Ion drive space engine used on aircraft for first time

Imagine an aircraft engine that has no moving parts, produces no harmful exhaust and makes no noise. That's what researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have created by adapting a technology ...

NASA journeys to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche

It's a world like no other: a metal-rich asteroid that could be the remnants of a small planet, or perhaps an entirely new type of celestial body unknown to science.

Powering cube satellites

Right now, 10 to 15 Rubik's Cube-sized satellites are orbiting high above Earth. Known as cube satellites, or "CubeSats," the devices help researchers conduct simple space observations and measure characteristics of Earth’s ...

NASA set to journey to a metal-rich asteroid

It's a world like no other: a metal-rich asteroid that could be the remnants of a small planet, or perhaps an entirely new type of celestial body unknown to science.

Time-traveling ESA team explore a virtual moon

If someone had been watching as Apollo 15's Falcon Lunar Module headed down beside the moon's Appenine mountains in 1971, then this is what they would have seen. ESA researchers, working with UK company Timelab Technologies, ...

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 ...

page 1 from 2