GizModo VR

JUNE 21, 2022

NASA wrapped up its fourth wet dress rehearsal of the Space Launch System yesterday, during which time ground teams achieved a number of key test objectives. That said, an unresolved hydrogen leak prevented a full completion of the test, in a development that could further complicate the Artemis 1 mission schedule. Read more.

United States 111

United States Technology 111

GizModo VR

JUNE 22, 2022

NASA wants to build and transport a nuclear reactor to the Moon, which would power a sustained human presence for at least 10 years. To that end, the space agency has chosen three companies to develop design concepts for a nuclear fission system to be placed on the Moon in conjunction with the Artemis program. Read more.

Technology 105

Technology 105

GizModo VR

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

NASA’s DART mission to redirect a non-threatening asteroid is set to launch later this week. Here’s what you need to know about this historic deep-space test and how “kinetic impactors” could eventually protect our civilization from an asteroid apocalypse. Read more.

Technology 119

Technology 119

GizModo VR

DECEMBER 17, 2021

Apollo mission planners were really smart. Recognizing that future scientists will have better tools and richer scientific insights, they refrained from opening a portion of the lunar samples returned from the historic Apollo missions. One of these sample containers, after sitting untouched for 50 years, is now set to… Read more.

Tools 140

Tools 140

GizModo VR

MAY 23, 2022

We’ve been capturing space-based images of Earth for nearly three-quarters of a century, but these eight views of Earth are each profound in their own way. Read more.

Technology 130

Technology 130

GizModo VR

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

A processing incident that caused the entire Webb Space Telescope to shake did not cause any perceptible damage to the observatory, a NASA-led investigation has concluded. Read more.

Technology 116

Technology 116

GizModo VR

JUNE 6, 2022

NASA’s Space Launch System is once again standing proud on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The gigantic rocket is being prepared for its inaugural launch, but the space agency must first succeed at completing a full launch rehearsal, which it has thus fair failed to do. Read more.

Florida 98

Florida United States Technology 98

GizModo VR

JUNE 3, 2022

NASA’s Artemis program seeks to return humans to the Moon later this decade, but a pair of related side projects promises to deliver some fascinating new science that could expand our understanding of lunar geology and human biology. Read more.

Technology 98

Technology 98

GizModo VR

MAY 12, 2022

For the first time ever, scientists have grown plants in lunar soil returned from the Apollo missions. But given the degree of stress seen in these plants, it’s unlikely we’ll be farming on the Moon anytime soon. Read more.

98

98

GizModo VR

APRIL 19, 2022

Yesterday, two Russian cosmonauts spent six hours and 37 minutes in low Earth orbit installing a giant robotic arm on the International Space Station that’s designed to work autonomously, move its way across the outside of the station, and pick up and transport astronauts during spacewalks. Read more.

Technology 98

Technology 98

GizModo VR

JUNE 28, 2022

NASA announced late last week that the long-awaited mission to Psyche, a nearby metal-rich asteroid, will not launch this year. The next possible launch windows for the spacecraft are in 2023 and 2024, meaning that NASA won’t arrive at the asteroid until 2029 at the earliest. Read more.

Software 98

Software Technology 98

GizModo VR

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch later this year, and NASA has no intention to rename the instrument despite complaints that it’s named after a man who presided over the firings of gay and lesbian government employees, NPR reports. Read more.

Government 111

Government Technology 111

GizModo VR

DECEMBER 20, 2021

A misbehaving engine computer means the inaugural launch of NASA’s Space Launch System, planned to be the most powerful rocket in the world, won’t happen in February 2022 as planned. Read more.

United States 105

United States Technology 105

GizModo VR

JUNE 11, 2022

A software glitch has caused the delay of Psyche, a NASA mission to explore a metal-rich asteroid. Two small probes are being included in the launch, but the postponement means they might not be able to rendezvous with their respective target asteroids. Read more.

Software 98

Software Technology 98

GizModo VR

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

NASA is teaming up with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory to develop a non-solar power source on the Moon by the year 2030. But they need some help with the details. Read more.

Idaho 111

Idaho Technology 111

GizModo VR

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

An impromptu “space debris evasion maneuver” has been scheduled to prevent errant space junk from slamming into the International Space Station, in what is becoming an increasingly routine procedure. Read more.

105

105

GizModo VR

APRIL 22, 2022

The Webb Space Telescope is in its final (seventh) stage of alignment, bringing the superlative spacecraft tantalizingly close to commencing its scientific operations. Read more.

Technology 98

Technology 98

GizModo VR

JANUARY 10, 2022

The left wing of Webb’s primary mirror unfolded and locked into position on Saturday, in what was the final step of the major deployments phase. The space telescope finally looks like a telescope, but the commissioning phase is far from over. Read more.

Technology 105

Technology 105

GizModo VR

JULY 7, 2021

The European Space Agency is finally ready to deliver its new robotic arm to the International Space Station. The 37-foot-long arm features an array of impressive features, including the ability to work autonomously and “walk” across the exterior of the orbital outpost. Read more.

Europe 111

Europe Technology 111

GizModo VR

JUNE 17, 2022

My colleague noticed something strange in the latest batch of photos from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover: A roundish rock appears to be carefully balanced atop a jagged outcrop. How did that get there? Read more.

105

105

GizModo VR

JANUARY 22, 2022

NASA wants to propel a shoebox-sized spacecraft to an asteroid using a solar sail, the first deep space mission by the agency to use such a mechanism. Read more.

United States 98

United States Technology 98

GizModo VR

JULY 21, 2021

On Wednesday morning, Russia will attempt to launch a Proton-M rocket to the International Space Station. The purpose of the mission is to deliver Russia’s new “Nauka” module to the ISS, along with a sleek new robotic arm built by a European consortium. You can watch the action live right here. Read more.

Russia 105

Russia Europe Technology 105

GizModo VR

JULY 13, 2021

NASA engineers installed a time capsule on the Lucy spacecraft late last week, intended for future astro-archaeologists to retrieve and interpret. The time capsule is a plaque that includes messages from Nobel Laureates and musicians, among others, as well as a depiction of the solar system’s configuration on October… Read more.

Technology 105

Technology 105

GizModo VR

OCTOBER 18, 2021

Late last week, a routine thruster test of a Soyuz spacecraft continued for longer than expected, causing the ISS to shift by nearly 60 degrees. It’s yet another troubling sign that all is not well in the Russian segment of the orbital outpost. Read more.

Russia 98

Russia Groups Controllers 98

GizModo VR

DECEMBER 16, 2021

Another day, another problem with the Webb Space Telescope. The new delay has to do with a communications issue, which we can only hope is not serious. Read more.

Technology 98

Technology 98

GizModo VR

JANUARY 19, 2022

In a paper published today in Science Robotics, the Yutu-2 team reports on the rover’s progress and what it has revealed so far about the Moon’s far side. The Chinese lunar rover Yutu-2 has been exploring the far side of the Moon for three years, making it the longest lunar surface mission in history. Read more.

China 111

China Technology 111

GizModo VR

JUNE 16, 2021

You fell into Saturn, drifted into deep space, suffocated in Martian dust—all for the greater good of science. To all the space probes we’ve loved before: sorry! Today, we’re memorializing the space explorers that met dramatic endings far, far from Earth. Read more.

126

126

GizModo VR

JULY 9, 2022

NASA’s Earth Observatory has been presenting us with images of our pale, blue dot since it began in 1999, allowing us to get a birds eye view of what different parts of our planet look like. While Earth Observatory has a ton of photos accumulated by satellites orbiting the planet and astronauts aboard the… Read more.

98

98

GizModo VR

NOVEMBER 17, 2021

Hubble Space Telescope, with all but one of its science instruments currently in safe mode, could soon be back in business, as mission team members prepare to roll out a recovery plan. Read more.

Technology 98

Technology 98

GizModo VR

JUNE 27, 2022

The days of dial-up internet, AOL Instant Messenger, and Myspace may be over on Earth, but on Mars, the early years of the internet still live on. A Martian spacecraft has been running on software designed more than 20 years ago in a proprietary environment based on Microsoft Windows 98, and is long overdue for an… Read more.

Software 98

Software Microsoft Technology 98

GizModo VR

JUNE 18, 2021

It’s toxic. It spins backwards and is covered in volcanoes. And we’re headed there soon. Three Venus missions, recently announced by NASA and the European Space Agency, are going to reveal more than we’ve ever known about the scorcher of a planet, a place that many scientists describe as Earth’s evil twin. Read more.

124

124

GizModo VR

DECEMBER 21, 2021

Attempts at recreating the hoverboards seen in Back to the Future II have so far been either disappointing self-balancing, two-wheeled vehicles that frequently catch fire , or jet-powered floating platforms that require a highly skilled pilot. But as MIT engineers have recently proposed , creating a levitating vehicle… Read more.

Technology 111

Technology 111

GizModo VR

DECEMBER 7, 2021

Wearing protective suits to guard against toxic chemicals, a small team of mission specialists has completed the 10-day fueling of the upcoming Webb space telescope. For what seems like the first time ever, the long-delayed mission is actually starting to feel real. Read more.

Technology 111

Technology 111

GizModo VR

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

Ever since I was a little girl, one of my favorite things about Valentine’s Day has been the cards. I would love to decorate my little shoebox every year and check out all the Valentines I would get from my classmates. The best ones were, of course, the ones that were not like the others. Thumbs up if they were both … Read more.

Course 131

Course Data 131

GizModo VR

AUGUST 3, 2021

Not to be outdone by the young upstart Perseverance, NASA’s Curiosity rover has spent recent days imaging interesting rocks at the base of Mount Sharp on Mars, near which the rover landed in August 2012. One of those features is an arch, similar to some of the towering geology present on parts of Earth—but this arch… Read more.

119

119

GizModo VR

MAY 24, 2022

NASA has shared the final self-portrait that will be taken by the InSight Mars lander, showing dust-caked solar panels that blend into the surrounding regolith. The InSight mission is expected to end this year, and the lander will need all of its remaining power to gather as much scientific data as possible. Read more.

Data 98

Data Phoenix Technology 98

GizModo VR

NOVEMBER 23, 2021

A processing anomaly has caused an unexpected vibration to course through the entire Webb telescope just weeks before launch. An investigation is now underway to determine if the incident somehow damaged the observatory. Read more.

Course 111

Course Technology 111