The newest concept in spacecraft propulsion, designed to replace chemical propulsion, is xenon ion propulsion. While typical chemical propulsion systems produce a large amount of thrust, they are often less efficient than desired, which results in the spacecraft having to carry large amounts of heavy fuel. For longer duration missions, scientists are looking […]

Anyone who has been in the cockpit of an airplane knows that the pilots have instruments that display the attitude of the aircraft (pitch, roll, yaw) relative to the surface of the earth. What most people don’t know is the basis behind these various instruments. In small planes, the attitude is determined by […]

On January 27, 2008, the US Government announced that a large spy satellite (known as US 193) was out of control and falling back to Earth. After launch, the satellite failed to respond to commands from Earth which would have established it in a final orbit. While many of the details about the […]