August 2020
Interstellar aspirations
... to make interstellar missions plausible. The first engineering attempt to build a fusion-propelled rocket, based on Freeman Dyson’s Orion concept, began in the late 1950s. Dr Dyson’s idea was to use a series of fusion explosions – effectively ‘bombs...
October 2020
Superconductors - key to unlocking high power space missions
... and converters have also been demonstrated in several projects around the world. Artist’s impression of the Orion spacecraft re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Radiation shielding The most promising option for transporting large spacecraft efficiently...
February 2021
Space archaeology - preserving our orbital heritage
...’ missions have been suggested and may offer a future solution: they include using a crewed DreamChaser or possibly an Orion or Dragon capsule to re-boost the telescope’s orbit and extend its lifespan. These rendezvous options were certainly...
July 2021
A shared vision for space exploration
... and Russia, are also planning lunar exploration programmes. A view of the full Gateway configuration with an approaching Orion spacecraft. Artemis activities will be just as different. Instead of the ‘flags and footprints’ of Apollo, the Artemis...
October 2021
Russia and China – a new space axis
... and operation. Other countries could offer components, which might or might not be accepted (Europe builds the Orion service module, for example), but it would be NASA-supervised and directed throughout. Having been a co-equal on the...
January 2022
Revealing the magnetic universe
...-mass (Sun-like) protostar. Similar features have now been observed by SOFIA on larger (1-100 pc) scales of the Orion star-forming region and a super star cluster in 30 Doradus, more than 10 and 1000 times bigger than...
