News - Deep Space 1
Deep in the heart of the asteroid belt, on its way to the first of the belt's two most massive inhabitants, NASA's ion-propelled Dawn spacecraft has eclipsed the record for velocity change produced by a spacecraft's engines.
Researchers at Hampshire defense and security firm Qinetiq are currently testing ion thrusters, which they hope will one day bring spacecraft to the planets through solar energy.
A former comet-slamming spacecraft will swing by Earth on New Year's Eve before starting a two-and-a-half-year journey to Comet Hartley 2. Deep Impact will first spend six months using the larger of its two telescopes to search for Earth-sized planets around five candidate stars.
A modern probe on the way to the edge of the solar system is using Sputnik-like tones to send messages back to Earth.
