Spaceline Wants to Solve Your Trajectory Problem
Ascending Node Technologies (ANT) launched its Spaceline 3D mission visualization software to help mission operators plan and optimize their flight paths.
Deep Space
Stories about missions throughout solar system and beyond.
AstroForge Unveils New Spacecraft for Deep Space Mission
With just seven months to launch, the LA-based asteroid mining company decided to toss out its mission 2 vehicle, named Odin, and build a new bus in house mostly from scratch.
Asteroid Watchers Fret About Politicians Facing Dangerous NEOs
“I know what I would prefer [to do], but Congress will tell us to wait,”
ispace Reveals its Lunar Micro-Rover for Mission 2
ispace is taking another stab at a lunar landing.
Rocket Lab Takes On Venus
Deep space exploration isn’t just for governments anymore.
Smithsonian Unveils First Bennu Sample to the Public
A small piece of the asteroid Bennu can now call a very ritzy neighborhood home, alongside many meteorites and just next door to the Hope Diamond.
NASA Extends New Horizons Through Late 2020s
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, hurtling through space in the outer solar system, just got a new lease on life. The agency announced Friday that it will be extending the mission until the late 2020s. “The New Horizons mission has a unique position in our solar system to answer important questions about our heliosphere and provide […]
Independent Review Board Finds Mars Sample Return Unrealistic
On Thursday, an independent review board at NASA deemed the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program ineffectively designed and managed, problems that will force the ambitious mission to miss its budget and schedule targets. Down to Earth: NASA’s plan to return samples from the Red Planet for analysis on Earth is already underway. The agency’s Perseverance […]
ESA Livestreams from Mars
20 years after launch, ESA’s Mars Express orbiter is still notching new achievements. On Friday, the spacecraft broadcast the first ever livestream from Mars. Previous space missions—including Neil Armstrong’s step seen ’round the world during Apollo, and last year’s DART mission to bump an asteroid off its course—have provided the public with live imagery from […]
The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt
The UAE unveiled plans on Sunday to send a spacecraft to explore the asteroid belt by 2028, a follow-on to the emerging space nation’s ambitious Mars mission currently orbiting the Red Planet. The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, or EMA, will study six asteroids before reaching its final destination: a mysterious red asteroid that […]
Payload Presents: Mars Madness
In March Madness, your bracket can be busted by an unexpected upset, leaving your dream of predicting the perfect outcome in shambles. On expeditions to Mars, outcomes are equally unpredictable, with a mission’s fate resting on anything from a software glitch to a cosmic dust storm to a mix-up between metric and imperial units. Today, […]
Unpacking NASA, Pentagon Space FY 24 Budget Requests
As we noted last Friday, the White House has requested $27.2B for NASA next year. That’d represent a 7%—or $1.8B—increase over the 2023 enacted level. Updated timetable: The agency’s FY 2024 Budget Request presentation gives top billing to the agency’s presence in LEO, from the ISS through CLD; establishing a “sustainable” lunar presence; and further […]