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.
Acoustic signals have been important markers during NASA's Mars missions. Measurements of sound can provide information both about Mars itself—such as turbulence in its atmosphere, changes in its temperature, and its surface ...
Planetary Sciences
Dec 4, 2025
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Sometime in 2029, the European Space Agency is scheduled to launch its Comet Interceptor Mission. The Interceptor will wait for a long-period comet to arrive in the inner solar system then set off on a trajectory to rendezvous ...
Space Exploration
Dec 4, 2025
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24
There's been a lot of speculation recently about interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS—much of which is probably caused by low-quality data given that we have to observe it from either Earth, or in some cases, Mars. In either case, ...
Astronomy
Dec 3, 2025
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The asteroid Bennu continues to provide new clues to scientists' biggest questions about the formation of the early solar system and the origins of life. As part of the ongoing study of pristine samples delivered to Earth ...
Astrobiology
Dec 2, 2025
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140
On 2 December 1995, the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) blasted into space—on what was supposed to be a two-year mission.
Astronomy
Dec 2, 2025
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Since the 1950s, humanity has been searching for extraterrestrial life with increasingly sophisticated tools. But after decades of space probes, meteorite analysis, radio telescopes, and UFO investigations, what have we actually ...
Astrobiology
Nov 29, 2025
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NASA's Europa Clipper captured this image of a starfield—and the planet Uranus—on Nov. 5, 2025, while experimenting with one of its two stellar reference units. These star-tracking cameras are used for maintaining spacecraft ...
Astrobiology
Nov 21, 2025
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70
Since comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object, was discovered on 1 July 2025, astronomers worldwide have worked to predict its trajectory. ESA has now improved the comet's predicted location by a factor of 10, ...
Astronomy
Nov 14, 2025
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757
Blue Origin launched its huge New Glenn rocket Thursday with a pair of NASA spacecraft destined for Mars.
Space Exploration
Nov 14, 2025
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135
Envision a time when hundreds of spacecraft are exploring the solar system and beyond. That's the future that NASA's ESCAPADE, or escape and plasma acceleration and dynamics explorers, mission will help unleash: one where ...
Space Exploration
Nov 13, 2025
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