China envisions exploring the solar system, and it seems that would happen soon. The country launched Tianwen-2, an innovative space probe tasked with retrieving samples from an uncharted asteroid and ...

A near term laser ablation of micropellets can be made to rapidly accelerate one ton space probes to reach Pluto in one year. The NASA New Horizons launched in 2006 took 9.5 years to reach Pluto and ...

Introduction: NASA's solar system exploration paradigm : the first fifty years and a look at the next fifty / James L. Green and Kristen J. Erickson -- Part I. Overview. Exploring the Solar System : ...

The same dirt that clings to astronauts' boots may one day keep their lights on. Researchers created solar cells made out of simulated Moon dust. The cells convert sunlight into energy efficiently, ...

Pt. 1. The golden age, 1957-1982. The beginning -- Of landers and orbiters -- The grandest tour -- Pt. 2. Hiatus and renewal, 1983-1996. The decade of Halley -- The era of flagships -- Faster, cheaper ...

SpaceX is preparing to launch three spacecraft on a first-of-its-kind mission to study the sun's influence throughout the solar system, from Earth's atmosphere to the edge of interstellar space. A ...