Our teaching and research is dedicated to the exploration of the Moon, planets, and space, as well as the technologies necessary to do so. Here, space resources play a major role, as well as the extreme and unique environmental conditions on other celestial bodies.
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Inspired by the famous Pioneer plaque, the above depiction of the solar system embodies the goals of our research on lunar and planetary exploration. In addition to the Sun, the eight planets and the asteroid belt, it describes the distances of the planets from the Sun (binary code above the planets, in 1/10 of the distance of Mercury from the Sun) and the number of their respective moons (binary code below the planets).
The depiction of the solar system appeals to our natural curiosity to explore space and discover new worlds. It is merely a snapshot of the current state of knowledge, as, for example, new moons of the outer planets are discovered every year.
More on the Pioneer plaque:
Sagan, C., Sagan, L. S., & Drake, F. (1972). A Message from Earth. Science, 175(4024), 881–884. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1733664.
More on the numerical values we used:
NASA (2024). Planetary Factsheet. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/.