What really makes up everything? Science of atoms, galaxies and everything in between!
If you read my post about the UK space industry, you'll know that it's dominated by small-medium sized companies, with many focussed on small satellites. One of these companies is In Space Missions, and I was lucky enough to get to (virtually) spend 3 days with them last month doing some work experience! It was… Continue reading So you want to work in the space industry: my work experience!
ESA opens Astronaut Applications Earlier this month, ESA (the European Space Agency… thankfully the UK remains a part of ESA despite Brexit!) announced they would be opening astronaut applications for the first time since 2008! Although I can’t apply, this is still incredibly exciting- so I immediately signed up to attend the press conference… and… Continue reading So you want to be an astronaut: Europe Edition!
When you think of space, the organisation that immediately springs to mind is NASA, and then probably SpaceX. But for those of us who don’t live in the US, the fact that a lot of the big companies and funding for space research are found there is more than a little disheartening, especially when you… Continue reading So you want to work in the space industry- UK edition!
Rocket technology has come a long way since the start of the decade, with the rise of commercial spaceflight and integration of public and private agencies. It began with the end of an era. The space shuttle program was NASA’s longest running mission series, with its first launch way back in 1981. The program was… Continue reading The Decade in Spaceflight
50 years ago, the world was awestruck as the space race fuelled innovation at a speed not yet seen before, resulting in the first human setting foot on the moon just a decade after the first satellite was launched! But as the cold war and threat of nuclear attack fizzled out with the fading US-Russia… Continue reading The Artemis Generation
Welcome back to my spectacular scientists series! It’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
This summer is chock-full of exciting missions to Mars, with China’s Tianwen-1 and the UAE’s Hope orbiter already en route to Mars, and NASA’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. I’ll talk more… Continue reading Why is Mars so hard to land on?
Spacesuits are a personal lifeboat for astronauts- a few millimetre thick layer between the extreme vacuum of space and survival. First up, what is a spacesuit? Essentially, they are a personal space station! They have air to breathe, strong fabric/seams to keep the air in and maintain pressure, water to stay hydrated (& a ‘space… Continue reading The Evolution of the Spacesuit
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 has a diversity problem. Over 90% of NASA's astronauts are white. Only 4% are black- that's less than 20 people! Other major space agencies, like CSA, ESA and Roscosmos, are similarly lacking in representation. Thankfully, it is improving, with 25% of NASA's active astronauts being people of colour. Its a move in the right… Continue reading Representation Matters: 10 Black Astronauts you should know
Never Trust An Atom 