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Enceladus

Space

NASA should explore Uranus and Enceladus, say planetary scientists

A major report on priorities for the next decade of US planetary science calls for the first dedicated Uranus probe and an orbiter-lander combo for Saturn’s ocean moon Enceladus

News

Piggy Bank,3d Render

Space

We mustn’t let the billionaire rocket men decide what happens in space

Comment

NASA funds experimental radiation shield and Mars climbing robot

Space

NASA funds experimental radiation shield and Mars climbing robot

News

Astronauts on Mars might trip up less if they can hear their footsteps

Space

Astronauts on Mars might trip up less if they can hear their footsteps

News

A major component of NASA?s Psyche spacecraft has been delivered to NASA?s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the phase known as assembly, test, and launch operations (ATLO) is now underway. This photo, shot March 28, 2021 shows engineers and technicians preparing to move the Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Chassis from its shipping container to a dolly in High Bay 1 of JPL?s Spacecraft Assembly Facility. The photo was captured just after the chassis was delivered to JPL by Maxar Technologies. Maxar?s team in Palo Alto, California, designed and built the SEP Chassis, which includes all the primary and secondary structure and the hardware components needed for the high-power electrical system, the propulsion system, the thermal system, guidance and navigation sensors and actuators, and the high-gain antenna. Over the next year, additional hardware will be added to the spacecraft including the command and data handling system, a power distribution assembly, the X-band telecommunications hardware suite, three science instruments (two imagers, two magnetometers, and a gamma ray neutron Spectrometer), and a deep space optical communications technology demonstrator. The spacecraft will finish assembly and then undergo rigorous checkout and testing before being shipped to NASA?s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, for an August 2022 launch to the main asteroid belt. Psyche will arrive at the metal-rich asteroid of the same name in 2026, orbiting for 21 months to investigate its composition. Scientists think that Psyche is made up of mostly iron and nickel ? similar to Earth?s core. Exploring the asteroid could give valuable insight into how our own planet and others formed. Arizona State University in Tempe leads the mission. JPL is responsible for the mission?s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. For more information about NASA?s Psyche mission, go to: http://www.nasa.gov/psyche or https://psyche.asu.edu/ Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Space

2022 preview: A round-up of the year's most exciting space missions

News

3 of the most exciting space telescopes planned for launch by 2034

Space

3 of the most exciting space telescopes planned for launch by 2034

Features

Steve Chien interview: Why NASA is inventing curious AI for deep space

Space

Steve Chien interview: Why NASA is inventing curious AI for deep space

Features

Tim Peake

Video

Tim Peake: The future of humans in space

Video

Snake-like robot

Technology

Snake-like robot could explore Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus

News

Mae Jemison

People in Science

Mae Jemison

Mae C Jemison was the first Black woman to go into space

Space

NASA mission takes first close-up images of Ganymede in two decades

News

Space

NASA is sending two missions to Venus for the first time in decades

News

Space

More people are going to space, but diversity is still grounded

Analysis

Space

Enormous kites flown by robots could help power a Mars colony

News