Uncategorized

  1. Planetary Science

    Protecting Earth: Gravitational tractor could lure asteroids off course

    Relying solely on the tug of gravity, a proposed spacecraft could divert an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.

    By Ron Cowen

  2. 19612

    I’m surprised that NASA envisions an absurdly massive, nuclear-powered “gravitational tug” to avoid “the biggest problem” of a contact-tug’s need to “fir[e] its rocket engine only at specific times” to compensate for an asteroid’s rotation as mentioned in this article. Cassini, in orbit around Saturn, fires its rocket engine “only at specific times” routinely. Voyager-1 […]

    By Science News
  3. Physics

    Ghostly Electrons: Particles flit through atom-thin islands

    Electrical measurements of one-atom-thick slices of carbon reveal extraordinary electronic properties, including electrons that seem massless and move at blazing speeds.