Happy New Year! And happy new decade! 2020 could well be an important year for manned space flight. It might be the year that America finally puts humans back into space on American spacecraft. If this happens it will be on spacecraft designed and built by commercial companies rather than NASA. . The landing of… Continue reading Happy New Year 2020
Category: Space
12-13 August 2019 – the Perseids
For revised post containing more tips on how to view the Perseids see The Perseids 2021. Meteors (also known as shooting stars) are bright streaks of light caused by small lumps of rock or metal called meteoroids hitting the Earth's atmosphere at a very high speed (in the case of the Perseids around 200,000 km/h). As… Continue reading 12-13 August 2019 – the Perseids
Chinese Moon missions
Like many people, I was very excited to hear the news on 3 January that the Chinese spacecraft, Chang'e 4, had landed as planned in the Von Karman crater on the far side of the Moon. Chang’e 4 in the Von Karman crater. The crater lies in the South Pole-Aitken basin on the far side of… Continue reading Chinese Moon missions
What altitude does space begin?
Virgin Galactic plans to resume spaceflights for wealthy customers at around $600,000 per flight, lasting 2.5 hours with only 5 minutes above 80 km. The definition of the boundary of space varies, with the Karman Line at 100 km supported by the FAI, while the FAA considers it at 80 km.
Soyuz MS-11
On 3 December 2018 a Soyuz spacecraft will take off on a mission to transport three astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The new crew will be ISS Expedition 58 and will stay at the station for six months and their arrival will allow the current ISS crew to return to Earth. Mission patch… Continue reading Soyuz MS-11
Explaining Science 