A U.S. company has gone to the moon – and creates a little piece of history Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C cargo lander, named ‘Odysseus’ after the mythological Greek hero, is the first U.S. spacecraft to soft land on the lunar surface since 1972. Japan, India and China have all had recentRead More →
‘Don’t for one minute think you’re staying, especially after the mess you left last time!’ To the moon and back.Read More →
Japan launched a rocket on 7th September 2023 carrying an X-ray telescope that will explore the origins of the universe and a small lunar lander. The launch of the HII-A rocket from Tanegashima Space Centre in southwestern Japan was shown live by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Thirteen minutesRead More →
There are two massive asteroids that will fly past Earth this week. Asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21 Size: Approximately 7,600 feet long Distance from Earth: It will pass by Earth at a distance of more than four million miles (over 17 times further than our moon). Visibility: Visible with small telescopes through Sunday, appearing brightest on Friday. AsteroidRead More →
Intuitive Machines initially reported Odysseus was standing upright. But in an update on Friday 23rd February 2024, the company reported they believe the spacecraft caught its landing gear sideways in the moon’s surface while touching down and tipped over. Intuitive Machines’ cargo lander, Odysseus, returned its first images from the moon’sRead More →
Space smells – fact or fiction? It’s true, space has a smell. Space is a vacuum, so no one can smell it directly. But astronauts can smell the things that have been in space, such as their suits or tools. They report that space smells like hot metal, diesel fumes, barbecue, or burning hydrocarbons. TheseRead More →
Mission to the sun Days after India’s successful moon mission, the country is now setting its sights on the sun. According to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Aditya-L1 spacecraft will be launched from the Sriharikota Spaceport on 2nd September 2023 in a bid to study the sun andRead More →
Inspirational achievement, as India becomes only the fourth country in the world to successfully land on the moon and the first at the south pole India became a new national superpower in space on 23rd August 2023, landing its Chandrayaan-3 mission safely on the moon’s unexplored south pole. The Chandrayaan-3Read More →