On 7 December 2010, after a six month journey, the Japanese spacecraft Akatsuki (named after the Japanese word for dawn) arrived at Venus after a six month journey. It was only the second spacecraft launched since 1989 to visit the Earth's sister planet and, if it had succeeded in orbiting Venus, it would have had… Continue reading Akatsuki – a second chance – 7 December 2015
Tag: Space
20 July 1969 The First Men on the Moon
It has been a very exciting week for space exploration with the pictures sent from New Horizons as it flew past Pluto on Tuesday. Monday next week (20-th July) marks the 46-th anniversary of the first landing on men on the Moon, which was one of the iconic events of the last century. To celebrate this anniversary… Continue reading 20 July 1969 The First Men on the Moon
New Horizons
On 14 July 2015 the New Horizons Spacecraft will fly past the dwarf planet Pluto which lies on the edge of our Solar System. This is the culmination of a nine and half year voyage which started when it was launched in back in January 2006. Artist's Impression of New Horizons passing Pluto - Image… Continue reading New Horizons
The Future of the Sun
The Sun, central to our Solar System, generates energy through nuclear fusion, combining hydrogen into helium. Over billions of years, it will evolve into a red giant, ultimately shedding outer layers to form a planetary nebula and becoming a white dwarf. Life on Earth will become uninhabitable well before these changes occur.
The Moon e-booklet
Best wishes to all my readers and followers, I hope you enjoyed reading my previous post on dark matter, which is part of my series on cosmology, the study of the origin an evolution of the Universe as a whole. As you may recall in May/Jun last year I wrote series of 5 closely linked posts on the Moon.… Continue reading The Moon e-booklet
Explaining Science 