In August 1977, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University, and being used to support the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), detected a strong signal whose explanation has remained a mystery for nearly fifty years. Despite extensive searches, the…
How difficult is interstellar travel? I’m a huge fan of space travel both real and imagined, and have followed the voyages of the Starship Enterprise since its earliest manifestations. But warp engines aren’t real, and cheating the universe’s speed limit…
What is the problem with Starliner? Two problems showed up as the spacecraft approached the International Space Station (ISS) back in June. Five of the 28 thrusters used to maneuver in orbit malfunctioned. Four were eventually brought back to…
There are a few astronomical events that, even though they recur, are once-in-a-lifetime occasions, separated by too much time for all but the luckiest to see twice. For me, Halley’s Comet in 1986 was such an occasion. I lifted my…
Why does something look big? Is it because it actually IS big, or is it because it is close to us? The closest celestial body to the Earth is our Moon. It’s an object that’s very easy to see without…
When all you have is one example, it’s interesting to speculate but hard to draw conclusions. How Common Are Planets? For most of my lifetime, we only knew of one star hosting a planetary system: ours. Were the conditions that…
A little over a month away now! Rather than write a lengthy post, I’m just going to address the main questions people usually have. The sun is going to be 90% obscured at my home. Is it worth traveling to…
Standing under a starry sky on Earth, the variety we see among those distant points of light is mostly limited to their brightness. If we peer closely, we can see some color variation as well. In the winter constellation of…
What is the most important star in the universe? For us here on Earth, that is clearly Sol, the Sun, our own personal star. Without its warmth and light, life on Earth would not be possible. But what star—a single…
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Posted in human spaceflight, Mars, Rocket Science, Sergei Korolev, Spacecraft
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A MARTIAN CRATER Korolev Crater on Mars is located in the far north of that planet, in the low plains that surround the northern polar regions. Its site is marked by a red star at the upper left of the…