spacecraft propulsion
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NASA Set to Launch Solar Sail for Sunlight-Propelled Space Travel
NASA’s experimental solar sail is ready to take flight in Earth orbit, using the pressure of sunlight to test a new way of propulsion through the cosmos. The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System(ACS3) is scheduled for launch on Tuesday, April 23 on board Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from New Zealand. The mission will use composite…
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NASA Wants a Giant Inflatable Bag to Collect and Throw Out Space Junk
Picking up the trash in space could be as easy as stuffing pieces of defunct spacecraft into a giant bag, closing it up, and tossing the pesky space junk into an orbital recycling plant. At least that’s what space startup TransAstra hopes to do with its inflatable capture bag. NASA recently awarded the California-based company…
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NASA’s Latest Plan to Fix Trojan Spacecraft’s Unlatched Solar Array Shows Signs of Promise
For nearly eight months, Lucy has been sailing its way to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids while NASA engineers on the ground have been working to fix a pesky solar array that refuses to unfurl. The good news is that there now appears to be some progress.
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NASA Will Test Gigantic Centrifuge for Hurling Objects Into Space
NASA is planning to test an unconventional system for launching small objects to low Earth orbit. The system, which uses intense centrifugal force and a final propulsion stage, aims to make launches more affordable and environmentally friendly, but the concept remains unproven.