As ships sail the seas or rockets launch into space, each mission’s name holds a special allure – but who decides what these powerful machines should be called? Answering that question involves equal parts history, tradition and mythological symbolism. NASA has had a protocol in place since the early 1960s for naming missions and spacecrafts….
As in throwing something, satellites are launched by rocket to enter their orbit around Earth, like any object being launched from the ground. But unlike its trajectory when being released directly, their paths follow curves rather than straight paths. Satellites in high orbit offer scientists stunning pictures of our planet and solar system. At the…
Mercury orbits quickly around the Sun and scientists seeking to understand its mysteries have quickly identified a spacecraft capable of reaching it within sufficient timeframe. Slowing a spacecraft with flybys may be straightforward, but getting it to Mercury’s speed requires more complicated methods. Here’s how scientists plan to achieve their goal. Mariner 10 Chen-Wan Yen…
After several failed mission concepts, JPL and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory engineers and scientists moved ahead with New Horizons; however, its mission had several limitations that had to be taken into consideration. New Horizons only had nine minutes to take the best, most focused photos of Pluto – that’s like hitting a golf…
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has pioneered fully reusable launch, propellant delivery, rendezvous and planetary landing systems designed to lower spaceflight costs while expanding human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Their flagship products are the Falcon rocket family and Dragon spacecraft. Dragons have delivered cargo and supplies to the International Space Station and performed NASA astronaut…
Since 1957 when the first artificial satellite was launched, thousands of spacecraft have orbited Earth. While some are placed into polar orbits for communications or weather purposes, others such as communications satellites orbit in geostationary orbits for longer-term performance. Like throwing a ball into the air creates an unpredictable path towards its landing point, spacecraft…
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, commonly referred to as the Marscopter, has captured breathtaking photos of spacecraft wreckage on Mars. These pictures reveal parts of Perseverance Rover’s parachute and backshell that assisted with landing last year on this planet. Images show that most of the backshell, parachute and suspension lines made it through to land safely despite…
Luxury living often means choosing trailer-based RV’s designed with light construction in order to be easily transported on personal vehicles, which limits how many amenities can be included within. Spacecraft custom rigs may not come cheaply, but their construction ensures decades of use on the road – as evidenced by many still being on the…
Scientists have long puzzled over why Venus appears to be such an unstable, polluted version of Earth. Today, NASA announced it had approved two missions to study this turbulent world. DAVINCI+ will examine the planet’s toxic atmosphere while VERITAS will map its surface and search for any sign that it once hosted water. Venera 1…
