Tiangong-1 demise, 1 April, no 1 April joke
The Chinese Tiangong-1 space station is predicted to conduct an uncontrolled re-entry sometime during 1 April 2018, NZ time.
The Chinese Tiangong-1 space station is predicted to conduct an uncontrolled re-entry sometime during 1 April 2018, NZ time.
Asteroid mining is seen as a lucrative source of income and, on the surface, it appears to be a way of accessing almost limitless resources. It’s not that simple though, it’s difficult, expensive and at the edge of our technological ability. But it won’t be that way forever.
The US has two options for getting to Mars within the next decade and a half with the ambitious plans from SpaceX and the more risk adverse plans of NASA. Both Russia and China also have some plans for Mars and have design work underway to build large rockets to support missions to Mars and to the Moon.
NASA’s plans to get to Mars are a bit slower than Elon Musk’s. They have many more steps and have plans to achieve some quite impressive things such as space station orbiting the Moon and capturing an asteroid.
SpaceX is well advanced in it’s plans to build a huge rocket to take humans to Mars and they plan to do this by 2024. This article has a closer look at the Big Falcon Rocket to see what’s so special about it.
The Chinese space station, Tiangong-1 is probably going to enter the atmosphere sometime between 30 March and 6 April in an uncontrolled re-entry.
The Humanity Star that was launched by Rocket Lab is expected to burn up tomorrow as it re-enters the atmosphere.
This little video will show you how to find the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as M83.
This article has another look at the Moon and covers five fantastic sights that are worth examining through a telescope.
As part of Moon week it’s a good opportunity to have a look at some of the most amazing features to observe on the Moon, so get your telescopes ready and have a look at these.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been whizzing around the Moon since 2009 collecting loads and loads of data that is going to be very useful for when humans return to the lunar surface.
This article explores what the Moon is made of – not cheese, in case you were wondering. The complex nature of its composition is quite amazing, as is its similarity to the Earth’s chemical makeup.
This article looks at some of the earlier mission to the Moon including some of the missions from the Luna and Ranger programmes of the Soviet Union and the United States.
India launched its first interplanetary mission in 2013, sending the Mars Orbiter Mission to Mars to have a look at the planet’s surface and atmosphere.
We are getting a better and better at understanding how planetary systems are formed. This article tracks the historic development of the heliocentric model and how that relates to understanding the formation of our own Solar System.
Life needs CHNOPS, the six essential elements Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, and Sulphur. Curiosity found them on ancient Mars, but a new study shows Earth was born without them. Only a lucky impact with Theia made our world habitable. In contrast, Venus never stood a chance. Meet the three planetary siblings and discover why only Earth became a cradle for life.
Mars’s mantle contains ancient fragments up to 4km wide from its formation—preserved like geological fossils from the planet’s violent early history.
Cosmic rays are hitting the atmosphere constantly. One of the products of the collisions is muons, and we can detect muons on the surface of the Earth to learn about the cosmic rays.
NGC6025 is an beautiful open cluster close to Beta Trianguli Australis in Triangulum Australe. Visible with binoculars and great in a telescope, well worth a look.
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