A Brief History of Solar Sails Have you ever stared up at the night sky, felt a gentle breeze, and wished you could set sail for the stars? Get in line. Many great thinkers from history have had the same idea. This long-held fancy could soon become reality with one solar sail mission on the drawing board and another already on the launching pad, slated to blast off this summer. + Read More + Listen to Story + en español
NASA to Attempt Historic Solar Sail Deployment This summer, NASA engineers will try to realize a dream older than the Space Age itself: the deployment of a working solar sail in Earth orbit. The name of the device is NanoSail-D and it is scheduled for launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket as early as July 29, 2008. + Read More + Listen to Story + en español
Methane Blast NASA-supported scientists and engineers have successfully tested a methane-powered rocket engine. The firing was not only remarkably beautiful but also may herald a new type of spacecraft that one day roams the outer solar system gathering fuel from planets and moons that it visits. + Read More + Listen to Story + en español
Super Spaceships Imagine a "holistic spaceship" that behaves eerily alive--even telling you when it feels bad; that travels much faster and weighs much less than ordinary spacecraft; that scientists will design molecule-by-molecule. NASA researchers say it's not so far-fetched! + Read More + Listen to Story