For the public good, I hereby declare that this post will be the last to feature that most accursed of literary devices, alliteration.

In the mean time, the European Space Agency is planning to launch a mission involving a craft which utilises an electric propulsion engine (yes, those things out of Star Trek - which, for the record, I do not and have never watched). The engine will allow intersteller travel at speeds far greater than previously possible. It is initially planned for use in moon missions.

And in other space news, Uranus is also approaching its opposition with Earth (much like Mars did last month). It will be clearly visible through a good pair of binoculars amidst the constellation Capricornus the Sea Goat. For my southerner comrades, the pale green disc may be found by following an imaginary line formed by the moon and Mars (which is, despite a lack of media coverage may suggest, still visible). It looks like a bright star to the naked eye.