How NASA's Deep Space Network supports the agency's missions

Over 50 years ago, NASA captured the world's imagination and inspired generations with the Apollo 11 moon landing. NASA's then-young Deep Space Network (DSN) was crucial to tracking and communicating with that mission, as ...

Image: Space antenna

Unlike traditional satellite dishes used to pick up television signals, this antenna has to work in space itself. Rather than being clamped to an apartment balcony, it will be installed on the exterior of Europe's Columbus ...

Catching signals from a speeding satellite

Soaring high above Earth as they speed through space, satellites are difficult targets to track. Now a new approach developed in Europe is helping ground stations to acquire signals faster and more accurately than ever before.

Inflatable antennae could give CubeSats greater reach

The future of satellite technology is getting small—about the size of a shoebox, to be exact. These so-called "CubeSats," and other small satellites, are making space exploration cheaper and more accessible: The minuscule ...

Prolific NASA orbiter reaches five-year mark

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's versatile Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which began orbiting Mars five years ago tomorrow, March 10, has radically expanded our knowledge of the Red Planet and is now working overtime.

Shuttle Discovery arrives at space station

(AP) -- Space shuttle Discovery successfully docked at the International Space Station early Wednesday, its astronauts overcoming a rare antenna breakdown that knocked out radar tracking.

Spirit Healthy but Computer Reboots Raise Concerns

(PhysOrg.com) -- The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is examining data received from Spirit in recent days to diagnose why the rover apparently rebooted its computer at least twice over the April 11-12 ...