Allen is an amateur astronomer, an IT professional, a podcaster, a father of five growing kids, a barely competent chess player, and the owner and publisher of the Urban Astronomer podcast and website. He has formerly served as Director of the Astrophotography and Citizen Science sections of the Astronomical Society of South Africa. You can find his personal social media feed on Mastodon!
On 6 July this year, NASA will be releasing a simulation game called Moonbase Alpha, where players can take on the role of astronauts on a lunar base dealing with a meteor strike. The game is designed to stimulate interest in science, engineering, technology and maths by having them restore power and life support after a meteor damages critical systems in the moon base. I expect that it won’t be a lot of fun, in the grand tradition of games … Continue reading →
A new study conducted by Arrun Saunders and Hugh Lewis, at the University of Southampton, indicates that global warming may be making the growing problem of space junk even worse. As the Earth warms, the upper atmosphere shrinks which reduces drag on objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Reduced drag means they can maintain their orbit for longer, so the junk stays in place. Atmospheric drag was a big surprise for the engineers behind the Skylab and Salyut 7 … Continue reading →
McDonald Observatory, a research unit of The University of Texas at Austin, has posted this excellent video on light pollution. They have more information posted at http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/darkskies/, or you can read Urban Astronomer’s earlier post here: The Astronomer’s Enemy
Continue reading →Indian scientists analysing data from the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter have identified geological features on the moon which may provide a perfect location for a future moon base. Any manned base on the Moon is exposed to very harsh conditions: Extreme variations of temperature, high levels of radiation from the Sun, cosmic rays and gamma radiation from distant high-energy astronomical objects, and the constant bombardment of micrometeorites present considerable health and safety challenges. The simplest solution is to build the entire … Continue reading →
After seven years, Hayabusa has returned to earth, burning up in a fiery re-entry over Australia yesterday. While there was some doubt that final leg of Hayabusa’s epic journey would be successful, the sample capsule separated from the main spacecraft as planned, and has been found in the Australian outback (pictured left). Hayabusa suffered many failures of important navigational systems, leading to the homeward trip taking an extra three years. It was feared that the additional exposure to the harsh … Continue reading →
