Robert Poole a Professor of History at the University of Central Lancashire has an article on The Conversation discussing the origins of the iconic, Apollo 8 photograph showing the Earth rising over the horizon of the moon. The Apollo 8 mission in December 1968 was the first-time men had gone …
Because It’s Friday – Loud rockets
I was planning to write about the Virgin Orbit launch, from Cornwall, of an air launched rocket putting satellites into orbit. However although the separation and power up from the 747 jet was successful the rocket had issues and the payloads did not make orbit. There is a good video …
Because It’s Friday – Something a bit different this week
I often mention the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in posts – it is part of the UK’s intelligence service and is involved in cyber security. Their site in Cheltenham is well known for its distinctive “doughnut” shaped building. I took the photo above, last week whilst walking out near …
Continue reading “Because It’s Friday – Something a bit different this week”
Artemis will launch today… probably… UPDATED
…or not – there was a liquid hydrogen leak so the launch was waved off: This is a quick follow-up to my Artemis post on Bank Holiday Monday: The new launch window is today – some time after 17:30 UK – there is a three hour or so launch window. …
Continue reading “Artemis will launch today… probably… UPDATED”
I know it’s not Friday… NASA’s Artemis Mission – the excitement and the politics – UPDATED
Update: The mission was scrubbed for today. …however today is a Bank Holiday weekend here in England, so for those of us on leave here is something extra. It is either a “Because It’s Friday” or a “Weekend Read” feature, you can choose! For the regular reader, you know that …
Because It’s Friday – A Trip to Mars
There was an interesting article that attracted my attention in The Guardian, by John Naughton about Wernher von Braun, often called the “Father of the American Space Program”. For those of you that do not know it, von Braun and some other technicians who had worked with him on the …
Because It’s Friday – Artemis the twin of Apollo
This article was published last Friday – for context about timings see last Friday’s Because… post. As you know I like space stories. NASA Artemis Nasa’s giant new SLS Moon rocket makes its debut – BBC News …and for those too young to know what Apollo was: