Solar System in fiction close to the Sun and its surface was exposed to extremes of temperature. The asteroids were too tiny and airless. By the early 20th century, prospects for life in the Solar System focused on Venus, the larger moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and especially Mars. With the onset of the Space Age, planetary probes cast increasing doubt on the likelihood of extraterrestrial life in the Solar System, at least life of any magnitude greater than organisms such as bacteria. By the mid-1960s, it was firmly established that life could have no foothold on the hostile surfaces of Mercury or Venus,
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research interactions with the solar wind, the atmospheric dynamics, or the generation of the terrestrial magnetic field by means of currents deep in the iron core of our planet. In addition, the Institute has along tradition in cometary research. A major highlight was the camera developed at the Institute for the ESA spacecraft Giotto which delivered the first photographs ever of a comet’s nucleus in 1986. A particular challenge was the development of numerous scientific instruments for the ESA Mission Rosetta, such as cameras, chemical analyzers, and essential components for the landing module Philae. Rosetta was launched in 2004, and matched