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.
Sometimes scientists must dig and work and sweat to make scientific discoveries. And sometimes a robot rolls over a rock that turns out to be a revelation.
Astrobiology
Mar 5, 2025
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290
Japanese startup ispace on Tuesday set a June 6 target touchdown date for its moon lander, following the success of its rocket "rideshare" buddy, a spacecraft from a US firm.
Space Exploration
Mar 4, 2025
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30
On December 3, 2018, NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) successfully rendezvoused with the near-earth asteroid (NEA) 101955 Bennu. Over the next two ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 3, 2025
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825
More than fifty years passed between the last Apollo mission and the United States' return to the lunar surface, when the first-ever private lander touched down last February.
Space Exploration
Mar 2, 2025
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50
Landing a spacecraft on the moon has long been a series of hits and misses.
Space Exploration
Mar 2, 2025
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56
Led by Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California, and their partners at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Rocket Lab's Venus mission will be the first private mission to the planet.
Space Exploration
Feb 27, 2025
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83
A US company is aiming for its second lunar touchdown after a lander carrying a suite of unique experiments successfully launched aboard a SpaceX rocket on Wednesday.
Space Exploration
Feb 27, 2025
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86
Intuitive Machines made history last year as the first private company to put a robot on the moon, although the triumph was marred by the lander tipping onto its side.
Space Exploration
Feb 26, 2025
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51
NASA's Lucy spacecraft has its next flyby target, the small main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, in its sights. By blinking between images captured by Lucy on Feb. 20 and 22, this animation shows the perceived motion of Donaldjohanson ...
Astronomy
Feb 25, 2025
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144
On March 1, NASA's Europa Clipper will streak just 550 miles (884 kilometers) above the surface of Mars for what's known as a gravity assist—a maneuver to bend the spacecraft's trajectory and position it for a critical leg ...
Space Exploration
Feb 25, 2025
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41
