Space

The Decade in Space Exploration

This decade has perhaps been the most pivotal since the 1960s/70s, in terms of space exploration, both crewed and uncrewed! (to read more about the development of human spaceflight, click here) We maintained our continuous presence in space, with 41 missions to the International Space Station, ranging in length between 64 days and a year!… Continue reading The Decade in Space Exploration

Space, Stargazing

Why is Mars so bright? And other things to see in the October sky

You look out your window in the evening to the south and spot a brighter-than-usual red 'star'. It moves across the night sky and is setting/has set by morning. In fact, it is not a star, but Mars! A hastily snapped photo when I realised it was just peaking through the clouds! (ISO 6400, shutter… Continue reading Why is Mars so bright? And other things to see in the October sky

SciComm, Space, Spectacular Scientists

Spectacular Scientists: Joalda Morancy

Welcome back to my spectacular scientists series! Itโ€™s been a while, but we are kicking it off again with Joalda- also known as @solarrsystem on Twitter- she creates the most amazing threads about all kinds of space-y things. Some are mainly educational, covering fascinating topics like wormholes, space agriculture, and asteroid mining, but also less… Continue reading Spectacular Scientists: Joalda Morancy

Space, Spaceflight

Why is Mars so hard to land on?

This summer is chock-full of exciting missions to Mars, with Chinaโ€™s Tianwen-1 and the UAEโ€™s Hope orbiter already en route to Mars, and NASAโ€™s Mars 2020 set to launch on July 30th. ESA was also meant to launch its Rosalind Franklin Exomars rover, but that was delayed to 2022 earlier this year. Iโ€™ll talk more… Continue reading Why is Mars so hard to land on?

Chemistry, Physics, Space

The Structure of the Solar System

Thanks to seismology, Earth-observing satellites and geology, we have a pretty good idea of what the interior of the Earth looks like, although we are discovering new things year on year! I recently took part in an online course about Deep Earth Science, and another all about Moons, so I thought I would share some… Continue reading The Structure of the Solar System

Space

Do other planets have weather?

Short Answer: Yes! More Interesting Answer: Read onโ€ฆ On Earth, the weather is powered by the interaction between the sun, rotation of the earth, and our atmosphere. The energy from the sun heats up water on the surface, causing it to evaporate, which causes rainfall. And the energy from the sun is what drives the… Continue reading Do other planets have weather?

Astrobiology, Space, Spaceflight

Nasa’s Next Adventures!

The Rovers, Landers and Orbiters; Flybys, Touchdowns and Sample Returns Artemis- NASAโ€™s next major mission series- has dominated most media coverage of NASAโ€™s next steps... and rightly so! It will be the first time since 1972 that we have been to the moon, and it will mark the first female to step foot there! But… Continue reading Nasa’s Next Adventures!

Space, Spaceflight

What’s leaving Earth in 2020?

Its the beginning of a new year (just about, this is going up later than I planned!), so many people are thinking about what they should leave behind in 2019โ€ฆ but what will be leaving the earth this year? As well as the 50,000 tonnes of matter that the earth will lose over the year,… Continue reading What’s leaving Earth in 2020?

Space, Spaceflight

Moon or Mars?

This past week, there has been quite a lot of attention on space travel, due to the fact that July 20th marked 50 years since the Apollo moon landing! And what makes this even more exciting is that recently, NASA announced its accelerated plans to put people on the moon againโ€ฆ by 2024!ย  The main… Continue reading Moon or Mars?

Biology, Physics, Space, Spaceflight

How to Survive Spaceflight

โ€˜To Mars!โ€™ As both Government Space Agencies and Private Companies turn their attentions to long-haul spaceflight, plenty of problems have arisen! It isnโ€™t just the logistics of living on the moon and mars, but getting there has provided its own plethora of difficulties to be solved! I have already written a post about the spacecraft… Continue reading How to Survive Spaceflight