"The LightSail 2 mission is a game-changer for spaceflight and advancing space exploration," said Bill Nye, whose Planetary Society funded the project.
Settlements on the moon where astronauts will live permanently or semi-permanently are closer to becoming a reality than ever before.
The technology has the potential to revolutionize navigation in space and usher in a new era of exploration to far-flung worlds.
The space agency is hoping to put the first woman on the lunar surface by 2024.
"Mars is waiting to be discovered, not by clever robots and rovers, but by living, breathing, walking, talking, caring and daring men and women," the ex-astronaut wrote.
Ultima Thule is located around 4 billion miles away from the Sun.
Retired NASA astronaut Bill Anders also said that sending humans to Mars was a "stupid" idea.
Parker has surpassed the previous close approach record set in April 1976 by the German-American spacecraft Helios 2.
Venus's surface is an inhospitable wasteland. But its upper atmosphere is much like Earth.
A new study suggests that the Red Planet could have supported subsurface microbes.
Musk's Mars ambitions have started to look more like fantasy.
Long-distance space travel presents a number of challenges, including how to transport sufficient quantities of oxygen and fuel.
If successful, the probe will be the first privately funded unmanned spacecraft to land on the moon.
Around 200,000 people have signed up for Asgardian citizenship.
"We are doing both the moon and Mars, in tandem, and the missions are supportive of each other."
The behemoth of a telescope will help humans explore distant alien planets.
Kilopower will be capable of producing enough power to run several average households continuously for 10 years.