The National Aeronautics and Space Association (NASA) of the United States has announced a new mission called Dragonfly. This mission will send multiple sorties or drone-like aircraft to the Titan, one of Saturn’s natural satellites. The icy celestial body is the largest moon of Saturn and the second largest natural satellite in the solar system. It is also the only moon to have a dense atmosphere, which is why the Dragonfly mission is being sent to study clues of life.
NASA’s Dragonfly MissionThe Dragonfly Mission by NASA is scheduled to launch in the year 2026 and will take eight years to reach Titan in 2034. The rotorcrafts or drones will fly to dozens [...]
The human race has seen drastic advancements in space exploration over the last five decades. However, humans missions still remain few and far between. The reason for that is considered to be the fuel used in the missions. Until now, most missions to space have used hydrazine, which is a dangerous and toxic chemical for humans to use and handle. Handling the colourless liquid requires some very strict safety precautions. Now, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has announced that it is planning on testing a new fuel for spacecraft. Dubbed the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) it uses a non-toxic, rose coloured solution that can be a [...]
The Vice President of the United States of America, Mike Pence has announced a program that once again wants to take humans to the surface of the moon by the year 2024. This prompts NASA to swing into action to make this Herculean task a reality. The space agency gave out a contract to a company to start off with the foundations of a small space station to put into the Moons orbit.
The power and propulsion systems of the space station will be built by a Colorado-based company called Maxar and the orbital outpost has been named Gateway. Unlike the Apollo missions that focused on directly landing on the moon surface, Nasa plans on building Gateway for its future lunar [...]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the US is planning to get women to the surface of the moon by the year 2024. In light of recent reports, it has been declared that the mission will be named Artemis, after the Greek Goddess of the Moon. This lines up perfectly with the fact that the first moon missions were named Apollo, after the Greek God of Sun and Light. NASA’s famous Apollo Missions introduced the Moon’s surface to the first men who walked on it, namely Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969.
NASA Administrator stated that it is very fortunate that after almost 50 years after the first moon mission, the Artemis program will carry the next man [...]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA is a well-known space organisation; and an independent agency of the United States. In a world first, it has announced the Double Asteroid Redirection Test or the DART Mission. It is a defence driven mission aimed at preventing the impact on Earth by a potentially hazardous asteroid in the future. In the DART mission, NASA will send a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid in the year 2022.
NASA DART MissionThe DART Spacecraft
The NASA DART Mission, as mentioned above, aims at sending a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid called Didymos to test the planetary [...]
SpaceX’s “test crew” aboard the Dragon Capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean on March 8, 7:15 pm IST (8:45 am EST) after spending almost a week at the ISS (International Space Station). The company has proven that its “Dragon” capsule can survive a full-fledged trip to space and back. The next step on the list is to send astronauts to space now that the capsule has proven its worth, the company states.
The touchdown of the Dragon capsule was the last part of SpaceX’s Demonstration – 1 mission. The reason why the mission was of utmost importance is NASA’s upcoming Commercial Crew Program, under which the agency is planning [...]
India has made much headway in space exploration as well as space research in general. From Space Capsule Recovery Experiment Mission SRE-1 in 2007 to Mars Orbiter Spacecraft launch in 2013, ‘Chandrayaan-1’ launch in 2008 and many more achievements have left a mark on space exploration as a whole. When the entire world is opposing space exploration, citing budget problems, ISRO has remained one of the most budget efficient space research organisation.
ISRO’s budget was just three per cent of that of NASA’s Budget in 2010
Chandrayaan-1
Almost ten years after the Chandrayan-1, ISRO has decided on [...]
NASA plans to soon start a 45-day campaign to restore communication with the Mars rover Opportunity. Opportunity, also known as MER-B or MER-1, is a robotic rover active on Mars since 2004. However, it has been unresponsive ever since after a dust-storm, encircling the planet, cut off solar power last summer. However, some people working on Opportunity are sceptical of NASA’s intention and are saying that NASA might forsake the longest operational Mars spacecraft altogether. Because the cost incurred may become too much for NASA to bear.
Opportunity is not new to such dust scares. Back in 2007, another dust storm hit the rover. However, it wasn’t close to what it [...]
After SpaceX’s successful Falcon 9 rocket launch, Elon Musk posted a picture of his SpaceX space suit on Instagram. The image was shared via his official Instagram handle, confirming that the picture was not a mockup, but an actual shot of a fully functional suit.
First picture of SpaceX spacesuit. More in days to follow. Worth noting that this actually works (not a mockup). Already tested to double vacuum pressure. Was incredibly hard to balance esthetics and function. Easy to do either separately.
NASA has now officially created a rocket made out of 3-D printed parts. Once filled with hydrogen and oxygen, the rocket produces 20,000 pounds of thrust and generates spectacular flames.
Sources reveal that NASA has been working on 3-D printed rockets for a while now, but this specific rocket engine is the first of its kind; 75% of its parts are 3-D printed -the highest percentage so far. Check out the video below which shows the rocket engine producing impressive amounts of fire. The video shows that the fire from the engine lasts for as long as ten seconds.
3-D printed components of a rocket have some clear advantages like it helps to build complex parts [...]
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has been working restlessly since its inception to find traces of water in our Solar system and the infinite universe. It has now been found that Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede has been hiding something under its surface that might make it a prime contender for a life harbouring heavenly body.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has made some observations that indicate the existence of an underground saltwater ocean. According to the US government agency, the subterranean ocean might have more water than the total water on the earth. An evidence of water on a heavenly body [...]
3D printing is the ultimate technology revolution. It will give people the ability to create, customize and print out almost anything they need. One major arena, where the technology will bring immense convenience, is space travel. Instead of storing a massive inventory of tools and supplies, the astronauts can just print out what they require, when they need it. The testing of 3D printers capabilities in space is underway at the International Space Station(ISS). Now the tools made in space are being brought back to earth for research purposes.
The tools are being brought back to Earth in SpaceX’s Dragon spaceship in [...]
