Q: Why are dinosaurs extinct? A: Because they didn’t have a space program. 66 million years ago an asteroid that was at least six miles wide smashed into what is now the Yucatan Peninsula. Releasing the energy of five billion…
Category: Spacecraft
Nukin’ Through The Solar System
How do you provide power to a spacecraft wandering the solar system? In the early days of space exploration, batteries were the first option. Sputnik 1 with its famous beep-beep was powered by silver-zinc batteries that lasted for a little…
Rocket Juice
When (If?) NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) lifts off tomorrow, there will be a spectacular show of multiple rocket engines getting it off the pad. The most obvious will be the solid rocket boosters strapped to the side of the…
A Really Big Rocket
A power lifting record more than fifty years old is soon to be broken. No, I’m not talking about barbells and grunting strong men. The mighty Saturn V is about to be dethroned as the world’s most powerful rocket ever…
China in Space
Were you aware that, in addition to the International Space Station (ISS), there is a Chinese space station orbiting Earth? If not, it’s probably a combination of Chinese opaqueness and the lack of coverage of anything beyond our borders by…
What’s Taking So Long?
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a remarkable feat of engineering. Folded like an origami to fit into the rocket that launched it into space, it has successfully carried out a series of steps to reach its final destination…
Tagged with: James Webb Space Telescope
Orbiting Around Nothing
Where is the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) headed to? News stories describe it in various levels of detail: a million miles beyond the Earth, a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. Say what? As long ago as 1736,…
Hockey Team or Clever Orbit?
Molniya orbit. Sounds like the name of a Russian ice hockey team, doesn’t it? It’s actually a clever Russian solution to the problem of providing satellite communication coverage to far northern latitudes. Do you have a satellite dish for your…
Gas Station on Mars
This Thursday February 18th at 3:55 p.m. EST, the Mars Perseverance rover will either land in a crater on Mars—or perhaps create a new one. The “seven minutes of terror” involves a complex sequence of timed events to take a…
Invasion From Earth!
Three spacecraft launched last summer will all arrive at Mars soon. The first is the United Arab Emirates’ Hope mission, which will begin firing its rocket engine to go into Mars orbit at 10:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday, February 9th.…
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