The Psyche spacecraft, located on an asteroid, fires ion thrusters and begins to cruise through space

NASA’s mission to the metal kingdoms asteroid 16 Psyche has started its ion engines and is now sailing over the solar system under the power of solar-electric propulsion. The launch of the spacecraft, which is also called Psycheon October 13, 2023, it provided enough initial momentum to carry it through more than 300 million kilometers … Read more

The troubled launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is being postponed again

Boeing’s Starliner capsule atop an Atlas V rocket is seen at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 on May 7, a day after the mission to the International Space Station was scrapped due to a problem with a pressure control valve. John Raoux/AP hide caption change caption John Raoux/AP Boeing’s Starliner capsule … Read more

Persistent helium leak causes additional delays for Boeing’s ill-fated Starliner spacecraft

The Boeing launch already delayed Starliner spacecraft At least four more days will be lost, from next Tuesday to May 25, due to ongoing work to resolve concerns about a small helium leak in the capsule’s propulsion system, officials said Friday. Mission Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams are now targeting a launch … Read more

NASA’s Juno spacecraft reveals dynamic shifts on Europa’s frozen surface

SciTechDaily

Jupiter’s moon Europa was captured by the JunoCam instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during the mission’s short flight on September 29, 2022. The images show the fractures, ridges and bands that criss-cross the moon’s surface. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI /MSSS, Björn Jónsson (CC BY 3.0) NASA‘s Juno has provided images supporting the theory of true polar wandering … Read more

Japanese-European spacecraft en route to Mercury, weakened by thruster failure

A brownish orb in the background and a white spacecraft with long solar panel wings in the foreground.

The BepiColombo spacecraft, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), could feel the heat even before it reaches its destination: Mercury. Thanks to a malfunction, the spacecraft’s thrusters are no longer operating at full power. The team has yet to determine how this will affect upcoming maneuvers, such … Read more

Is the main rival theory of dark matter dead? There’s bad news from the Cassini spacecraft and other recent tests

The Jamess Webb Space Telescope

This article was originally published on The conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com Expert voices: opinion pieces and insights. Indranil Banik is a postdoctoral researcher in astrophysics at the University of St Andrews. Harry Desmond is a Senior Research Fellow in Cosmology at the University of Portsmouth. One of the greatest mysteries in… … Read more