A Russian space probe aiming to land on a Mars moon was stuck circling the Earth after equipment failure Wednesday, and scientists raced to fire up its engines before the whole thing came crashing down.
Space Exploration
Nov 9, 2011
83
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A Russian probe on Wednesday set off on a three year return mission to Mars that aims to bring the first sample of a Martian moon back to Earth and re-establish Moscow as a power in planetary exploration. The Phobos-Grunt ...
Space Exploration
Nov 8, 2011
3
0
Tractor beams -- the ability to trap and move objects using laser light -- are the stuff of science fiction, but a team of NASA scientists has won funding to study the concept for remotely capturing planetary or atmospheric ...
General Physics
Oct 31, 2011
38
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Japan said it had successfully test-fired the engine of its "Akatsuki" space probe in preparation for a renewed attempt to get it into orbit around Venus in 2015.
Space Exploration
Sep 8, 2011
4
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The Dawn space probe entered into an orbit around the planetoid Vesta. The planetoid is 2.3 times further from the Sun than the Earth. Dawn used the force of gravity to get there. And an ion engine.
Space Exploration
Aug 2, 2011
1
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This year, a rocket will carry a boxcar-sized module into orbit, the first building block for a Chinese space station. Around 2013, China plans to launch a lunar probe that will set a rover loose on the moon. It wants to ...
Space Exploration
Jul 11, 2011
22
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New images of the asteroid show the first surface structures and give a preview of the Dawn mission's coming months.
Space Exploration
Jun 24, 2011
1
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to atomic clocks, every second counts. In fact, according to Marianna Safronova, every quintillionth of a second counts.
General Physics
Jun 2, 2011
0
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Portuguese physicists report that they have identified the unknown force whose influence on outward bound interplanetary space probes has puzzled scientists since 1998.
General Physics
May 5, 2011
11
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For some years now, NASA has been using what are called thermoelectric materials to power its space probes. The probes travel such great distances from our sun that solar panels are no longer an efficient ...
General Physics
Mar 31, 2011
4
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