Science: Late last week NASA announced that it didn’t know the whereabouts of NanoSail-D. The 4-kg “nanosatellite” (shown below) was designed to test the feasibility of propelling spacecraft with solar sails that unfurl in space. At this point, it’s not known whether the sails failed to deploy, the spacecraft’s communication equipment failed to operate, or both. NanoSail-D is one of three small probes that formed the payload of NASA’s FASTSAT spacecraft.
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
Get PT in your inbox
PT The Week in Physics
A collection of PT's content from the previous week delivered every Monday.
One email per week
PT New Issue Alert
Be notified about the new issue with links to highlights and the full TOC.
One email per month
PT Webinars & White Papers
The latest webinars, white papers and other informational resources.
