LIKE something out of the captain’s log, they have been scouring the depths of outer space for distant planets, stars and galaxies to solve that most enduring of questions… is anybody out there?

Several missions to planets within our own Solar System are just as intriguing: the Venus Express to the planet which blows hot and cold; a much anticipated journey to the first rock from the sun Mercury; the fantastic voyage into the mysterious rings of Saturn.

And then, of course, there are those regular attempts to address a debate that has been aired by everyone from the ancient Romans to David Bowie… is there Life on Mars? It may surprise some people, but scientists from Swindon have had a hand in all of the above – along with countless other space projects – that are turning science fiction into science fact.

They have also played a part in capturing spell-binding images from across the universe… from the “unimaginatively violent” birth of a black hole to the explosive death throes of a far-flung star.

Last week we learned that scientific instruments funded by Swindon boffins will be on a craft heading towards the sun to check out space weather and how it affects our daily lives.

Future space missions will doubtless be revealed from Polaris House, North Star – headquarters of UK Space Agency (UKSA.) Bringing together a host of bodies involved in the nation’s space activities, UKSA was launched two years ago to “guarantee Britain's place among the stars.”

How fitting that Swindon, a railway town whose 19th Century locomotives would have seemed like space ships to anyone living 100 years or so earlier, was chosen as the agency’s HQ.

But then Swindon is no stranger to planetary probes, observation satellites and utilising the latest instruments for gazing at distant stars and galaxies: the town’s history in such matters goes back almost half-a-century to the creation of the Science Research Council in 1965.

With a remit that included funding British astronomy and space research it morphed into the Particles, Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and then the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC – no, not the football club.) STFC still exists at Polaris House focusing on, among other things, astronomy and particle physics after UKSA took over its space exploration exploits; so now, Swindon boasts two major organisations that are reaching for the stars.

Space science has changed all of our lives, having revolutionised telecommunications, climate and weather forecasting, environmental management, navigation (satnavs) and TV broadcasting.

However, there is also a “wow” factor to pursue. Both organisations are undoubtedly inspired – as The Day of the Triffids author John Wyndham memorably put it – by “the outward urge”… the compulsion to push further and farther into the unknown realms of space.

With the exception of the ill-fated 2003 Beagle 2 mission to Mars (lost in space, possibly a crushed heap somewhere on the Red Planet) the UK does not generally mount its own major space expeditions.

Via Swindon, though, it contributes millions either in cash, expertise or UK-made instruments to projects launched by NASA or the European Space Agency (ESA) of which Britain is a member.

Few missions have been more dramatic than the joint NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens voyage to Saturn. After a journey of seven years – which included taking some snaps of the Solar System’s largest planet Jupiter along the way – it arrived at its destination in 2004.

Stunning images of the ringed planet – one of the “crown jewels of the Solar System” – were relayed to wide-eyed scientists back home.

On the News at Ten around six months later, “the extraordinarily Earth-like world of Titan” was revealed from more than a billion miles away after the Huygens probe parachuted from the Cassini craft onto Saturn’s “rainy moon” and started taking photos.

ESA’s Venus Express, meanwhile, is hurtling around our nearest neighbour, a mere 25 million miles away, having been sending back science information for seven years.

When it set off for the Solar System’s brightest planet in 2005 PPARC’s chief executive Professor Keith Mason said that in terms of helping us understand climate change, its data would have a “huge impact on the way we deal with conditions on Earth.”

The joint European/Japanese Mission to Mercury BepiColombo is due to take off in two years before arriving 56 million miles later in 2022 at the planet which famously fries during the day and freezes at night.

When the expedition was announced, Professor Mason spoke of the immense technical challenges in sending a probe to Mercury amidst the planet’s extreme heat conditions, high levels of radiation and the gravitational pull of the Sun.

“A mission of this complexity reveals the ingenuity of our scientists and engineers,” he said.

It probably wasn’t inhabited by little green men, but there may well have been life on Mars – disappointingly, in the form of “extremely primitive micro-organisms.”

This conclusion followed evidence of water and methane detected by the Mars Express, operating from 2003-2012. Its cameras further produced dramatic images of canyons, craters and frozen lakes.

In three years another UK-assisted probe will lift-off to the Red Planet to discover how it was created.

If you thought the film Space Cowboys was a bit far-fetched, when Tommy Lee Jones saved the day by crashing a spacecraft onto the Moon and spent his final minutes gazing wistfully back at the beautiful blue Earth… think again.

Having spent three years on an in-depth study of the lunar surface – what’s it made of, how was it formed, etc – ESA’s “suicide mission to the Moon” concluded in startling, almost Hollywood style.

Scientists sent their £70 million SMART-1 spacecraft crashing into a region of the Moon called The Lake of Excellence, thus creating some impressive footage for the folks back home. OK, Bruce Willis wasn’t onboard, but it was still spectacular stuff.

It sounds a bit Dr Who but scientists can actually see – although sadly not travel – billions of years back in time. That is what ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory is doing as it quietly goes about its business a million miles away.

Explains Dr David Parker, UKSA’s Director of Space Science and Exploration: “Herschel can see back in time because the light left the stars and has been travelling through space ever since – only now to be captured by the spacecraft’s sensitive eyes.”

The search for alien life has been at the forefront of space exploration, notably with the use of increasingly powerful and sophisticated telescopes, both on Earth and in space. Over the years there have been some encouraging signs.

In 2001 Polaris House announced the discovery of one of “Earth’s second cousins” – and released an artist’s impression of the said planet looking like a theatrical backdrop from a Dan Dare adventure. Around 600,000,000 earth miles away and located within the constellation of Horologium, it led scientists to conclude that it was “only a matter of time” before they stumble upon a “brother planet for Earth.”

The search goes on…