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.
Interstellar objects are among the last unexplored classes of solar system objects, holding tantalizing information about primitive materials from exoplanetary star systems. They pass through our solar system only once in ...
Astronomy
Mar 20, 2025
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Exploration of the outer solar system may be getting a boost from the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO). When this gigantic telescope opens its eye later in 2025, it begins a decade-long survey of the ever-changing sky. As part ...
Astronomy
Mar 17, 2025
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56
Ingenuity proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that a helicopter can operate on another planet. Over 72 flights, the little quadcopter that could captivated the imagination of space exploration fans everywhere. But, several ...
Space Exploration
Mar 17, 2025
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36
It's lights out for the first private lunar lander to pull off a fully successful moon mission.
Space Exploration
Mar 17, 2025
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222
On the way to investigate the scene of a historic asteroid collision, a European spacecraft swung by Mars and captured rare images of the red planet's mysterious small moon Deimos, the European Space Agency (ESA) said Thursday.
Planetary Sciences
Mar 13, 2025
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An international team of astronomers working with the Canada France Hawaii Telescope have discovered a whopping 128 more moons orbiting Saturn. The Minor Planet Center confirmed the discoveries on March 11. The team observed ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 13, 2025
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123
On 12 March 2025, ESA's Hera spacecraft for planetary defense performs a flyby of Mars. The gravity of the red planet shifts the spacecraft's trajectory towards the Didymos binary asteroid system, shortening its trip by months ...
Space Exploration
Mar 12, 2025
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44
Landing a spacecraft on the moon has long been a series of hits and misses.
Space Exploration
Mar 8, 2025
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77
A privately owned lunar lander touched down on the moon Thursday, but as the minutes dragged on, flight controllers could not confirm its condition or whether it was even upright near the south pole.
Space Exploration
Mar 6, 2025
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81
Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California turned off the cosmic ray subsystem experiment aboard Voyager 1 on Feb. 25 and will shut off Voyager 2's low-energy charged particle instrument ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 5, 2025
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