Explore the missions, spacecraft and instruments used to investigate space, including the engineering challenges of reaching distant destinations.
Some of the solar system’s largest oceans never see the Sun. Gravity, magnetic fields and plumes reveal liquid water beneath the ice of distant moons.
Sep 16, 2026 • 4 min readRead the discovery →New stories, explanations and research from Space Exploration.
Asteroid sample return combines navigation, brief surface contact, protected storage and an Earth-entry capsule. Clean handling preserves the evidence after the spacecraft’s journey ends.
Sep 28, 2026 • 3 min read
Lagrange points are equilibrium locations in a rotating orbital model. Spacecraft use nearby trajectories for useful observing geometry, with station-keeping at unstable points.
Sep 28, 2026 • 3 min read
Solar sails gain thrust when light transfers momentum to a reflective surface. Their small continuous force can change an orbit, provided a spacecraft controls…
Sep 24, 2026 • 3 min read
Astronomers separate tiny planetary fingerprints from starlight to infer gases, clouds, temperatures and winds on worlds light-years away.
Sep 13, 2026 • 9 min read
Astronomers separate tiny planetary fingerprints from starlight to infer gases, clouds, temperatures and winds on worlds light-years away.
Sep 13, 2026 • 9 min readOne remarkable idea at a time—nature, science, history and beyond.
