The vast majority of matter in the universe is plasma: electrically charged gas. Scientists are untangling how dust interacts with plasma both in space and experimentally closer to home.
Just about anyone can get a tiny, cheap satellite into orbit these days. As we consider how to deploy them responsibly, inspiration comes from an amateur community of enthusiasts.
It’s an ambitious plan to send a micro-spaceship to our stellar neighbour but is this possible with today’s technology or even technology in the near future?
People and machines need to be able to interact and communicate effectively. Right now we – and they – can’t. But without that, we risk missing the potential benefits of collaboration.
After last summer’s Pluto flyby, the New Horizons spacecraft started sending data back to Earth – at 2 kilobits per second. Here’s some of what scientists have learned so far from that rich, slow cache.
We’re on the cusp of being able to consistently launch and land rockets, greatly reducing the cost of space travel. But how long before there’s a Millennium Falcon in every garage?