Follower’s of my Facebook page may be aware that I’m a keen (but fumbling) chess player, so this is of special interest to me: The second last space shuttle mission, launching 29 April, will include Greg Chamitoff and Greg H. Johnson in its crew. The two Greg’s have packed a chess set, and have challenged the citizens of Earth to a rematch of the first Earth vs Space chess match which was played in 2008. This game of chess in … Continue reading →
Twenty one years ago today, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off into space to deliver the brand new Hubble Space Telescope into orbit around Earth. Hubble revolutionised the art of observational astronomy by delivering some of the most astonishingly detailed, clear, and frankly beautiful space images ever seen. The HST had a difficult youth and was a disappointment to its parents when it turned out to have vision problems — its primary mirror suffered from a spherical aberration which made … Continue reading →
Space Explorations Technologies (SpaceX) recently won a contract with Iridium Communications Inc. to launch the Iridium NEXT fleet of satellites into space in the largest ever commercial space launch contract with any single entity. Iridium has an existing constellation of satellites which it maintains to provide a satellite phone service with worldwide coverage. This new contract will involve six launches of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to place 72 Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit, positioned over the globe to provide uninterrupted … Continue reading →
In 1998, scientists studying telemetry from two historically significant robotic spacecraft (Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11) noticed something odd: both craft were traveling more slowly than expected. They were experiencing a steady deceleration of about a billionth of a meter per second squared – vanishingly small from our regular earthbound perspective, but significant in the ultra-precise high-speed long-duration world of interplanetary navigation. Even when mission planners took such tiny factors as the gravitational attraction of the Sun and each planet, … Continue reading →
By Michael Neale NASA recently avoided a traffic jam in space. The Endeavour shuttle launch to the ISS was postponed, because a Russian cargo ship was scheduled to arrive during the same time. It is not really turn point news in the timeline of space development, but I cannot help feel a tinge of excitement as things like this start happening. Normally our space faring fantasies spotlight landing people on Mars, building an orbital hotel, colonizing the moon, melting the … Continue reading →
