Space Exploration Technologies
How to SUPPPPRESS Light From a Star That Is Ten Billion Times Brighter Than Its Habitable Exoplanet
Searching for Earth 2.0 has been an obsession of almost all exoplanet hunters since the discipline's dawn a few decades…
Taking a High-Resolution Ultraviolet Image of the Sun’s Corona Will Require VISORS
Sometimes, brainstorming does work. In 2019, America's National Science Foundation (NSF) held the CubeSat Ideas Lab, a shindig that brought…
Astronauts Can Now Watch 4K Streaming Video on the Station
We take high definition streaming for granted in many parts of the world. Even now, as I type this article,…
A Pair of CubeSats Using Ground Penetrating Radar Could Map The Interior of Near Earth Asteroids
Characterizing near-Earths asteroids (NEAs) is critical if we hope to eventually stop one from hitting us. But so far, missions…
Producing Oxygen From Rock Is Harder In Lower Gravities
One of the challenges engineers face when developing technologies for use in space is that of different gravities. Mostly, engineers…
Swarming Satellites Could Autonomous Characterize an Asteroid
An asteroid's size, shape, and rotational speed are clues to its internal properties and potential resources for mining operations. However,…
Volunteers Complete a Simulated Year on Mars
The crew of NASA’s first Mars habitat simulation, CHAPEA 1, exited their Earth-based environment after 378 days on July 6…
A Walking Balloon Could One Day Explore Titan – Or Earth’s Sea Floor
Novel ways to move on other celestial bodies always draw the attention of the space exploration community. Here at UT,…
A Hopping Robot Could Explore Europa Using Locally Harvested Water
Various forms of hopping robots have crept into development for us[e in different space exploration missions. We've reported on their…
A Handy Attachment Could Make Lunar Construction a Breeze
Moving large amounts of regolith is a requirement for any long-term mission to the Moon or Mars. But so far,…