Search results for Matt Williams, Universe Today

Space Exploration May 17, 2021

60 years later, is it time to update the Drake equation?

On November 1, 1961, a number of prominent scientists converged on the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, for a three-day conference. A year earlier, this facility had been the site of the ...

Space Exploration May 3, 2021

Mid-latitude glaciers on Mars could supply water to human explorers

By Earth standards, the surface of Mars is the picture of desolation. It's not only irradiated and cold enough to make Antarctica look balmy, but it's also one-thousands times drier than the driest places on Earth. However, ...

Space Exploration May 3, 2021

Chinese company claims to be working on a Starship-like rocket

Last weekend, China celebrated its sixth "National Space Day" in Nanjing, an event that highlights advances China has made in space. Similar to Space Day that is held each year on the first Thursday in May (this year, it ...

Astronomy Apr 29, 2021

We could detect alien civilizations through their interstellar quantum communication

Since the mid-20th century, scientists have been looking for evidence of intelligent life beyond our solar system. For much of that time, scientists who are engaged in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) have ...

Space Exploration Apr 7, 2021

Lunar Gateway will maintain its orbit with a 6 kW ion engine

When NASA sends astronauts back to the moon as part of the Artemis Program, they will be taking the long view. Rather than being another "footprints and flags" program, the goal is to create a lasting infrastructure that ...

Astronomy Apr 5, 2021

If astronomers see isoprene in the atmosphere of an alien world, there's a good chance there's life there

It is no exaggeration to say that the study of extrasolar planets has exploded in recent decades. To date, 4,375 exoplanets have been confirmed in 3,247 systems, with another 5,856 candidates awaiting confirmation. In recent ...

Space Exploration Mar 29, 2021

Exploring the moon's shadowed regions using beamed energy

In less than three years, astronauts will return to the moon for the first time since the Apollo Era. As part of the Artemis Program, the purpose is not only to send crewed missions back to the lunar surface to explore and ...

Astronomy Mar 17, 2021

A Titan mission could refuel on site and return a sample to Earth

This decade promises to be an exciting time for space exploration. Already, the Perseverance rover has landed on Mars and begun conducting science operations. Later this year, the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope, ...

Astronomy Mar 15, 2021

About 7 interstellar objects pass through the inner solar system every year, study estimates

In October 19th, 2017, the first interstellar object ever detected flew past Earth on its way out of the solar system. Less than two years later, a second object was detected, an easily identified interstellar comet designated ...

Space Exploration Mar 8, 2021

How would rain be different on an alien world?

On Titan, Saturn's largest moon, it rains on a regular basis. As with Earth, these rains are the result of liquid evaporating on the surface, condensing in the skies, and falling back to the surface as precipitation. On Earth, ...

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