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Tag Archives: Space exploration
Apollo 13: 50 Years On
Last month marked the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 13, which launched on 11th April 1970, intended as the third manned mission to land on the Moon. Its commander, Jim Lovell, would be the first man to fly in space four … Continue reading
Posted in History, Science
Tagged Apollo 13, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert, Jim Lovell, Space exploration
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The Black Arrow: When Britain Launched A Satellite
In the news this week, the battered first stage of a Black Arrow rocket has arrived in Scotland, after spending over forty-seven years resting in the Australian outback, where it crashed down following its successful launch. But what’s so special about this … Continue reading
Where No Space Probe Has Gone Before
This week has been a pretty significant one in the history of space exploration, as no less than three different space probes achieved important milestones in their missions. At 5:33am GMT on 1st January, the New Horizons probe passed within … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged asteroid, Bennu, Chang'e 4, Moon, New Horizons, OSIRIS-REx, Space exploration, Ultima Thule
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Explorer 1: 60 Years On
I’ve already talked about the first two artificial satellites in history, Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, both launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. But what about the Soviets’ Cold War rivals, the United States? Their first successful satellite, Explorer … Continue reading
Book review: Artemis
From Andy Weir, the author of The Martian (my favourite book of 2015), comes a new science-fiction novel, Artemis. As with The Martian, I listened to the audiobook edition, which is narrated by Rosario Dawson. The performance on its own … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews
Tagged Andy Weir, Artemis, Rosario Dawson, Space exploration, The Martian
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Sputnik 2: 60 Years On
On 3rd November 1957, a month after Sputnik 1, the Soviet Union launched the second man-made satellite into Earth orbit: Sputnik 2. It was a very different construction from its predecessor: cone-shaped, 4 metres tall and weighing 508kg, it also … Continue reading
Update: His Pick Her Pick, and Plans for April
Firstly, Rachel Wagner and I did another His Pick Her Pick video yesterday, this time looking at historical movies based around space. My pick was The Right Stuff, and Rachel’s was October Sky – I enjoyed this one as I was … Continue reading
Posted in Film Reviews, My Thoughts
Tagged His Pick Her Pick, October Sky, RMS Titanic, Space exploration, The Right Stuff, Titanic
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Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin!
This week, Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin – one of only twelve people to have walked on the Moon, and the second to do so – has been visiting the UK to promote his new book, No Dream Is Too High: … Continue reading
Posted in Out and About
Tagged Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin, Gemini 12, No Dream Is Too High, Project Apollo, Space exploration
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Film review: The Martian
Based on the sci-fi novel by Andy Weir, this film begins at Acidalia Planitia on Mars, where the crew of Ares III are eighteen days into their exploration. Unfortunately, they are forced to abort when threatened by a storm – … Continue reading
Posted in Film Reviews
Tagged film review, Mars, Matt Damon, Ridley Scott, Space exploration, The Martian
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Update: landing on a comet and reaching 25,000 words
On Philae I spent Wednesday constantly checking for updates on the progress of the Philae comet lander, with the BBC happily setting up a live feed to make it easy. It was a day of tense moments: first we had to … Continue reading
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