NASA's new ion engine ready for missions in space

(PhysOrg.com) -- A small robotic surveyor arrives to explore a near-Earth asteroid. Another robotic spacecraft is returning to Earth with a pristine comet surface sample. Meanwhile, a robotic explorer is approaching Uranus, ...

Beaming rockets into space

Space launches have evoked the same image for decades: bright orange flames exploding beneath a rocket as it lifts, hovers and takes off into the sky. But an alternative propulsion system proposed by some researchers could ...

New long-range undersea robot goes the distance

Over the past decade, the undersea robots known as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have become increasingly important in oceanographic research. Today's AUVs fall into two groups: 1) propeller-driven vehicles that can ...

NASA Glenn tests alternative green rocket engine

An extensive series of tests has been completed on a new rocket engine that will use a non-toxic propellant combination at NASA's Glenn Research Center. The reaction control engine that was tested provides 100 pounds of thrust ...

Wind-powered car goes down wind faster than the wind

(PhysOrg.com) -- A wind-powered car has been clocked in the US traveling down wind faster than the wind. In a recent run at New Jerusalem in Tracy, California, the car reached a top speed of more than 2.85 times faster than ...

NASA Spins Manufacturing Technology to Forge New Tank Hardware

Five years ago a group of engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., had the bold idea to manufacture a five-meter diameter fuel tank entirely out of ...

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