Technology Topics
Plugged in to space
1998 — Sept. 20, 2011
A proposed flight demonstration, using floating tethers for propulsion, will show how to keep space clean - and boost satellites.
Interplanetary Christmas
1998 — April 6, 2011
Santa discusses his plans for Christmas on future space colonies.
Far Out Space Propulsion Conference Blasts Off
Science@NASA Headline News — April 6, 2011
Atoms locked in snow, a teaspoon from the heart of the sun, and the stuff that drives a starship will be on the agenda of an advanced space propulsion conference that opens today in Huntsville.
The Tunguska Impact--100 Years Later
2008 — April 6, 2011
One hundred years after the Tunguska event in Siberia, scientists review what they've learned about the mysterious blast from the heavens.
NASA to Attempt Historic Solar Sail Deployment
2008 — April 6, 2011
This summer, NASA engineers will try to realize a dream older than the Space Age itself: the deployment of a working solar sail in Earth orbit. The name of the device is NanoSail-D and it is scheduled for launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket as early as July 29, 2008.
A Brief History of Solar Sails
2008 — April 6, 2011
Have you ever stared up at the night sky, felt a gentle breeze, and wished you could set sail for the stars? Get in line. Many great thinkers from history have had the same idea. This long-held fancy could soon become reality with one solar sail mission on the drawing board and another already on the launching pad, slated to blast off this summer.
Mini-CometsApproaching Earth
2006 — Sept. 20, 2011
A cometary "string-of-pearls" will fly past Earth in May 2006 giving astronomers a fantastic view of a comet in its death throes.
Crabs Give Blood for Space Travel
2006 — April 6, 2011
Soon, Astronautsonboard the ISS will test a high-tech medical device that uses primitive enzymes from horseshoe crabs to diagnose human illness.
In Search of Crater Chains
2006 — April 6, 2011
What happens when a fragmented comet hits the surface of a planet? It makes a chain of craters. Researchers are looking for evidence of these crater chains here on Earth.
Corkscrew Asteroids
2006 — April 6, 2011
A tiny asteroid corkscrewing around Earth for the past seven years is about to leave the neighborhood.