Highlight Advances in Planetary Physics in the Solar System: In Situ Detection Over the Past 20 Years

Abstract

Planetary science is the science of studying planets, moons, and planetary systems. The scale of the research objects ranges from small meteoroids to large gas giant planets, and the research purpose is to determine their composition, dynamics, formation, evolution, mutual relationship, and history. With the development of human space technology, planetary exploration has become one of the most important space exploration activities of mankind. According to statistics from the Spacecraft Encyclopedia website, as of December 2021, a total of 252 planetary probes have been launched around the world. The missions reveal the deep space to humankind. In this paper, we review some advances in planetary science made by these missions in the past years. The topics involve interior structures, geological features, atmospheres, magnetospheres, and so on, not every aspect but as much as possible. Although there are still many extraordinary scientific results that have not been included, we believe that this review can already help people learn about the scientific results of planetary exploration and hopefully inspire the next generation of planetary missions.