drew@drewexmachina.com
In recent years it seems that NASA regularly extends the missions of its long-lived planetary spacecraft sometimes far beyond their original primary missions. The armada of […]
The history of planetary exploration is filled with proposals that never flew. While there are some that, at best, had dubious chances at success, there are […]
A half century ago, NASA’s Mariner 4 spacecraft had completed the first successful flyby of Mars on July 15, 1965 (Universal Time) and had already finished […]
Most space exploration enthusiasts are familiar with the story of Mariner 4: On July 15, 1965 (Universal Time), Mariner 4 made the first close encounter of […]
An advanced spacecraft streaking towards the most distant planetary encounter to date finally reaches its destination. As the spacecraft nears its closest approach to its target, […]
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, currently in the middle of its historic encounter with Pluto and its system of moons, is the culmination of a quarter of […]
For the better part of a quarter of a century, Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa has caught the attention of scientists and the lay public alike. Although […]
After the initial flurry of lunar mission launches in the opening years of the Space Age, the Soviet Union had amassed a significant list of Moon-related […]
On May 5, 1965, Soviet authorities officially announced that contact with the malfunctioning Zond 2 spacecraft had been lost three months before it reached Mars. Zond […]
After the launch of the first Soviet Sputnik satellites, the US found itself scrambling to get its first satellites into orbit. But in order to repair […]
Since entering orbit around Mercury four years ago, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft has had to use its propulsion system periodically to compensate for the effects of the […]
The history of spaceflight is littered with projects that never flew. Many projects never get past the concept stage while a few were cancelled only months […]
