Hackaday Links: January 14, 2024

Hackaday Links Column Banner

How long does it take a team of rocket scientists to remove two screws? When the screws they’re working on are keeping a priceless sample of asteroid safe, it’s about …read more Continue reading Hackaday Links: January 14, 2024

Hackaday Links: October 8, 2023

Hackaday Links Column Banner

Too much of a good thing is generally a bad thing, but a surfeit of asteroid material is probably a valid exception to that rule. Such was NASA’s plight as …read more Continue reading Hackaday Links: October 8, 2023

Hackaday Links: July 16, 2023

Hackaday Links Column Banner

Last week, we noted an attempt to fix a hardware problem with software, which backfired pretty dramatically for Ford when they tried to counter the tendency for driveshafts to fall …read more Continue reading Hackaday Links: July 16, 2023

NASA Taps Lockheed to Bring Back a Piece of Mars

Since NASA’s Mariner spacecraft made the first up-close observations of Mars in 1964, humanity has lobbed a long line of orbiters, landers, and rovers towards the Red Planet. Of course, …read more Continue reading NASA Taps Lockheed to Bring Back a Piece of Mars

China’s Moon Mission Was About More than Rocks

If everything goes according to plan, China will soon become the third country behind the United States and the Soviet Union to successfully return a sample of lunar material. Their Chang’e 5 mission, which was designed to collect 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of soil and rock from the Moon’s surface, …read more

Continue reading China’s Moon Mission Was About More than Rocks

Extraterrestrial Excavation: Digging Holes on Other Worlds

We humans are good at a lot of things, but making holes in the ground has to be among our greatest achievements. We’ve gone from grubbing roots with a stick to feeding billions with immense plows pulled by powerful tractors, and from carving simple roads across the land to drilling …read more

Continue reading Extraterrestrial Excavation: Digging Holes on Other Worlds