Simulating a Piece of Space Junk

When a spacecraft dies, it loses the ability to maintain its direction in space. Additionally, as…

Vampire Stars Get Help from a Third Star to Feed

Some stars are stuck in bad binary relationships. A massive primary star feeds on its smaller…

Aerocapture is a Free Lunch in Space Exploration

When spacecraft return to Earth, they don’t need to shed all their velocity by firing retro-rockets.…

JWST Reveals Protoplanetary Disks in a Nearby Star Cluster

The Orion Nebula is a favourite among stargazers, certainly one of mine. It’s a giant stellar…

Apollo Samples Contain Hydrogen Hurled from the Sun

According to the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, men should drink 3.7litres of…

Next Generation Space Telescopes Could Use Deformable Mirrors to Image Earth-Sized Worlds

Observing distant objects is no easy task, thanks to our planet’s thick and fluffy atmosphere. As…

The Early Universe Had No Problem Making Barred Spiral Galaxies

Spiral galaxies like the Milky Way are like cosmic snowflakes—no two are exactly alike. For many…

NASA Tests its Next-Generation Mars Helicopter Blades

While NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter continues to break records for both airspeed and altitude while it…

Ariane 6 Fires its Engines, Simulating a Flight to Space

Since 2010, the European aerospace manufacturer ArianeGroup has been developing the Ariane 6 launch vehicle, a…

Where are All the Double Planets?

A recent study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society examines formation mechanisms…