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In a breakthrough for future deep space exploration, NASA has successfully demonstrated X-ray navigation, a technique that would allow spacecraft to navigate in deep space without human instruction. It’s largely based on pulsars and their beaming of electromagnetic radiation, which can act as cosmic lighthouses.
Without pulsar navigation, spacecraft must communicate with Earth regularly to confirm their position. But such communication — through systems such as NASA's Deep Space Network, a group of giant satellite dishes — is time-consuming, expensive, and more difficult the farther from Earth a probe travels.
Without pulsar navigation, spacecraft must communicate with Earth regularly to confirm their position. But such communication — through systems such as NASA's Deep Space Network, a group of giant satellite dishes — is time-consuming, expensive, and more difficult the farther from Earth a probe travels.