If you follow science and technology news like we do here at the Planetary Broadcast Network, you have probably noticed that the term “quantum” is being bandied about quite a bit these days. It seems like every researcher with a string of letters after his name is working on some new quantum state of matter,…
Quantum Stuff
22nd December 2021Solar Electric Propulsion
18th November 2021As we mentioned in our last installment, the BepiColombo mission reached Mercury with the aid of solar electric ion thrusters. If that sounds to you like something that should be mentioned on the bridge of your favorite fictional TV starship, you are not alone. Solar electric propulsion (SEP) has been used on a number of…
BepiColombo Reaches Mercury
01st November 2021You may have heard that a spacecraft just passed by Mercury—or not. The current spate of billionaires and actors going into space has kind sponged up all the bandwidth for space-related news stories of late, so you may have missed it. Here at the Planetary Broadcast Network, however, we believe that this BepiColombo flyby of…