NASA on Track for Unprecedented Mission to Europa

NASA on Track for Unprecedented Mission to Europa

Image: The latest view of Europa based on information gathered by NASA’s Galileo mission in the 1990s.  The coloring is representative of what the moon might look like to the human eye.  Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute.   NASA is planning a spaceflight...
Probe to Relay First Up-close Data and Imagery of Pluto

Probe to Relay First Up-close Data and Imagery of Pluto

Image: Artist’s rendering of the New Horizons spacecraft at Pluto. Credit: JHUAPL/SwRI Scientists are anticipating the rendezvous of NASA’s New Horizons satellite with Pluto to return the first up-close imagery and scientific data ever relayed from the distant dwarf...
Spacecraft History – The First Robotic Lunar Rover

Spacecraft History – The First Robotic Lunar Rover

The ‘Lunokhod 1’ robotic lunar rover circa 1970.  Photo Credit: Lavochkin Today, robotic planetary rovers are becoming increasingly common.  But 50 years ago, such a thing was nearly unheard of.  That changed on Nov. 15, 1970, when the Soviet Union landed...
ESA Spacecraft Makes Historic Comet Landing

ESA Spacecraft Makes Historic Comet Landing

Artist rendering of the Philae lander making a historic landing today (Nov. 12, 2014) on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Credit: ESA. Today the ESA successfully made space exploration history by landing a spacecraft on a comet’s surface.  The suspense-ridden,...