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.

Soviet Moon Rover found by LRO

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In 1973, the Soviet Union despatched the Lunokhod-2 rover to the moon.  It was a Solar/Nuclear powered robotic rover which explored the surface of the moon and took a number of scientific readings.  It was primarily powered by fold-out solar panels, and was kept from freezing during the 14 day long Lunar Night by a Polonium-210 radioisotope heater.  Having travelled thirty seven kilometres, it was finally bogged down when it’s earth-bound controllers accidentally drove it into a small crater, which … Continue reading →

Mars Science Laboratory

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NASA’s newest mars rover, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) will be nuclear powered, the size of a small truck, and designed specifically to find life on Mars.  It will also be armed with a powerful laser, to blast interesting rocks and see what’s inside them.  “Curiosity”, as it is unofficially named, was originally scheduled for launch last year, before rigorous testing uncovered possible flaws in the design of the actuators which drive the wheels and its robotic arm.  Now, however, … Continue reading →

Galileo a bad scientist?

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This article in Scientific American suggests that, although Galileo Galilei quite famously had a more accurate understanding of the Solar System than was generally accepted at the time, he reached these conclusions in spite of his observations and not because of them.  He simply chose the theory that he preferred instead of the one that evidence supported.  In other words, he was a bad and dishonest scientist who turned out to be correct only by sheer luck! The argument is … Continue reading →

Official: Dinosaurs killed by Asteroid

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The idea of dinosaurs being wiped out by a killer asteroid is a very new one.  It captured the public’s imagination and became so well known that we sometimes forget that it hasn’t yet had time to be fully tested and proven, no matter how much its proponents claim otherwise (Scientists are only human, after all!).  Until recently, the leading alternative theory was super-volcanic eruptions, which would have similar effects (massive devastation, clouds of ash and dust blotting out the … Continue reading →

The Blue Marble

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Earth can look pretty rancid from our urban locations – smog, litter, ugly buildings and urban decay have a lot to answer for.  It’s easy to forget just how much beauty is all around us, from vivid sunsets to our national parks, but it all pales to nothing when we look at the planet as a whole.  In 1968, the crew of Apollo 17 looked back at Earth and took an iconic photo, which was named “The Blue Marble”, showing … Continue reading →