Interesting Engineering on MSN1d
Nuclear-powered spacecraft with 11,000-pound payload planned by US space firms
The goal of enabling extended deep-space exploration is driving NASA, space agencies, and private players to explore nuclear ...
The Conversation on MSN2d
Inside radioisotope generators, the ‘nuclear batteries’ that power faraway spacecraft
How do we power missions in the outer reaches of our solar system and beyond? The solution, developed in the '60s, can last ...
Astronomy on MSN3d
Why so many spacecraft carry magnetometers
Pictures may enliven us, but other data, such as information about magnetic fields, add a huge amount to our understanding of ...
Private spacecraft arrives on the moon but most likely didn’t stick the landing
For the second time in less than a week, a privately built U.S. spacecraft has landed on the moon, but it was not a perfect ...
Space.com3d
Asteroid 2024 YR4 no longer threatens to hit Earth, but we can still hit it — for science!
When that happens, once a spacecraft has left Earth's gravity well, it can reach the asteroid essentially "for free"; it doesn't need that much extra velocity. The researchers estimated that fly ...
See the Blue Ghost spacecraft drilling into the moon’s surface
The Blue Ghost mission to the moon has deployed one its NASA instruments, drilling into the moon's surface to collect ...
The New York Times3d
Highlights From Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s Return to Earth
We call it the nest.” “Now working to get that spacecraft situated in the nest. And there you have it. The side hatch is open for the first time since September.” “It looks like we’re ...
Concept for interstellar object encounters developed, then simulated using a spacecraft swarm
Interstellar objects are among the last unexplored classes of solar system objects, holding tantalizing information about primitive materials from exoplanetary star systems. They pass through our ...