Incredible Technology

At the center of space exploration beats a heart of incredible technological marvels and innovation that inspires scientists and engineers to reach for the stars. See some of the wildest space tech concepts here, as well as technologies needed to ensure humanity's expansion across the solar system.

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NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter does a slow spin test of its blades on April 8, 2021, the 48th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This image was captured by the Mastcam-Z on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover.

The Mars helicopter Ingenuity is about to make history in the skies of another world

By Chelsea Gohd

NASA is about to make history on the Red Planet with the first controlled, helicopter flight on another world.

NASA's Mars Helicopter Ingenuity is seen on the surface of the Red Planet by the perseverance rover on April 5, 2021.

Teach your kids about NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity with a free webcast today

By Tariq Malik

NASA engineers will teach kids about the Mars helicopter Ingenuity in a live webcast today. Here's how to watch.

The End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration (ELSA-d) mission will test a magnetic docking technique to remove space debris from orbit. The "servicer" satellite will use GPS to locate space debris and then latch onto it using a magnetic docking plate to carry it down toward the Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up.

Tiny Astroscale satellite will test space junk cleanup tech with magnets

By Samantha Mathewson

Astroscale just launched the first commercial space junk cleanup mission designed to locate and retrieve used satellites and other debris orbiting Earth.

The U.S. Space Force's robotic X-37B space plane carries a power-beaming experiment on its latest mission to Earth orbit.

Space-based solar power getting key test aboard US military's mysterious X-37B space plane

By Leonard David

The X-37B space plane is being used to flight-validate the best ways to gather the sun's energy for power beaming from Earth orbit.

This low-resolution view of the floor of Mars’ Jezero Crater and a portion of two wheels of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover was captured by the agency’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter on April 3, 2021. It’s the first color photo taken by Ingenuity on the Martian surface.

Mars Helicopter Ingenuity snaps 1st color photo on Red Planet

By Mike Wall

The 4-lb. (1.8 kilograms) chopper captured its first color photograph on Saturday (April 3), shortly after being lowered to the Martian dirt by the Perseverance rover.

Makoto Fujiwara stands in front of ALPHA Experiment apparatus at CERN in Switzerland.

Antimatter cooled to near absolute zero by laser beam

By Ben Turner

The scientists trapped the antimatter in a magnetic field to stop it from annihilating, before blasting it with a cooling laser.

Six ways satellites make the world a better place

By Ciara McGrath

Satellites provide a vital service.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency are teaming up for the Deep Space Food Challenge for new ideas to feed astronauts on long voyages.

This Deep Space Food Challenge wants your help to feed astronauts of the future

By Elizabeth Howell

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have paired up for a challenge to build food systems for Mars missions.

An 'exploded' view of the Antikythera mechanism.

Scientists unlock the 'Cosmos' on the Antikythera Mechanism, the world's first computer

By Ben Turner

Scientists may have finally made a complete digital model for the Cosmos panel of a 2,000-year-old mechanical device called the Antikythera mechanism that's believed to be the world's first computer.

An artist's depiction of FLOAT (Flexible Levitation on a Track), one of the 2021 recipients of funding from NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program.

NASA's new batch of wild space tech ideas includes Titan sample-return concept and more

By Elizabeth Howell

NASA's newest fleet of far-out exploration ideas include projects on topics such as Titan sample return, artificial gravity for astronauts, and collecting vast amounts of planetary data.

SpaceX's first Super Heavy booster for the company's Starship spacecraft is seen inside its assembly building at SpaceX's test facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas.

Elon Musk shows off SpaceX's 1st Starship Super Heavy booster

By Mike Wall

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk showed off the company's first Starship Super Heavy booster in a Twitter post on Thursday (March 18).

Artist's illustration of the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity flying in the Red Planet's skies.

The Mars helicopter on NASA's Perseverance rover could fly in early April

By Mike Wall

The teams behind NASA's Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter have chosen an airfield on the Red Planet for the little chopper and are gearing up for flights in the near future.

Abstract illustration of particles interacting at the quantum level.

A new approach to directly testing quantum gravity

By Paul Sutter

A team of physicists has proposed a clever plan to concoct a quantum theory of gravity: refine an age-old technique, and use it to probe the tiniest scales in the universe.

Underneath the stands of the University of Arizona’s football stadium, engineers with the school’s Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab manufacture the world's largest and most lightweight telescope mirrors. At the center of the process is a giant spinning furnace, the only one of its kind.

Giant Magellan Telescope project casts sixth mirror

By Mike Wall

The GMT keeps coming together.

Northrop Grumman conducted a validation test of its GEM 63XL rocket motor on Jan. 21, 2021, at its Promontory, Utah, facility. The GEM 63XL will support the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle.

Northrop Grumman test-fires rocket motors for new Vulcan Centaur booster

By Elizabeth Howell

Northrop Grumman and United Launch Alliance successfully performed a crucial rocket motor test for ULA's next-generation rocket, Vulcan Centaur, in preparation for a debut launch later this year.

nasa's space launch system sls illustration

SpaceX vs NASA: Who will get us to the moon first? Here's how their latest rockets compare

By Gareth Dorrian, Ian Whittaker

No-one has visited the Moon since 1972. But with the advent of commercial human spaceflight, the urge to return is resurgent and generating a new space race.

This NASA illustration depicts an O'Neill Cylinder: a floating human habitat orbiting an alien planet. A new paper proposes building a mega-colony of them around the dwarf planet, Ceres.

Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says

By Brandon Specktor

A new paper proposes building a 'megasatellite' of human habitats around the dwarf planet Ceres.

Omega debuts next generation of NASA-qualified Speedmaster moonwatches

By Robert Z. Pearlman

A new generation of the first watch worn on the moon carries on its iconic Apollo-era look while introducing the highest level of precision available from a modern Swiss-made chronograph.