Visit SPACE.com each Wednesday to explore a new technology feature. The stories are archived here.

Virtual Reality: Preparing for Terrorism in the Digital Age
19 March 2003: Virtual reality, that computer-driven replacement for the here and now, may offer a versatile proving ground for police officers and emergency crews training to respond to future terrorist attacks.

Radio Star: ALMA Telescope to See Stellar Birth, Galactic History
05 March 2003: Witnessing the birth of a star or the early days of a galaxy is all about distance. The further out a telescope peers into space, the better for astronomers hoping to glimpse the early universe.

Reconstructing Columbia: How Computer Modeling Can Help Crash Investigators
26 February 2003: Crash investigators, poring over the remains of the Space Shuttle Columbia in the hope of finding the exact cause of its destruction, may find help in computer modeling - a tool that can electronically reconstruct the last minutes of an aircraft.

Undersea Exploration Provides Trial-Run for Space Hardware
19 February 2003: A high-tech approach to ocean exploration will not only provide insight into the origin of life on Earth but how to search for life on other worlds.

Joint Strike Fighter: A Jet for Every Occasion
12 February 2003: The United States military is busy developing its newest jet fighter for the 21st century, a multi-role aircraft capable of combat over land, sea and in the air.

In Defense of Earth: Keeping Asteroids at a Distance
05 February 2003: A group of astronauts, scientists, and technologists want to engage in celestial shoving match. The winner may well be the Earth.

Satellite Savior: A Look at an Earth-Orbit Rescue Vehicle
22 January 2003: If you are lost in space, there's nothing like a pick-up service to get you where you're going.

Arecibo's Internet2 Connection Gives Researchers Greater Access
15 January 2003: If you think you know how tedious downloading digital vacation pictures on a laptop can be, imagine sifting through 800 terabytes of files from the furthest reaches of the Universe.

James Webb Space Telescope: Diving Deep into the Universe
08 January 2003: Eye-catching is the watchword for the folks building the James Webb Space Telescope - a 21st century high-tech space observatory that pledges to down shift the Hubble Space Telescope into humble mode.

New Binocular Telescope Pushes the Aperture Envelope
04 December 2002: Talk about your vanity mirrors. The nearly completed Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) on Mt. Graham in Arizona will have not one, but two of the largest one-piece telescope mirrors in the world.

Creating Commercial Spacecraft for Space Tourism
27 November 2002: If scads of surveys are correct, the public is hungry for ticket counter takeoffs to space.

Space Elevator Upstarts Settle Down To Business
20 November 2002: Constructing a vertical railroad stretching into space is no longer wistful fantasy carried in science fiction novels. Just ask the folks at HighLift Systems in Seattle, Washington. Selling the idea of a space elevator, however, takes a lot of ground floor shoe leather and handshakes.

Robotic Balloon Probe Could Pierce Venus's Deadly Clouds
13 November 2002: NASA contractor Global Aerospace recently developed a hybrid satellite-balloon. The contraption, dubbed the StratoSail, was originally conceived as a way to control the paths of weather balloons floating at the edge of space.

The Chameleon Spacesuit: Light-weight Life-saver
06 November 2002: When astronauts have to step outside for a space walk or a stroll across the Moon, they must first face a daunting challenge that would overwhelm an ordinary person: getting dressed.

Antimatter Power: Reaching for Deep Space
30 October 2002: To Steve Howe, a trip to Pluto is small potatoes. That most distant planet orbits about 40 times further from the Sun than the Earth. But that's not even half as far as Howe dreams of traveling.

NASA Invention Pinpoints Lightning Strikes
25 September 2002: If lightning really never struck twice in the same place, Dr. Pedro Medelius's job would be a lot easier. But since bolts from the blue can hit wherever they please, figuring out what's been zapped within the 140,000 acres of NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) could seem hopeless.

An Inside Look at the Mars Gravity Biosatellite Project
18 September 2002: Before humans set boot on the far-off world, what's really mandatory are a few good mice.

COBRA Engine Could Power the Next Generation Shuttle
04 September 2002: Three hours south of the Kennedy Space Center, on the edge of the Florida Everglades, engineers are crafting a new rocket engine that one day might power the next generation of reusable launch vehicles.

British Balloonists to Attempt Record Flight to Edge of Space
28 August 2002: Some day soon two British balloonists will take an open-air trip to the very edge of space -- if the weather cooperates. If the mission succeeds, they will secure the world record for the highest crewed balloon flight.

IBM's BlueBoard Technology on the Red Planet
21 August 2002: Technology used to plan the next Mars mission is catching up with the technology of the spacecraft themselves. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory plan to use a giant plasma-screen electronic "whiteboard," based on IBM technology, to evaluate data captured by the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) once they have arrived on the Red Planet.

New Telescope Camera Targets Fast-Spinning Hearts of Distant Galaxies
14 August 2002: Astronomy is not usually described as "fast paced." Photographing the depths of the universe is usually a business of very long exposures lasting hours or even days.

Superfast VASIMR Rocket in Funding Limbo
07 August 2002: Research on this high-tech propulsion method has turned controversial. VASIMR supporters see dream machinery in the making. Other propulsion experts claim the engine delivers more hype than hypervelocity.

SMART Technology: Moon Mission to Test Solar Engine With No Limits
31 July 2002: Electric power and ion propulsion are about to combine for only the second time to propel a spacecraft beyond Earth orbit. Next April the European Space Agency's SMART-1 lunar satellite heads off to explore the Moon from an orbital position.

Goliath Telescope: OWL's Eye May Find First Galaxies
24 July 2002: A group of European astronomers and engineers are planning to cast a new heavyweight into the observation ring, an optical telescope bigger than a football field.

How Miniature Radiation Detectors Will Keep Astronauts Safe in Deep Space
17 July 2002: The future of space exploration lies beyond Earth's protective magnetosphere, where an even bigger threat lurks in the form of heavy ion radiation.

Increased Traffic Around Earth Calls for Stronger Spacecraft; Earlier Warning
10 July 2002: More than 40 years of an increasingly global push into space have placed hundreds of artificial satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and at the same time created a cloud of hazardous debris around the planet.

Cheapest Space Telescope: Making the MOST of $10 million
03 July 2002: The mantra 'bigger is better' is popular among astronomers, who develop ever-larger telescopes for a better view of the universe. But in Canada, where researchers are building the smallest space telescope ever, the saying bears no weight.

New Software Helps Satellites Pinpoint Fires Earlier
26 June 2002: While firefighters from as far away as Alaska are being called in to help fight the fires now consuming the United States' southwest, some of the most crucial assistance remains 23,000 miles away, in orbit.

Gearing Up to Harvest Mars' Water Resource
19 June 2002: The surprising signal from Mars Odyssey is that oceans of ice lie in wait just under the surface of the Red Planet.

Mars Airplane Soars on Earth
12 June 2002: To better reconnoiter the Red Planet, scientists and engineers see high-tech robotic aircraft offering unique advantages. One innovative glider design, currently undergoing trial runs, is built to deploy instruments in scientifically rewarding but tough-to-get-to spots on Mars.

NASA Developing Radar to Locate Lost Planes
05 June 2002: NASA’s ability to track spacecraft is crucial to the exploration of the stars. But the space agency is also looking earthward, hoping to build a radar system that could peer through trees, clouds and other obstructions to find lost planes and hopefully save lives.

Heavy Traffic on NASA's DSN
29 May 2002: An ever-growing cadre of interplanetary spacecraft aimed at the planets and other bodies in our solar system have swamped NASA's Deep Space Network.

Advanced Propulsion Comes Of Age
22 May 2002: NASA is known worldwide for routinely putting people into Earth orbit. The agency is also revered as the only organization that has flung humans at escape velocity speeds to the Moon. However, NASA could also be known as an agency that's going nowhere fast.

Space Weapons For Earth Wars
15 May 2002: While the latest Star Wars sci-fi saga makes its way to a cinema near you, a true-to-life space drama is unfolding as a new breed of weaponry may soon populate the heavens.

Orbital Telescope Platform Proposed For SETI, Asteroid Watch Duties
08 May 2002: The International Space Station may be port of call for a free-flying telescope capable of not only probing the depths of the Universe, but also listening for the chatter of other civilizations and spotting Earth-threatening asteroids.

About Time
A Better Clock ... In Space
01 May 2002: Just like ancient observers, NASA scientists will soon look to the sky to tell the time.

Searching for Answers in a Digital Universe
24 April 2002: Although the observed universe as seen from giant telescopes like the Keck in Hawaii and the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope is made up of mostly hydrogen and helium, Mac Low's universe is composed of silicon and pixels.

Australia Prepares for Asteroid Scavenger's Otherworldly Cargo
17 April 2002: With a Japanese space mission planned to bring asteroid samples back to Earth and drop them on Australia, the government down under is studying what's up in regards to possible contamination and quarantine procedures that might be needed.

Sea Gliders Show Underwater and Off-World Potential
10 April 2002: Though NASA's budget for next year cuts research for a probe to plunge into the depths of Europa's suspected ocean the United States Navy might have unwittingly glided to the rescue with an assist from nothing less than the water and gravity of that moon itself.

The Space Elevator Comes Closer to Reality
27 March 2002: Make way for the ultimate high-rise project: the space elevator. Long viewed as science fiction "imagineering", researchers are gathering momentum in their pursuit to propel this uplifting concept into actuality.

Space Age Medicine
New Technology That Could Save Your Life
13 March 2002: Robo Doc, bionic eyes, a heart grown from your own tissue and other Space Age spin-offs.

Space Tether Experiment Ready For Flight
06 March 2002: Propellant-free propulsion might sound like somebody is trying to string you along. And you're partially right. The difference is that the "string" is 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) of tether line.

Origami Astronomy: The Art and Science of a Giant Folding Space Telescope
20 February 2002: Robert J. Lang is respected in the art community for folding a mean swan. He also knows how to stuff a giant telescope inside a rocket.

Keeping Alien Samples Safe For Study
13 February 2002: Welcome to the Advanced Curation Laboratory, where the guests could entirely change our view of the Solar System.

Microscopic Nanotubes Could Make Ships Lightweight, Superstrong
06 February 2002: some of the first applications of the new technology of synthesizing carbon nanotubes may be as prosaic as building stronger and lighter wall panels for manned spacecraft and casings for automated probes.

New Thermal Protection For Reusable Rockets
30 January 2002: ARMOR used to beat the heat.

Beyond the Dish
23 January 2002: How new technologies could revolutionize big telescope designs.

Bargain Satellites
16 January 2002: Bringing Earth orbit access to the public

Freeing Gases For Cheap Fuel Cells With Orbiting Laser Cannons
09 January 2002: Hydrogen has spent a hundred years as the fuel of the future -- and it still is.

Ice Melter Could Find Europa's Warm Heart
19 December 2001: Through thick or thin. That motto lies at the heart of the search for biology on enigmatic Europa, one of Jupiter’s many moons.

Moon Base Would Scan The Sky, And Deflect Threats To Earth
12 December 2001: Engineers and scientists at NASA’s Langley Research Center are sketching out space-based systems to spot mega and mini-hazards headed this way.

Wings Over Mars: Flapping Robotic Insects Could Extend Range of Rover Missions
05 December 2001: They are tiny but talented…and not the bug-eyed Martians of sci-fi fare.

People Power: Capturing The Body's Energy For Work On and Off Earth
28 November 2001: Covert military operations and space shuttle missions are both burdened the inefficient human body. Harvesting human energy could cut losses.

Project Echelon: Orbiting Big Brother?
21 November 2001: Signal-seeking spacecraft not only play a critical role in eavesdropping on nations from on high, but also within the borders of the U.S itself.

Deep Space Exploration - Looking for Planetary Paydirt
14 November 2000: New spacecraft data clearly picture the inner and outer solar system as a prospector's paradise.

Military Satellites Brace for Leonid Meteor Shower
07 November: 2001: "We're working closely with the Air Force to fully understand the implications of the Leonid storm, and we'll take precautions that we feel are appropriate," said Art Haubold, a spokesman for the National Reconnaissance Office.

All Aboard the Astrotel!
How to Put Humans on Mars by 2035
31 October 2001: A two-way Red Planet rapid-transit system would transfer passengers from Earth to the International Space Station (ISS), then to a farther-out spaceport using swift but cramped "taxis," which would then intercept the Astrotel, a 10-passenger flying Motel 6 that never stops moving.

Project RAMOS: U.S. - Russia Working on Satellite Missile Watching System
24 October 2001: Since 1992, American and Russian scientists have been quietly sketching out a space-based missile watching satellite system. This cooperative project may take on more urgency given U.S. terrorist attacks

Bright Future for Solar Power Satellites
17 October 2001: Two new studies looking at the feasibility of space-based solar power - orbiting satellites that would serve as high-tech space dams - suggest the concept shouldn't be readily dismissed and could generate both Earth-bound and space-based benefits.

War from Space: Satellites Play Crucial Role
09 October 2001: The war on terrorism will by fought from the air and on the ground and even with remote-control missiles, but all these efforts have one thing in common: They rely on satellites to find the enemy and provide secure lines of communication.

The Tricky Science of Aerobraking
03 October 2001: On Oct. 23, the Mars Odyssey spacecraft will reach the Red Planet and activate its main propulsion engines and perform a Mars Orbit Insertion maneuver -- one of the most critical parts of the mission.

Lettuce and LEDs: Shedding New Light On Space Farming
26 September 2001: Researchers here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are parlaying the technology used to develop the latest traffic signals into a salad machine that could enable station crews to grow and harvest their own greens within the next three years.

Space Drills For Mining, Part 2: Drilling With Lasers and Ultrasound
19 September 2001: Robots designed to drill into heavenly bodies might one day wield unusual drill bits: lasers and ultrasonic vibrations.

Space Drills For Mining the Future: Part 1
12 September 2001: NASA is preparing to cross the threshold of outer space into alternate inner space by drilling deep into celestial bodies like Mars, moons, comets, and asteroids.

Space-Age Goop Morphs Between Liquid and Solid
05 September 2001: A material that might pass as Play-Doh for Magneto, the mutant master of magnetism in the Marvel Comics universe, may be critical to the success of future space missions in ways both mundane and exotic.

Safety on Mars: Spacesuits of the Future
27 August 2001: New miniature sensors designed to warn of chemical dangers here on Earth might one day be worn like badges on space suits to alert astronauts or Martian colonists to dangerous chemicals or elevated radiation levels.

Cast Away? Get Help From Above
22 August 2001: A space-based global lifeguard system has quietly helped emergency officials locate and rescue some 4,200 people on and off the coast of the United States since 1982, and nearly 13,000 worldwide.

UFOs and Classified Aircraft: Shedding New Light on Dark Secrets
15 August 2001: For years, people have reported black triangle-shaped craft floating through nighttime skies. These vehicles are claimed by some as proof that Earth is a tourist off-ramp for visitors from afar. But a more terrestrial, less cosmic, modus operandi may be at work.

Tech Wednesday launched on Aug. 15, 2001. The following four stories, part of a series about NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, were published on the four Wednesdays leading up to the launch of Tech Wednesday:

Powering the Future
Soup-Can Spacecraft and Postage-Stamp Engines
Take a hundred soup-can sized spacecraft, toss them into the rings of Saturn, and expect a third of them to crash and burn. They're cheap, so you can afford to lose a few. That's one of many dreams of John Brophy and his colleagues in JPL's ion propulsion lab. Brophy left JPL for greener pastures. Twice. And he returned both times to "do cool things."

Vital Signs
Wrestling With a Wearable HAL
Except for its dark side, Space Odyssey's HAL 9000 was a marvel of human assistance yet to be achieved in real life. Ann Devereaux wants to put the best of HAL into a wearable computer that will give astronauts the vital signs of their spacecraft and their own bodies. In taking the pulse of JPL, she worries it is losing some of its romance.

Tomorrow's Telescope
Wish Upon a Fake Star
Working on a mission that may or may not fly, Gary Blackwood and colleagues cobble together off-the-shelf parts to develop a fake star. Like any JPL team, they're in a race against time and money to sell their concept: a pair of novel telescopes that would fly in formation to explore distant stars and set the stage for a mission to find Earth-like planets.

Tales of the RAT Man
A History and Future of Mars Rovers
Before you send a robot to explore Mars, you have to teach it to be a geologist. That's what the RAT Man does. And he can't imagine working anywhere else. The reason is simple: "I come to work and I play with toys."