Category Archives: News and Updates

News about Astronomy and Space Science. Find every news item and update here, in blog format. You can get these updates sent straight to your mailbox by subscribing here, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the link.

Hayabusa sample exposed

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Hayabusa’s sample return capsule has been opened and it contains… something! The Japanese Space Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa mission did not have an easy journey.  Intended, amongst other things, to travel to the remote asteroid Itokawa to collect samples and return them to Earth, the plucky spacecraft suffered multiple equipment failures.  The revolutionary ion engines failed, the attitude control gyro’s seized up one by one, even the Minerva mini-robot (intended to scope out the asteroid before Hayabusa landed) didn’t work.   … Continue reading →

Pentagonal Vortex

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One of the many surprises revealed by space probes studying Saturn was the existence of a hexagonal ring around Saturn’s south pole.  What impressed observers was the near-perfect regularity of the structure, and it’s persistence.  Several months ago, Urban Astronomer reported on experimental work by a team of physicists at the University of Oxford in which they recreated the hexagon in a laboratory.  Their work confirmed the theory that the shape was created by stable patterns of vortices within the … Continue reading →

Clyde Tombaugh on a Game Show

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Back in 1956, Pluto was still a planet and it’s discoverer (Clyde Tombaugh) was in his prime.  Professor Tombaugh appeared on a game show called “I’ve got a Secret”, in which a panel of contestants had to guess his secret.  The answer, of course, was that he had discovered Pluto.  Here is a film of that episode, in which Professor Tombaugh explains to the audience how the discovery was made, and talks a bit about astronomy.  Lots of fun! Clyde … Continue reading →

Moonbase Alpha

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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 →

Global Warming increases space junk

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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 →