Updated August 2026 - ForĀ revised post containing more tips on how to view the Perseids see The Perseids 2021. On 12 August you may be lucky enough - if it's a clear night and you are somewhere without too much light pollution - to see a phenomenon called the Perseids, which is a meteor… Continue reading The Perseids
On 8 July 2011 Atlantis took off for the final 13 day mission of the Space Shuttle programme and it remains to this day the last American spacecraft to carry humans into orbit. The landing of Atlantis on 21 July 2011, which brought the Space Shuttle programme to a close - Image from NASA. DevelopmentĀ of… Continue reading July 8 2011- The Final Mission
On 4 July 2016 the NASA spacecraft Juno will arrive at Jupiter after a 5 year journey. It will be the ninthĀ space probe to visit the planet. The first wasĀ Pioneer 10, which flew past in December 1973, (see notes). Juno will go into an orbit around the planet which will take it close to itsĀ poles.… Continue reading Mission Juno
I was very pleased to hear a couple of weeks ago that the UK government plansĀ to introduce a piece of legislation calledĀ the Modern Transport Bill. Ā This may not sound very exciting, but behind the uninspiring name is the intention to ultimately establish the UK's first commercial spaceports, from which space tourists as well as scientists… Continue reading Spaceport UK?
As discussed in aĀ previous post,Ā in the far futureĀ humanity may decide to terraformĀ Venus so that the planetĀ hasĀ a similar temperature and atmosphere to that which currently exists on the Earth. However, the lack of a global magnetic field would cause significant obstacles to humans settling on Venus. Without this protective shield inhabitants would be exposed to the… Continue reading Giving Venus an artificial magnetic field
