News tagged with spacecraft
Maglev track could launch spacecraft into orbit
(PhysOrg.com) -- With the aim to make it easier to launch spacecraft into low Earth orbit (LEO), two researchers have turned to maglev technology to catapult a payload hundreds of miles above the Earth. While ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 13, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (58) |
37
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Voyager 1 hits new region at solar system edge
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered a new region between our solar system and interstellar space. Data obtained from Voyager over the last year reveal this new region to be a kind of cosmic ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 05, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (37) |
118
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Kepler announces 11 planetary systems hosting 26 planets
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified Kepler planets and triple the number of stars ...
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (24) |
7
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Dwarf planet mysteries beckon to New Horizons
(PhysOrg.com) -- At this very moment one of the fastest spacecraft ever launched -- NASA's New Horizons -- is hurtling through the void at nearly one million miles per day. Launched in 2006, it has been in ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 05, 2011 |
5 / 5 (22) |
11
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Future NASA mission to sun 'a life's dream' for some
The chest-high rack of electronics Justin Kasper is assembling in a Massachusetts office park will fit in a shoe box before he's done.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 16, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (24) |
10
The annihilating effects of space travel
Long distance space travel could create the ultimate 'killer entrance', devastating your destination and anything around the arriving spacecraft, according to calculations by Professor Geraint Lewis and two ...
Mar 12, 2012 |
3.8 / 5 (24) |
34
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Voyager 2 to switch to backup thruster set
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Deep Space Network personnel sent commands to the Voyager 2 spacecraft Nov. 4 to switch to the backup set of thrusters that controls the roll of the spacecraft. Confirmation was received ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 07, 2011 |
5 / 5 (18) |
42
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Pluto's hidden ocean
When NASA's New Horizons cruises by Pluto in 2015, the images it captures could help astronomers determine if an ocean is hiding under the frigid surface, opening the door to new possibilities for liquid water ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 24, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (17) |
11
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Voyager instrument cooling after heater turned off
(PhysOrg.com) -- In order to reduce power consumption, mission managers have turned off a heater on part of NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, dropping the temperature of its ultraviolet spectrometer instrument ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jan 18, 2012 |
4.7 / 5 (18) |
22
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Engineers fight for stranded Mars probe after 'sign of life' (Update)
Engineers fought desperately on Wednesday to save Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft after the Martian probe sent "a first sign of life" more than two weeks after being stranded in orbit.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 23, 2011 |
4.6 / 5 (18) |
15
Cassini successfully flies over Enceladus
These raw, unprocessed images of Saturn's moons Enceladus and Tethys were taken on April 14, 2012, by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Apr 17, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (18) |
0
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Jeff Bezos' spaceship fails during test flight
An unmanned spacecraft bankrolled by Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos failed during a recent test flight.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 03, 2011 |
3.9 / 5 (18) |
31
Strange hollows discovered on Mercury
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has discovered strange hollows on the surface of Mercury. Images taken from orbit reveal thousands of peculiar depressions at a variety of longitudes and latitudes, ranging in size ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 25, 2011 |
4.7 / 5 (15) |
12
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Voyager 2 completes switch to backup thruster set
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Voyager 2 has successfully switched to the backup set of thrusters that controls the roll of the spacecraft. Deep Space Network personnel sent commands to the spacecraft to make the ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 15, 2011 |
4.6 / 5 (15) |
2
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Getting to know the Goldilocks planet
NASA's Kepler spacecraft is discovering a veritable avalanche of alien worlds. Recent finds include planets with double suns, massive "super-Earths" and "hot Jupiters," and a miniature solar system. ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (13) |
0
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Spacecraft
A spacecraft is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters space then returns to the Earth. For an orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters a closed orbit around the planetary body. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or passengers. Spacecraft used for robotic space missions operate either autonomously or telerobotically. Robotic spacecraft that leave the vicinity of the planetary body are space probes. Robotic spacecraft that remain in orbit around the planetary body are artificial satellites. Starships, which are built for interstellar travel, are so far a theoretical concept only (aside from a handful of interstellar probes such as Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager, and New Horizons).
Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and space tourism. Spacecraft and space travel are common themes in works of science fiction.
For more information about Spacecraft, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
