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Author: Steve Hurley
Hi I am Steve Hurley. Although I work in the IT industry. I studied for a PhD in astronomy in the 1980s. My real passion is explaining scientific concepts to a non-scientific audience. My blog (explainingscience.org) covers various scientific topics, but primarily astronomy. It is written in a style that it is easily understandable to the non scientist.
Publications and videos
For links to my books and videos please visit www.explainingscience.org
First American crewed spaceflight since 2011
On May 27, SpaceX's Dragon 2 capsule will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket sending NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station. The lift-off will mark the return of orbital human spaceflight from the USA for the first time since the Space Shuttle retired in 2011. To mark this event… Continue reading First American crewed spaceflight since 2011
Dark Sky Places
In this post I will talk about the work of the International Dark-Sky Association (https://www.darksky.org/)and the visit I made a few years ago to the Kielder Observatory, which is in the Northumberland Dark Sky park in northern England. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) was founded in 1988 by David Crawford a professional astronomer, who spent… Continue reading Dark Sky Places
Staying on the Moon
Updated April 2026 The last humans to visit the lunar surface were the Apollo 17 astronauts back in December 1972, who spent only three days there. It is interesting to consider what it would be like to be on its surface for a period of a least a month and watch at first-hand how the… Continue reading Staying on the Moon
Why Venus Shines Brightly
Updated 22 November 2025 Anyone, even the most casual observer, looking at the evening sky in the last month will have noticed the brilliant white planet Venus shining in the west. Often known as the Evening Star, Venus is the third brightest natural object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. In this… Continue reading Why Venus Shines Brightly
