Field: Aerospace

Ultrasound stimulation triggers a torpor-like state in animals, suggesting a noninvasive way to put people into the state.

The designer of a new type of rover for NASA has found a way to make her space robots useful to firefighters on Earth.

Guests at the opening of an autonomous systems conference witnessed a drone delivery at Denver's Coors Field.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers are gaining new insights into Enceladus, which holds a sea beneath its icy surface.

NASA hopes a massive radio telescope on the moon will be able to reveal what was happening during the mysterious “Cosmic Dark Ages."

Aerospace company Stratolaunch has dropped a hypersonic aircraft from its record-breaking Roc launch platform for the first time.

A startup’s audacious plan to revive NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope just secured a $250,000 Space Force contract.

NASA has released a video of its one-of-a-kind snake robot EELS slithering across a variety of challenging terrains.

The world’s first commercial space station could reach orbit as soon as 2025 as part of a deal between SpaceX and space startup Vast.

While NASA prepares to launch its lunar space station, other groups are working to ensure we still have an off-world home closer to Earth.

After flying for the first time on March 29, Dawn Aerospace’s rocket-powered spaceplane, the Mk-II Aurora, flew again the very next day.

During SpaceX’s first Starship launch attempt, the massive spacecraft made it off the pad, but exploded before reaching space.

China plans to start testing an ambitious plan to build moon bases using a robot mason and dirt bricks as soon as 2028.

NASA has unveiled Mars Dune Alpha, a simulated Mars base where volunteers will live like Mars astronauts for a year at a time.

A new technique for making super-thin, lightweight space telescope mirrors could dramatically improve our view of space.

Now that falling launch costs are making space more accessible, hundreds of groups are looking for ways to make money off-world.

Chinese rocket startup Space Pioneer successfully reached orbit on its first try, something no private company has done before.

On its 49th flight, NASA’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, soared higher and faster than ever before, setting two records in one day.

The first wearable designed to monitor muscle atrophy could help NASA astronauts stay strong during long space missions.

Researchers are using remote sensing observations to build high-resolution systems to monitor drought from space.

United Airlines plans to use flying cars to ferry passengers between O’Hare International Airport and a location near downtown Chicago.

Relativity Space has just launched the world’s first 3D-printed rocket, Terran 1, but the flight didn’t go exactly as hoped.

NASA and Axiom Space have unveiled the new spacesuits that will be worn by the first woman and person of color on the moon.

The FAA has installed a new warning system to prevent planes from landing on taxiways at 43 major airports.

SpaceX’s Starlink service is slowly arriving in Africa, starting with Nigeria and Rwanda. It could be a game-changer.

A new anti-dust technology could extend the lives of space rovers, improve the efficiency of solar panels, and more.

ESA is researching how to pull valuable nutrients from lunar regolith so that future astronauts can use them in hydroponic gardens.

An AI-powered technique called “generative design” is helping NASA engineers design better hardware, more quickly.

New research out of Harvard shows how we could potentially cool the Earth by creating a massive sun shield out of moon dust.

DARPA is developing an X-plane that uses “active flow control” to maneuver, rather than traditional flight control surfaces.

By 2035, hydrogen fuel cells could be used to electrify mid-range flights and hydrogen combustion aircraft could be used on long-haul flights.

Jetoptera is designing quieter, safer vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles with bladeless propulsion systems.

NASA has announced that it is developing the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a new space telescope optimized to hunt for extraterrestrial life.

A new test flight puts the world’s largest plane one step closer to helping the US develop — and respond to — hypersonic weapons.

SpaceX has signed an agreement with the National Science Foundation detailing its plans to minimize Starlink’s impact on astronomy.

Since the time of Benjamin Franklin, we’ve looked for ways to control, or at least deflect, lightning strikes. Enter laser-guided lightning.

A Swedish startup has joined the race to build the world’s first electric airplane to help reduce the carbon impact of flying.

Two upcoming space missions by NASA and ESA could help bring satellite navigation (satnav) to the moon and cislunar space.

On Nov. 29, 2022, the Shenzhou 15 mission launched from China’s Gobi Desert carrying three taikonauts – the Chinese word for astronauts.

2023 will see the launch of new rockets, the return of OSIRIS-REx, and a mission to Jupiter that could help us find extraterrestrial life.

SpinLaunch has a working prototype successfully launching objects at 1,000 miles-per-hour, but will the laws of physics stand in the way?

NASA has announced plans to launch the world’s first asteroid-hunting spacecraft — the $1.2 billion NEO Surveyor — in 2028.

A lunar lander built by Japanese aerospace startup ispace is poised to be the first private spacecraft to soft land on the moon.

NASA has invested $57.2 into construction company ICON’s 3D printer for building on the moon, Mars, and beyond.

Rolls-Royce and easyJet have demonstrated for the first time that a modern plane engine can be safely powered by hydrogen fuel.

In a remarkable achievement, three new large asteroids have been found in the most elusive place: inside the orbit of Earth.

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, we now know more about the atmosphere of WASP-39b, a distant gas giant, than any other exoplanet.

Ultra-thin solar cells could extend the operational lifetimes of satellites while also making missions less costly and more efficient.

Gilmour Space expects to launch its first rocket in 2023, which will add Australia to the short list of nations to send rockets to space.

NASA has shared the first images from its Orion spacecraft, which is expected to do a lunar flyby on November 21.

A recent study tested how well the fungi species Cladosporium sphaerospermum blocked cosmic radiation aboard the International Space Station.

An International Space Station experiment to test 3D-printing in microgravity could help end the organ shortage on Earth.

Chinese researchers have built an autonomous robot to set up an ISRU system for converting lunar soil into fuel and oxygen.

NASA’s Lunar Flashlight mission will use reflections from laser light to measure lunar water hidden in permanently shadowed craters.

A new instrument aboard the International Space Station has been used to identify more than 50 “super-emitters” of methane.

A meteorite impact that caused a marsquake and created a massive new Mars crater could shape our plans to send people to the Red Planet.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite mega-constellation could be used to create a new, more secure global positioning system for the US Army.

Space advertising could generate a profit, even though space ads would cost $65 million each, according to Russian researchers’ calculations.

SpaceX is launching Starlink Aviation, a new service that will make its satellite internet network available on airplanes.

To build the world’s first fully reusable rocket, startup Stoke Space is completely reimagining what a rocket engine should look like.

NASA has confirmed that its DART spacecraft altered the orbit of the Dimorphos asteroid — a huge win for planetary defense efforts.

NASA's planetary defense researchers are tracking potentially hazardous objects in space and developing tech to destroy or deflect them.

An ISS experiment suggests that manufacturing artificial retinas in space will make them more effective at reversing blindness.

NASA and SpaceX may use a Dragon spacecraft to boost the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher, life-saving orbit.

DART collision images captured by NASA's Hubble and James Webb space telescopes show what happens when a spacecraft slams into an asteroid.

NASA has slammed its DART spacecraft into an asteroid in the world’s first demonstration of planetary defense technology.

SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket is “highly likely” to complete its first orbital test flight in November 2022, according to CEO Elon Musk.

A new moon mineral discovered by China contains helium-3, an element that could one day fuel nuclear fusion reactors on Earth.

The DART spacecraft is now close enough to image the asteroid system it plans to slam into as part of NASA’s planetary defense efforts.

Flag carrier Air Canada has announced plans to have electric-hybrid planes on regional and commuter routes by 2028.

SpaceX’s Starlink Maritime internet service will soon be available to passengers on all Royal Caribbean Group cruise ships.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has directly observed an exoplanet for the first time — ushering in a new era of exoplanet research

These Artemis 1 experiments could protect NASA astronauts and help usher in a future in which space is accessible to everyone.

Sailplanes could harvest wind energy from Mars’ atmosphere, probing unexplored regions for long stretches of time.

The first ocean planet may have just been discovered in the “Goldilocks zone” of a star 100 light-years from Earth.

Future astronauts might produce oxygen on Mars by blasting carbon dioxide molecules apart inside a plasma reactor.

T-Mobile customers will soon have access to SpaceX's Starlink satellites, ensuring they’ll have mobile coverage nearly everywhere in the US.

A study of “underwater snow” on Earth is informing NASA’s hunt for habitable locations on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.

American Airlines has paid a non-refundable deposit for 20 supersonic planes from Denver-based startup Boom Supersonic.

Satellite mega constellations could bring the world online, but they're also a threat to astronomy. Can we study space and build in it, too?

A new study suggests magnets might be the key to developing lighter, simpler systems for generating oxygen in space.

After multiple delays, NASA’s new moon rocket — the Space Launch System — is finally on the launchpad ahead of its first test flight.

If Russia is able to build the laser, it would be capable of shielding a large part of the country from the view of satellites.

A MIRA surgical robot is heading to the ISS in 2024 so developers can test its potential to help astronauts survive medical emergencies.

A newly identified lunar pit where the temperature is always about 63 F could be the perfect place for NASA’s future moon base.

Samson Sky has received approval from the FAA to begin flight testing its flying sports car, the three-wheeled Switchblade.

The three Astrobee robots aboard the ISS foreshadow a future in which autonomous bots are NASA astronauts’ partners in space.

Inspired by the overachieving Ingenuity, NASA has updated the Mars Sample Return mission to include two new Mars helicopters.

NASA has given three companies $5 million contracts to develop mini reactors capable of generating nuclear power on the moon by 2031.

It wasn’t until landing on the asteroid Bennu that NASA learned its surface was more like a plastic ball pit than the relatively solid moon.

To create artificial gravity for off-world explorers, Japan plans to build spinning, cone-shaped facilities on the moon and Mars.

Flying low above the sea, “seagliders” from Boston-based company REGENT may be cruising Hawaii by 2025.

With its first deep-field image, the James Webb Space Telescope has truly ushered in an entirely new era in astronomy and astrophysics.

The James Webb Space Telescope's first set of science images showcases the breadth of the observatory’s capabilities.

On July 11, 2022, the very first science image of the James Webb Space Telescope was unveiled to the world.

NASA has announced the first targets for the James Webb Space Telescope and plans to share the full-color images on July 12.

China’s Earth 2.0 mission will survey the Milky Way in the hope of identifying exoplanets similar to Earth.

A crater 5 inches deep was caused by something about the size and weight of an eraser on the end of a pencil.

A raft of “space bubbles” could be used to reverse global warming, according to an MIT group's solar geoengineering proposal.

Ukrainian startup Promin Aerospace is developing a “self-devouring” rocket built from a material that its engine can burn as fuel.