Q&A with Earl Maize, Cassini project manager (members only)

The launch of three experimental remote sensing satellites last week signaled the resumption of Chinese space launches following multiple rocket failures since late last year, but a senior Chinese space official has confirmed the Chang’e 5 mission to return samples from the moon remains grounded.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft radioed home Wednesday after a high-speed dash through the wispy fountains of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, sampling particles that hold telltale hints whether alien life could survive somewhere in the depths of a vast global ocean hidden beneath a crust of rumpled ice.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft — in its 11th year orbiting Saturn — has spotted the gas giant and its haze-covered moon Titan suspended in the blackness of space like diamonds in the rough.