Space Exploration

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earned this badge 69 times.
How did NASA get the video camera on the Moon to track the LM ascent stage, considering the substantial delay?
Awarded Oct 7, 2023 at 23:06
What is "anti-geysering" and why would you turn it off 70 seconds before launch?
Awarded Aug 24, 2023 at 0:01
What "fuel more powerful than anything the West (had) in stock" put Laika in orbit aboard Sputnik 2?
Awarded Mar 7, 2023 at 3:26
BBC: "A rocket launched by Elon Musk's space exploration company is on course to crash into the Moon and explode." Will it really explode?
Awarded Jan 28, 2023 at 19:33
How well can Voyager 1 separate Earth signals from Solar noise these days?
Awarded Jul 25, 2022 at 21:55
How did Apollo-12 manage to land next to Surveyor-3? First "Space-Tourists"?
Awarded Jan 26, 2022 at 1:08
If I wanted to reconstruct an entire Apollo mission's crewed spacecraft trajectories, what are the key sources of historical data I'd look for?
Awarded Jan 21, 2022 at 13:27
When did planetary scientists realize Venus' surface pressure was almost 100x that on Earth? How did they find out?
Awarded Dec 10, 2021 at 17:26
How will DART be able to hit a 170 meter rock dead-center at over 6000 m/s? What technologies will be use and how will they work together?
Awarded Nov 27, 2021 at 23:40
How (the heck) did Lunokhod 2 drive, navigate and survive a ~40 kilometer drive over four months on the Moon using 1970's technology?
Awarded Aug 17, 2021 at 10:16
What skipped test on Genesis would have detected the backwards-inserted accelerometer which didn't deploy the parachute?
Awarded Aug 1, 2021 at 10:30
Is there any demonstrated or even proposed technology that can sterilize a spacecraft with 100% certainty and yet leave it electronically functional?
Awarded Jul 27, 2021 at 18:09
How is stacking oranges in 24 dimensions related to receiving and decoding signals from the Voyagers?
Awarded Jul 8, 2021 at 10:47
Why does the Minotaur I wear a yellow jacket that "banana-peels" off as it launches?
Awarded Jun 17, 2021 at 10:10
Puzzler - which spacecraft(s) incorporated real wood structural elements?
Awarded Jun 11, 2021 at 12:55
Why do Canopus Star Trackers track Canopus? Why not so Sirius?
Awarded Jun 6, 2021 at 21:18
Did the FAA license the Ingenuity helicopter to fly on Mars?
Awarded May 18, 2021 at 19:55
How many times has there been 13 people inside the ISS and is it hard on the station?
Awarded Apr 25, 2021 at 23:38
Which has been the most gregarious rocket, launched from the most sites?
Awarded Apr 3, 2021 at 21:07
Would Earth fireworks work on the Moon or on Mars?
Awarded Mar 26, 2021 at 22:12
How does one throw a boomerang in space? Does it return?
Awarded Feb 4, 2021 at 19:17
Why did it take so long to notice that the ozone layer had holes in it? Which satellite provided the data?
Awarded Jan 12, 2021 at 13:21
Is it common and good engineering for a pair of cables to be easily plugged into each other's connectors in modern spacecraft
Awarded Nov 21, 2020 at 6:55
Why were the SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts backed up by guards with automatic weapons?
Awarded Nov 19, 2020 at 21:17
In this iconic lunar orbit rendezvous photo of John Houbolt, why do arrows #5 and #6 point the "wrong" way?
Awarded Sep 11, 2020 at 16:21
Did Sputnik 1 tell us more than "beep"? What science was improved by information gained from its orbiting the Earth?
Awarded Sep 5, 2020 at 13:33
How did sloshing prevent the Apollo Service Module from moving safely away from the Command Module and how was this fixed?
Awarded Jul 18, 2020 at 4:16
What is the function of this (apparently) fixed dish on the ISS?
Awarded Feb 14, 2020 at 15:40
Have spacecraft photographed each other beyond Earth orbit?
Awarded Dec 13, 2019 at 3:10
When was Newton "not good enough" for spaceflight; first use and first absolute requirement for relativistic corrections?
Awarded Dec 10, 2019 at 6:45
Could a Falcon Heavy really put six GPS Block III satellites in orbit at the same time?
Awarded Nov 27, 2019 at 21:30
Why does this image of Jupiter look so strange?
Awarded Sep 22, 2019 at 0:05
How often is duct tape used during crewed space missions?
Awarded Sep 16, 2019 at 15:35
How many petaflops does it take to land on the moon? What does Artemis need with an Aitken?
Awarded Aug 28, 2019 at 19:45
Why were contact sensors put on three of the Lunar Module's four legs? Did they ever bend and stick out sideways?
Awarded Jul 31, 2019 at 4:25
Has anyone in space seen or photographed a simple laser pointer from Earth?
Awarded Jul 10, 2019 at 20:15
What makes (or at least made) Ada the language of choice for the ISS's safety-critical systems?
Awarded Jun 3, 2019 at 16:30
How would a mousetrap for use in space work?
Awarded Apr 19, 2019 at 17:40
What is GPS' 19 year rollover and does it present a cybersecurity issue?
Awarded Apr 8, 2019 at 19:25
India just shot down a satellite from the ground. At what altitude range is the resulting debris field?
Awarded Mar 28, 2019 at 12:10
Why would a box full of 1cm balls released into LEO be so scary to an engineer supporting the ISS?
Awarded Mar 28, 2019 at 1:10
What's on the bottom of the Shuttle's external fuel tank?
Awarded Mar 19, 2019 at 3:15
Why is the X-37B's large nozzle offset to right from the spacecraft's mid-plane?
Awarded Mar 19, 2019 at 3:15
SpaceX's 4,425 satellite constellation - what's the method to the madness?
Awarded Mar 19, 2019 at 3:15
How do ISS astronauts "get their stripes"?
Awarded Mar 5, 2019 at 16:15
How did the X-15 control attitude above the Kármán line?
Awarded Oct 18, 2018 at 18:05
How did the Apollo computers evaluate transcendental functions like sine, arctangent, log?
Awarded Sep 28, 2018 at 0:40
This image of the Space Shuttle is truly beautiful, but is it real?
Awarded Sep 17, 2018 at 18:45
Does the NK-33 engine require subcooled kerosene so cold that it turns to wax?
Awarded Aug 22, 2018 at 3:50
Why does this researcher have a "clear plastic bag" over their head?
Awarded Aug 9, 2018 at 10:20
"Pillars of Baikonur" What is the purpose of the hundreds of short, white posts near the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad?
Awarded Jun 25, 2018 at 8:11
Could "peak Apollo levels" of support have gotten NASA astronauts to Mars in the 1980's?
Awarded Jun 20, 2018 at 15:19
What was NASA's "Hack" to improve Opportunity's memory in 2015? Did it help?
Awarded Jun 15, 2018 at 4:42
What kind of orbit makes this wave shaped ground track?
Awarded May 14, 2018 at 16:18
Which LEO satellite lost over 30 km of altitude in the geomagnetic storm of 13-14 March 1989?
Awarded Apr 13, 2018 at 14:10
How did the tangential thrusters for the 2014 LDSD test spin-up then spin-down so nicely?
Awarded Feb 1, 2018 at 17:40
What makes 21st century fairings so valuable that they'd potentially be recovered and re-used?
Awarded Jan 5, 2018 at 10:30
Why does this rocket have a nose cone "cozy"?
Awarded Dec 8, 2017 at 10:57
What caused this bright light from the ground at night seen from the ISS?
Awarded Nov 17, 2017 at 14:07
How much bigger could Earth be, before rockets wouldn't work?
Awarded Sep 30, 2017 at 13:50
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