On February 28, 2007, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft made its closest approach to Jupiter on its ultimate journey to Pluto. This flyby gave scientists a unique opportunity to study Jupiter using the package of instruments available on New Horizons, while coordinating observations from both space- and ground-based telescopes including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Rosetta, the European Space Agency's (ESA) spacecraft en route to comet 67P Churyumov Gerasimenko, is gearing up for a swing-by of Mars on 25th February 2007, which will help set it on the correct path to its final destination.

To celebrate the rapid advances in space travel"Å¡ the Science Museum is showcasing a conceptual mock-up cabin of the world's first ever vehicle for space tourism - the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo - which is going on show in the UK for the first time.

Earlier this month ESA's Rosetta had a first look at asteroid 21-Lutetia, one of the targets of its long mission. The onboard camera OSIRIS imaged the asteroid passing through its field of view during the spacecraft's gradual approach to Mars. The planet will be reached on 25 February 2007 for the mission's next gravity assist.

NASA is poised to launch on Feb. 15 five identical space probes - the largest number of spacecraft ever attempted by the agency on a single rocket - to solve a decades-long mystery about the origin of magnetic storms that turn the green, shimmering curtains of the Earth's Northern and Southern Lights into colorful, dancing light shows.

Ever since NASA's Stardust spacecraft delivered a payload of comet dust to Earth on Jan. 15, 2006, scientists by the hundreds have been clamoring for samples.