Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in July 2011, America has been unable to put any astronauts into orbit around the Earth. Instead, it has been in the difficult situation of having to rely on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). This situation may change… Continue reading American crewed spaceflight in 2019
Tag: Space
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.
e-book on Venus from Explaining Science
Updated 7 December 2025 Venus is, the planet closest to the Earth in size and internal composition, and the brightest natural object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. This completly revised e-book covers most of the main areas about Venus. Why is it so bright? The 584-day cycle where Venus goes through… Continue reading e-book on Venus from Explaining Science
The Rare Earth hypothesis
Updated 15 December 2025 Ever since the pioneering work of Frank Drake (1930-2022) way back in 1960, astronomers have been looking for radio signals from extraterrestrial civilisations but all SETI searches have failed to find anything. This could be because Earth-like planets containing complex life forms (such as ourselves) are rare in the Universe and only… Continue reading The Rare Earth hypothesis
Explaining Science 