In May next year, NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to capture minuscule dust particles streaming into our solar system from interstellar space, in hopes of studying the very building blocks of our cosmic backyard. The primary goal of the mission, called the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), is to study the huge, sun-created […]
Hey, aliens! Lexington, Kentucky would be a good place to spend your next deep-space vacation. This was the message that a group of Kentucky scientists, linguists and scholars recently beamed at the TRAPPIST-1 system, which lies 40 light-years from Earth and harbors multiple potentially habitable planets. The missive represented the very first interstellar travel advertisement, […]
NASA has awarded funding to 13 innovative space technology concepts that could shape future missions to Venus, Mars and worlds beyond our solar system. The space agency’s NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) program supports the development of early-stage technology ideas from America’s innovators and entrepreneurs. Each Phase 1 award is worth up to $175,000, according […]