We first drilled on the lunar surface during the Apollo program, but NASA has its eyes set on sending another drill to the Moon in 2022 to probe its south pole.
It’s NASA’s first robotic lunar surface exploration mission. Researchers will equip a rover with tools like this to probe the lunar south pole for water and other resources.
Today’s spacecraft rely on Earth-based systems to tell them the time and give them directions to their destination. But a compact, super-accurate atomic clock could help create a portable GPS system to carry missions on through deep space.
This small atomic clock (approx. 10x10 inches) will ride along to Venus during NASA’s VERITAS mission later this decade.
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Astronauts have to spacewalk outside the ISS to install new solar arrays every now and then. Recently, a team from NASA and ESA completed a spacewalk in June 2021 to put new upgrades in place.
NASA’s InSight lander recently revealed a unique way that it keeps its solar panels free of Mars dust so that it can keep probing into the planet.
And while it probably won’t be for a while, future projects propose using high-powered laser beams to push a spacecraft into deep space.
Landing a spacecraft is a fiery affair. But an inflatable shield developed by NASA could help us achieve more graceful landings on planets like Mars.
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