Tag Archives: spacecraft

The Future Spacecraft

With countless spacecraft having been launched throughout a long history of space exploration, what is next for NASA? Pictured above is a computer-rendered image of NASA’s Orion Spacecraft Looking to shoot beyond the Moon and delve into the nearly untapped knowledge of Mars, the Orion project is what’s next on NASA’s agenda, as they prepare […] Continue reading

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The Cassini Spacecraft

The story of the Cassini spacecraft is one of scientific discovery and self sacrifice. Cassini was launched in 1997 and spent 20 years in space, focusing on the planet Saturn, its moons, and its rings, before the spacecraft’s intentional demise in 2017. Through Cassini, we were able to land a probe on Titan, Saturn’s largest […] Continue reading

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Unmanned Spacecraft and AI

There are 4 types of unmanned space craft that are used to collect data: flybys, orbiters, landers, and sample return mission spacecraft. Flybys simply pass by a celestially object, and are generally the cheapest as they usually require no fuel propulsion after leaving Earth’s orbit. Flybys mostly observe through the use of telescopes and other …

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Juno and Jupiter

For my post this week, I decided to learn more about the Jovian planets, specifically Jupiter. Through my research, I discovered that Jupiter had a spacecraft sent by NASA to observe Jupiter named Juno.  Juno was launched in 2011 and reached Jupiter by 2016. It is a rotating, solar-powered spacecraft. Because of the images andContinue reading “Juno and Jupiter” Continue reading

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Breaking “c” and the Warping of Space-time

The speed of light, often denoted by the constant “c,” is faster than anything that we know. Although there have been attempts to get certain particles to travel faster than the speed of light, like when scientists at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland tried to get a hold of neutrinos, no one has successfully brokenContinue reading “Breaking “c” and the Warping of Space-time” Continue reading

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Blog #3: Spacecraft

Spacecraft is a topic that takes relatively simple mechanics and merges it with the already fairly complex topic of astrophysics to create an extremely complicated topic that has gained notoriety for becoming considered one of the most difficult professions in existence (think of “this isn’t rocket science”). Something interesting to me about spacecraft is this:Continue reading “Blog #3: Spacecraft” Continue reading

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SOHO, the Sun-Watching Satellite

For my post this week, I decided to explore and learn about a spacecraft that I was not familiar with. After some research, I came across SOHO. SOHO is the longest-lived Sun-watching satellite to date. SOHO over its lifetime has been able to observe two full 11-year solar cycles and discover thousands of comets closeContinue reading “SOHO, the Sun-Watching Satellite” Continue reading

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Fission Rocket Engines: Soon?

NASA has revived the dreams of many optimists hopeful of smashing the dire predictions of the ideal rocket equation. Insane designs have long been dreamed of by lunatics attempting to create breakthroughs with the power of the atom, but a NASA research program in the 70’s laid encouraging groundwork for a possible fission rocket. NERVA … Continue reading Fission Rocket Engines: Soon? Continue reading

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Project Orion: Humanity’s Best Hope?

In the 1950’s and 60’s, optimism about the new discoveries related to fission of atoms and available energy ran rampant. Ambitious designs of all kinds were created based around the new marvel of nuclear energy. Eager to harness the massive potential of fission and fusion reactions, scientists and engineers at NASA began to ponder the … Continue reading Project Orion: Humanity’s Best Hope? Continue reading

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Understanding Our Sun

On August 12, 2018 the Parker Solar Probe was launched. The mission of this probe is to investigate activity in the Sun’s corona in order to provide us with information that can help us understand more about the star and Earth’s connection to it. Analyzing the data being sent back will allow scientists to potentially … Continue reading Understanding Our Sun Continue reading

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