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 moon is not the only natural object traveling through space alongside Earth. Several small asteroids travel around the sun in near lockstep with our planet. And just like Earth, these space rocks also take a year to complete ...
Astronomy
Jul 3, 2026
0
27
Hopefully, we're about to travel back to the moon relatively soon. And while the original "giant leap for mankind" was taken by a human, Neil Armstrong brought a plethora of other forms of life along with him. Humans themselves ...
Astrobiology
Jun 30, 2026
0
28
Uranus and Neptune remain two of the most mysterious objects in the solar system, primarily because they have been visited only by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 and 1989, respectively. Their "ice giant" moniker comes ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 26, 2026
0
204
NASA's Perseverance rover appears as a green speck on the Martian surface on June 13, 2026, a day before the robotic explorer marked a distance milestone, having traveled a full marathon (26.2 miles, or 42.195 kilometers) ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 24, 2026
0
32
Mars' innermost moon, Phobos, has long puzzled planetary scientists, who have continually debated whether it's a captured asteroid or formed from debris after a giant impactor struck the Martian surface. The key to solving ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 22, 2026
0
186
Researchers are constantly sifting through new spectral data gathered by powerful telescopes, like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Most of the time, when they identify spectral features—specific absorption or emission ...
The group leading the charge in the search for extraterrestrial life has given the all clear: An interstellar comet looks to be completely natural and free of any alien tech.
Planetary Sciences
Jun 20, 2026
0
38
Even at this early stage in our spacefaring age, humanity has already begun sending probes that will eventually reach other solar systems, even if that was not their original intention. Five robotic explorers—Pioneer 10 and ...
Astronomy
Jun 16, 2026
1
35
Could Earth have seeded Jupiter's moon Europa with bacterial life, where it could have taken hold in Europa's ocean and perhaps evolved into something more? That's the hypothesis of a new paper in the International Journal ...
A debate has been raging among planetary scientists for more than a decade—why are there so few exoplanets with a radius of about 1.8 times that of Earth? Exoplanets are currently largely grouped into two distinct categories—"super-Earths" ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 14, 2026
0
39
