As NASA prepares to launch its MAVEN Mars orbiter Monday (Nov. 18), here's a look at the discoveries made by spacecraft circling the Red Planet over the years.
A mission can come to an end in several ways. If a spacecraft is reliant on solar power, as many are, then it may peter out as its panels lose efficacy. That’s what happened to theInSight lander on Mars, as its solar panels were covered in dust carried by winds that built up ove...
NASA designed these spacecraft for longer-term orbiting around Mars, collecting photographs. Mariner 9, in 1972, was the first to take photographs of the entire surface of Mars. Orbiting missions have continued, including the 2005 launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The orbiter could spot ...
NASA designed these spacecraft for longer-term orbiting around Mars, collecting photographs. Mariner 9, in 1972, was the first to take photographs of the entire surface of Mars. Orbiting missions have continued, including the 2005 launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The orbiter could spot ...
Many cosmologists believe a large planet, dubbed Theia, could have crashed into Earth billions of years ago, for example, prompting the formation of our moon. Neptune as it would appear from a spacecraft approaching Triton, Neptune's largest moon. Credit: NASA JPL composite image Those ...
Chapter 8 gives examples of current and proposed spacecraft missions, both Earth orbiting and interplanetary. Chapter 9 will look at near future manned flight developments – for example, a mission to Mars and/or space tourism. The book closes with a concluding chapter, which reflects on ...
In reality, however, the planets are moving at different rates during their orbits around the sun. Engineers must calculate the ideal orbits for sending a spacecraft from Earth to Mars. Like throwing a dart at a moving target from a moving vehicle, they must calculate where the planet will ...
3 visiting Mars and 1 orbiting Saturn. There’s a handful of spacecraft orbiting the Sun, although they’re leading or trailing the Earth in its orbit. And a few spacecraft are on trajectories to take them out of the Solar System entirely. NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, exited the Sun’s...
Meanwhile, NASA declared itsOpportunity rover dead in 2019after a good 14-year run on Mars. Other space agencies have also been pushing the limits in recent years. China made the first soft landing on the moon in nearly 40 years in 2013 with its Chang'e 3 spacecraft, which dep...
Since then, many spacecraft have delivered parts of the ISS into orbit and its assembly has progressed. During this time, the ISS has been manned continuously — as of this writing, 66 astronaut expeditions have successfully reached the station. Expedition 67 began upon the departure of Soyuz ...