October 2017
Cassini observations open up Saturn’s atmosphere
...-dawn sky over Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was the beginning of an unprecedented journey of discovery, as the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft left the confines of Earth bound for the ringed giant, Saturn. This sophisticated interplanetary explorer went...
March 2018
Plumes on Europa - tasting an extra-terrestrial ocean
...+) from an active plume should be detectable with the on-board particle detector instruments. Testing a model of the JUICE spacecraft 16 m antenna system in September 2017. Europa’s ocean The presence of water on Europa has been known about for...
June 2018
Cosmic communications and the anthropology of outer space
... “we have no clue.” Each of the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 carries a 12-inch gold-plated phonograph ...’ of the solar system taken by Voyager 1 (pictured right). The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system...
August 2016
Flying in formation - why China and the rest of the world should collaborate
...of space flight, there were sometimes two crewed spacecraft flying closely together. But they all were short-...such a co-orbital station scenario ‘space station formation’. The spacecraft fly at different positions in the same orbit, work independently...
January 2017
Elon Musk and Mars - looking for a snowball effect
... is three to four times the size of the Saturn V in terms of engine thrust and payload capacity. The interplanetary spacecraft which it carries is intended to accommodate 100 people for the four months or so of the journey, and a supporting tanker...
January 2018
SLS ushers transformation of deep space exploration
... need for payload elements such as antennas to be folded for launch and then deployed in space, thus decreasing spacecraft complexity and risk. Reducing transit time by enabling a direct trajectory without gravitational assists reduces mission risk...
