spacecraft Archives

Artist’s illustration showing part of the Sun at left, Earth and its magnetosphere at right, and several spacecraft in between. The spacecraft are networked together by curving, glowing green lines.

Vast Space, Sparse Data: An AI Answer to Twin Space Weather Challenges

by Savvas Raptis, Manolis K. Georgoulis, Mikhail Sitnov, Anthony Sciola and Simon Wing 11 June 202611 June 2026

Modern machine learning and AI methods can help heliophysics researchers and space weather forecasters overcome limitations from a dearth of observations and the infrequency of extreme events.

This image shows a rocket launching into a blue sky from its launchpad. A bright white and orange tail is emitted from the bottom of the rocket, transitioning into cloudlike billows of gas closer to the ground. A body of still water is in the midground, and grasses and shrubs are in the foreground.

Research Spotlights

Rocket Launches and Reentries Harm Earth’s Ozone Layer

by Sarah Stanley 8 June 20268 June 2026

Solid-state fuels—recently used to help launch astronauts to the Moon for the first time in decades—appear to be the fuel type with the most detrimental effects on the ozone.

Amid a wide open expanse of snow-covered ice sheet under a blue sky, a researcher crouches beside scientific equipment set atop a sled behind a snowmobile.

Science Updates

New Directions in Mapping Ice Sheet Fabrics and Flow

by David Lilien, T. J. Young, Benjamin Hills, Tamara Gerber and Matthew Siegfried 14 May 202614 May 2026

Polarimetric radar advances enable scientists to measure orientations of crystals, bubbles, and other properties that affect the flow of glaciers and ice sheets—and their contributions to sea level.

A large, round, glowing yellow shape is shown at right (the Sun), and a smaller, reddish-brown sphere is at left (Mars). Pale yellow streaks and thicker curving white lines radiate from the Sun in all directions. Mars appears to disrupt the flow of the pale yellow streaks, which deflect around it like water flowing around a pebble in a stream.

Research Spotlights

What Makes Mars’s Magnetotail Flap?

by Sarah Stanley 20 April 20261 May 2026

Spacecraft reveal a key driver of up-and-down motions of thin, current-carrying plasma sheets on the nightside of Mars.

Four astronauts, floating in a spacecraft without gravity, smile and flash thumbs up for the camera.

Research & Developments

Artemis II Crew Splashes Down

by Emily Gardner 10 April 202622 May 2026

After a journey to and around the Moon, the Artemis II crew splashed back to Earth off the coast of San Diego at 5:07 p.m. local time (8:07 p.m. ET) on 10 April.

Editors' Vox

Distant Cousins? How Field Work on Earth Could Help Us to Better Understand Titan

by Conor Nixon 9 April 20261 May 2026

What do Saturn’s moon Titan and the Earth have in common? Quite a lot as it turns out, from hydrocarbon deposits to polar clouds, lakes and rivers, craters and canyons, and more.

An image, taken from the surface of Mars, shows rocks of various sizes. Many are marked with a ripple pattern.

Research & Developments

Curiosity Stumbles Upon Evidence of Ancient Martian Winds

by Emily Gardner 8 April 202622 May 2026

Researchers have found evidence of a sandstorm on Mars that occurred about 3.6 billion years ago.

The dusty, dark gray surface of asteroid Ryugu is scattered with boulders and a few craters.

News

Asteroid Hosts All Ingredients for DNA and RNA

by Matthew R. Francis 8 April 20261 May 2026

Samples collected from asteroid Ryugu contain the four genetic “letters” of DNA, reinforcing the hypothesis that the chemical origins of life were present when the solar system began.