NASA starts reassessment of Mars Sample Return architecture
Saturday, 21 October 2023 16:15India tests launch escape system in step towards sending astronauts to orbit
Saturday, 21 October 2023 10:56NASA engineers innovate to keep Voyagers exploring interstellar space
Saturday, 21 October 2023 06:59NASA's intrepid Voyager twins, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, launched in 1977, continue their unprecedented explorations of interstellar space. But as they reach farther distances from Earth-more than 15 billion miles for Voyager 1 and 12 billion for Voyager 2-keeping them operational requires strategic forethought. One pressing concern relates to the gradual buildup of propellant residue in t
India launches key test for manned orbital mission
Saturday, 21 October 2023 06:59India on Saturday successfully launched the first unmanned trial run of its upcoming crewed orbital mission, in the latest milestone for its spacefaring ambitions. The Gaganyaan ("Skycraft") mission is slated to send three astronauts into Earth's orbit in 2025, an important yardstick of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) technical capabilities. Saturday's rocket tested the
India conducts space flight test ahead of planned mission to take astronauts into space in 2025
Saturday, 21 October 2023 05:23Upgraded star trackers could give more satellites a debris-monitoring role
Friday, 20 October 2023 20:01Space Development Agency awards York Space $615 million contract for 62 satellites
Friday, 20 October 2023 18:05Pakistan becomes latest country to join China’s ILRS moon project
Friday, 20 October 2023 17:23Canada’s budget boost for Radarsat is part of its climate strategy
Friday, 20 October 2023 16:38NASA's Voyager team focuses on software patch, thrusters
Friday, 20 October 2023 16:12Engineers for NASA's Voyager mission are taking steps to help make sure both spacecraft, launched in 1977, continue to explore interstellar space for years to come.
One effort addresses fuel residue that seems to be accumulating inside narrow tubes in some of the thrusters on the spacecraft. The thrusters are used to keep each spacecraft's antenna pointed at Earth. This type of buildup has been observed in a handful of other spacecraft.
Hera asteroid mission goes on trial
Friday, 20 October 2023 13:40At some point, statistically speaking, a large asteroid will impact Earth. Whether that’s tomorrow, in ten years, or a problem for our ancestors, ESA is getting prepared.
As part of the world’s first test of asteroid deflection, ESA’s Hera mission will perform a detailed post-impact survey of Dimorphos – the 160-metre asteroid struck, and successfully deflected, by NASA’s DART spacecraft.
Hera will soon study the aftermath. Launching in October 2024, Hera will turn this grand-scale experiment into a well-understood and hopefully repeatable planetary defence technique.
But before Hera and its two CubeSats fly, they’re rigorously tested at ESA’s ESTEC test
Week in images: 16-20 October 2023
Friday, 20 October 2023 12:10Week in images: 16-20 October 2023
Discover our week through the lens