...spacecraft, and this is the source of ion propulsion’s extraordinary efficacy. North is at the top of this figure and the sun is far to the left. Ceres orbital motion around the sun carries it straight into the figure. The original approach took Dawn...
... to explore ways to deflect or destroy threatening asteroids. As asteroids orbit the Sun and the Earth orbits the Sun, our aim was to find the most cost-effective way to change the orbit of the asteroid ever so slightly, just to set it off course and...
... nearly perpendicular to Mercury’s orbital plane around the Sun, ensuring that the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ of the spacecraft are never Sun-pointed. Each of the eight side panels is fitted with solar cells, with the areas not covered equipped instead with...
...is a lithium-abundant, intermediate-mass giant start (1.64 mass of the Sun), located about 5300 light years from Earth. Lithium-rich stars ... theory. Researchers that discovered KIC 9821622 emphasize the need for further observation of this and other...