Image: Parachute for planetfall

Testing a candidate design for a subsonic parachute to slow a future mission to Mars inside Canada's National Research Council wind tunnel, in Ottawa.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

It may not be your actual Superman, but participants to ESA's ɸ-week are certainly embracing some 'superhero' ideas for the future of Earth observation, including high-flying platforms – something between a satellite and ...

Video: Eclipse ballooning project

For the first time in 99 years, a total solar eclipse will crossthe entire nation on Monday, August 21, 2017. Over the course of 100 minutes, 14 states across the United States will experience over two minutes of darkness ...

SwRI to demonstrate low-cost miniature solar observatory

Southwest Research Institute will flight test a miniature solar observatory on a six-hour high-altitude balloon mission scheduled for the end of August. The SwRI Solar Instrument Pointing Platform (SSIPP) is a complete, high-precision ...

Up, up and away, in the name of science education

US researchers extol the virtues of high-altitude balloons for science education in a research paper published in the International Journal of Learning Technology. According to Jeremy Straub of the University of North Dakota ...

What animals have been to space?

When we think of spaceflight, we think astronauts. You're a human, you perceive the Universe with your human-centric attitudes. You… specist.

'Area 51' exists, but no UFOs: CIA paper

A newly declassified CIA document confirms the existence of famed Area 51 in Nevada, but conspiracy theorists will be disappointed the spy agency offers no proof of alien spaceship landings in the desert.

Weather balloon takes solar cell experiment toward sun

(Phys.org) —How do solar cells behave at high altitudes? Do they perform better the closer they get to the sun? Those simple questions propelled four undergraduate students from Northwestern University's McCormick School ...

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