeminent spacefaring nations. For over two decades, the United States, through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has pursued a methodical, multi-mission campaign to return pristine samples from the Red Planet, viewing this objective as the "Holy Grail" of planetary science. This effort, crystallized i

1. Introduction: The Paradigm Shift in Cometary Exploration The history of planetary science is often written in the ink of patience. Missions to the outer Solar System require decades of planning, years of cruise time, and the stoic endurance of scientific teams waiting for data to traverse the void. However, the narrative of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Comet Interceptor mission has recently taken a dramatic and unprecedented turn. As reported by SpaceNews  on January

Abstract The year 2025 marked a pivotal moment in the history of astronomy, coinciding with the thirtieth anniversary of the first confirmation of an exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star. This review article provides a comprehensive synthesis of the major exoplanetary discoveries and astrobiological developments that defined the year. From the identification of the nearby super-Earth Gliese 251 c to the contentious debates surrounding the "Hycean" world K2-18b, 2025 was charact

1. Introduction: The Infrared Imperative and the Dark Ages The quest to understand the origins of the universe is, fundamentally, a struggle against the limitations of light and time. Modern cosmology posits that the universe began in a hot, dense state—the Big Bang—approximately 13.8 billion years ago. Following the initial expansion and cooling, the universe entered a period known as the "Cosmic Dark Ages," a time before the ignition of the first stars, where the cosmos was

1. Introduction: The Enigma of the Outer Solar System The Saturnian system has long held a unique allure for astronomers and planetary scientists, primarily due to the presence of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Before the dawn of the space age, Titan was a singular anomaly: a moon-sized body that possessed a thick atmosphere, a feature absent from every other natural satellite in the solar system. Early telescopic observations revealed only a featureless, orange orb, its surfa

Abstract For the better part of human history, the concept of a "habitable world" was intrinsically tied to the presence of surface liquid water, a condition believed to be exclusive to the "Goldilocks Zone"—the narrow annulus of orbital space where stellar flux allows water to exist in liquid form. This heliocentric paradigm dominated planetary science until the late 20th century, rendering the outer solar system as a domain of frozen, geologically dead relics. This report p

Introduction The trajectory of modern astrophysics has been defined by a relentless pursuit of clarity and depth. For over three decades, the Hubble Space Telescope has served as humanity’s premier eye on the cosmos, delivering images of breathtaking resolution that have fundamentally altered our understanding of the universe. Yet, Hubble’s view is akin to looking at the world through a drinking straw; it sees deeply, but narrowly. To answer the most pressing questions of the

Abstract The Artemis II mission, currently targeted for launch in early 2026, stands as the pivotal "gate" in the United States' and international partners' architecture for sustained deep space exploration. Distinct from the Apollo lunar sorties of the 20th century, which were driven by geopolitical urgency and utilized single-use architecture for short-duration stays, Artemis II is a validation flight for a reusable, long-term infrastructure designed to support a permanent

1. Introduction 1.1 The Evolving Landscape of Exoplanetary Science The pursuit of worlds beyond our solar system has transformed from a speculative endeavor into one of the most robust and rapidly expanding fields of modern astrophysics. For centuries, humanity looked at the stars and wondered if they were suns to other Earths. It was not until the early 1990s that the first confirmations of exoplanets—planets orbiting stars other than our Sun—began to trickle in. These early

Abstract The successful return of the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule (SRC) in September 2023 has provided the planetary science community with an unprecedented reservoir of pristine extraterrestrial material. Analysis of the 121.6 grams of regolith from asteroid (101955) Bennu has revealed a celestial body of immense chemical complexity: a carrier of ancient presolar grains derived from supernovae, a host to water-soluble magnesium-sodium phosphates indicative of a paleocea