Though they focus on the star at the center of our solar system, three of NASA's Sun-watching spacecraft have captured unique views of the planets throughout the last several months. Using instruments that look not at the Sun itself, but at the constant outflow of solar material from the Sun, the missions—ESA and NASA's Solar Orbiter, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, and NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory—have sent home images from their distinct vantage points across the inner solar system.

All three missions carry instruments to study the Sun and its influence on space, including cameras that look out the sides of the spacecraft to study the Sun's outer atmosphere, the solar wind, and the dust in the inner solar system. It's these instruments that, at various points in 2020, saw several planets pass through their fields of view.

The European Data Relay System, or EDRS, uses cutting-edge laser technology to greatly reduce the time it takes for information to be sent from low-Earth orbiting spacecraft—such as the Earth observing Sentinel satellites—to Earth.

The system makes Earth observation information available in almost real-time, which can help disaster management workers and the emergency services accelerate their responses to natural crises.

Known as the "space data highway," it currently consists of an extensive network of European ground stations and control centres, and two sister satellites: EDRS-A and EDRS-C. Both are in geostationary orbit at an altitude of around 36 000 km, far higher than low-Earth orbiting spacecraft, which typically have an altitude of below 1000 km.

Thanks to the orbital position of the system's satellites, low-Earth orbiting spacecraft lie within the field of view of EDRS for extended periods. At the same time, EDRS has a permanent connection to its own ground stations located on European soil.

Traditionally, when a low-Earth orbiting satellite sends information to Earth, it must wait until it has a direct line of sight to a ground station. This can lead to delays of up to 90 minutes.

Instead, the EDRS satellites relay data from spacecraft within their field of view, allowing people on Earth to receive Earth observation information in almost real-time.

Since its launch in September 2016, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has traveled billions of miles, mapped the surface of an asteroid in unprecedented detail, and made new scientific discoveries about near-Earth asteroids. Now, it's preparing to bring a piece of asteroid Bennu home.

On May 10, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will say farewell to asteroid Bennu and begin its two-year journey back to Earth, where the dust and rocks collected during the Touch-And-Go maneuver in October will be studied by scientists, including OSIRIS-REx mission principal investigator and University of Arizona planetary scientist Dante Lauretta.

During its Oct. 20, 2020, sample collection event, the spacecraft collected a substantial amount of material from Bennu's surface, likely exceeding the mission's requirement of 2 ounces, or 60 grams.