Videos
Podcasts
Blogs
Quizzes
GamesPosts Tagged: ‘space exploration’
As a science writer, Mary Roach has penned books on everything from cadavers to astronauts. In this episode, Allison and Robert interview Mary Roach about the future of space exploration. Listen in to learn what you’ll need to pack for a trip to Mars.
It’s no secret that space shuttles need a vast amount of fuel to escape the pull of gravity — but are space elevators a better alternative? In this episode, Robert and Allison explore the merits of literally building an elevator from Earth into space.
The Japanese Hayabusa probe is scheduled to return on Sunday. This was an outrageous mission, especially for Japan – the goal was to land on an asteroid, collect a sample from its surface and then bring the sample back to earth for analysis. But since the asteroid is so small (only 590 meters long, and therefore hardly any gravity), “landing” is more like docking, and the mothership in this case (the asteroid) has an unknown surface. The probe had to be “smart” enough to handle the docking on its own. The following video explains how the docking happened, as well as explaining the whole mission profile…
Think you have what it takes to endure a five-month stay in orbit? Be prepared to go through some psychological changes. According to nearly a decade of Russian observations and a 1993 report on human adaptation to long-duration space flight, you’ll probably become incredible irritable — and possibly start to feel like all humanity is interconnected in a vast web than spans the cosmos. Yes, space euphoria: it’s actually a thing, man.
NASA is currently formulating a plan to send several missions to Earth’s other sister world, Venus, according to an article today in New Scientist. Numerous U.S. and Soviet spacecraft have made the journey in the past, including both unmanned satellites and unmanned surface probes. What sets this proposed Venus mission apart is the use of high-altitude balloons to study the planet’s upper atmosphere.
The idea behind a gravity assist is to use a planet’s motion to accelerate a satellite. Check out our article on HowStuffWorks to learn more about the effects of gravity on satellites.
Voyager II uses a radioisotope thermo-electric generator power to communicate with NASA. Learn more about RTG in this HowStuffWorks podcast.
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
- Sun, Sand and a Passenger Jet Coming Right for You
- Golden Fields of Canola
- The Park That Never Sleeps: Central Park
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Blow Your Mind: Nebula in a Box
- Blow Your Mind: Three Minutes Till Impact
- Touching the Void: Psychedelics and Death
Stuff You Should Know
- Stuff You Should Know at SXSW
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Listener Mail: What’s the world’s largest engine?
- Listener Mail: What makes a “classic car” classic?
- Was Chrysler’s “It’s Halftime in America” Super Bowl commercial a little too political?
How-to Stuff
- How to Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labor
- How to Travel the World in 4 Days
- How to Smell Like Someone at HowStuffWorks
PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 69: Perfume: The Culture of Scent
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 68: Astrology: What’s PopStuff’s Sign?
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 67: Collecting: PopStuff’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
- Good News from the Oldest Mayan Calendar
- One Year Later: Colony Collapse Disorder
- Who Killed Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics
