The recent failure of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket presents something of a dilemma for NASA, which still has no domestic launch capability of its own to reach the International Space Station.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Space exploration
Displaying 261 - 280 of 291 articles
NASA has now formally started to pack its bags for the next big discovery mission, this time heading to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Last month NASA announced the instruments that will fly on this trip and…
Many do not associate Africa with the high-tech sphere of “space”. However, in recent years, many countries on the continent have woken up to the potential and usefulness of space technology.
It was the first probe to find water on Mercury, the planet closest to the sun. Its mission nearly over, MESSENGER is about to crash into the planet it’s been observing.
After ten years in space NASA probe will get up close and personal with Mercury a final time.
Approaching Ceres, the Dawn spacecraft reveals the dwarf planet in colour for the first time.
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft hasn’t reached optimum orbit around Ceres but the data it’s returning has already got scientists excited.
The first space walk was almost a disaster, and it’s still risky today. But we’ll always need to take those steps to truly reap the benefits beyond Earth.
I have always been in awe of the night sky, trying to comprehend the vastness of space and the countless wonders it contains. But I have always felt a certain dissatisfaction with only being able to see…
Elon Musk has built a US$12 billion company in an endeavour to pave the way to Mars for humanity. He insists that Mars is a “long-term insurance policy” for “the light of consciousness” in the face of…
The icy moon Europa is perhaps the most tantalising destination in our solar system. Scientists have been trying for years to kickstart a mission to Jupiter’s most enigmatic moon, with very Earth-like…
2015 is already shaping up to be a big year in astronomy and planetary exploration, with the best yet to come. Here are some highlights to keep your eye on throughout the year. Opportunity January 25 marked…
More than 1,000 exoplanets have now been discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope, announced NASA this month, and the figure continues to climb. Three of the newly confirmed Kepler planets are thought…
It was an exciting year in space exploration, with mind-blowing triumphs and heart-breaking failures. On Earth, new rockets and spacecraft were tested by space agencies and commercial ventures. SpaceX…
While the Mars Rovers and the Rosetta spacecraft will continue to make headlines in 2015, the stage is set for the solar system’s next great mission – the Pluto-bound New Horizons. Discovered in 1930…
Don’t be mesmerised by cool apps and flashy new gizmos – the top technology inventions of the year are ones that will have a lasting effect. Most are advances in fields that are already changing us. Some…
The first results on comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko obtained by instruments on-board the Rosetta spacecraft have been announced – and they are, literally and figuratively, a deluge of information! Over…
After a 24-hour delay due to bad weather, the first test launch of the Orion spacecraft by NASA is underway with the ultimate goal of putting human beings on Mars. Weeks after the landing on a comet by…
The thing everyone seems to talk about with the moon landings is the idea of the whole world stopping to watch. It was a mission that overcame nationalism, it wasn’t “America” putting a man on the moon…
A British-led consortium has announced an ambitious space mission named Lunar Mission One that plans to land a robotic probe in the southern polar region of the moon in about a decade. The announcement…
Top contributors
-
Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, The Open University
-
Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University
-
Professor of Planetary Geosciences, The Open University
-
Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Space Science, University of Birmingham
-
Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University
-
Professor of Physics, Deputy Director (Solar System) at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL
-
Emeritus Professor of International Law, Western Sydney University
-
Lecturer in Astronomy, Nottingham Trent University
-
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science and Planetary Exploration, University of Stirling
-
Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland
-
Researcher, Air and Space Law, McGill University
-
Research Fellow/Reader in Planetary Physics, Lancaster University
-
Professor of Planetary Science, University of Leicester
-
Research Fellow, Kinsey Institute, Indiana University
-
Senior Lecturer in Space Systems Engineering, University of Glasgow
