NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft fired its thrusters to position itself on the correct course for its upcoming Earth flyby. The spacecraft, which is on a two-year outbound journey to asteroid Bennu, successfully performed a precision ...
Space Exploration
Aug 28, 2017
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12
Hall thrusters (HTs) are used in earth-orbiting satellites, and also show promise to propel robotic spacecraft long distances, such as from Earth to Mars. The propellant in a HT, usually xenon, is accelerated by an electric ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 15, 2017
3
1053
With the push of a button, final commands for the European Space Agency's LISA Pathfinder mission were beamed to space on July 18, a final goodbye before the spacecraft was powered down.
Space Exploration
Jul 25, 2017
0
6
The universe is made up of plasma, which is easily influenced by magnetic fields and forces, leading to complex behavior. Plasmas are found throughout the solar system in places such as the planetary magnetosphere, solar ...
Plasma Physics
Jun 13, 2017
1
79
On December 3, 2015, the LISA Pathfinder mission blasted into space carrying the most stable spacecraft thruster system ever qualified for use in space. Developed by NASA JPL, the Space Technology 7 (ST-7) Disturbance Reduction ...
Space Exploration
Apr 7, 2017
4
15
Everyone knows that the game of billiards involves balls careening off the sides of a pool table—but few people may know that the same principle applies to fusion reactions. How charged particles like electrons and atomic ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 6, 2017
1
166
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft fired its Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) thrusters for the first time Friday in order to slightly adjust its trajectory on the outbound journey from Earth to the asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft's ...
Space Exploration
Oct 12, 2016
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1
One of the defining characteristics of the modern era of space exploration is the open nature of it. In the past, space was a frontier that was accessible only to two federal space agencies – NASA and the Soviet space program. ...
Space Exploration
Oct 3, 2016
0
13
Nearly 50 years after landing on the moon, mankind has now set its sights on sending the first humans to Mars. The moon trip took three days; a Mars trip will likely take most of a year. The difference is in more than just ...
Space Exploration
Jul 29, 2016
11
107
The eerie blue exhaust trail of an ion thruster during a test firing. A quartet of these highly efficient T6 thrusters is being installed on ESA's BepiColombo spacecraft to Mercury at ESA's ESTEC Test Centre in Noordwijk, ...
Space Exploration
Apr 27, 2016
0
13
