Space probes as a research area encompasses the design, deployment, and scientific utilization of uncrewed spacecraft sent beyond Earth orbit to investigate planetary bodies, small Solar System objects, and the heliosphere, and increasingly to perform astrophysical observations from deep space. Research focuses on mission architecture, autonomous navigation and operations, radiation-hardened avionics, long-duration power systems (e.g., RTGs, advanced solar arrays), high-gain communications, and in situ and remote-sensing payloads optimized for extreme environments. The field integrates planetary science, space plasma physics, and instrumentation, emphasizing data acquisition strategies, sample return capabilities, and technology maturation for future interplanetary and interstellar exploration.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), launched by NASA in 2005, is orbiting Mars tasked with studying its atmosphere, surface, and subsurface in unprecedented detail. Equipped with a suite of advanced instruments—including ...
Planetary Sciences
May 30, 2025
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49
Advancing new hazard detection and precision landing technologies to help future space missions successfully achieve safe and soft landings is a critical area of space research and development, particularly for future crewed ...
Space Exploration
May 30, 2025
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30
China on Thursday launched a space probe on the country's first mission to retrieve samples from an asteroid and bring them home for research, the Xinhua state news agency reported.
Space Exploration
May 28, 2025
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50
Andy Weir's bestselling story "The Martian" predicts that by 2035 NASA will have landed humans on Mars three times, perfected return-to-Earth flight systems and collaborated with the China National Space Administration. We ...
Planetary Sciences
May 22, 2025
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86
In recent years, humanity has visited several near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), including Ryugu (Hayabusa2) and Didymos (DART). However, we will need more frequent missions to start gathering more helpful information about this ...
Space Exploration
May 21, 2025
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23
The moon's nearside (that is, the side facing Earth) is dark-colored and dominated by ancient lava flows, whereas the farside is more rugged—and NASA researchers now suggest it's due to a wonky lunar interior. Using data ...
Planetary Sciences
May 17, 2025
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156
Getting a probe to the icy giant planets takes some time—a journey to Uranus could take as long as 13 years, even with a gravity assist from Jupiter. However, several ideas are in the works to speed up that process, especially ...
Space Exploration
May 16, 2025
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75
The Southwest Research Institute-led Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) aboard NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has successfully completed its initial commissioning following the October 14, 2024, launch. Scheduled to arrive ...
Space Exploration
May 15, 2025
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71
NASA's Perseverance rover captured this view of Deimos, the smaller of Mars's two moons, shining in the sky at 4:27 a.m. local time on March 1, 2025, the 1,433rd Martian day (sol) of the mission. In the dark before dawn, ...
Planetary Sciences
May 15, 2025
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40
China's Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission is set to launch this month, May 2025, en route to the asteroid Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3). The country could join the United States and Japan, whose space agencies have both successfully ...
Planetary Sciences
May 13, 2025
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