Author Archives: Trevor Pillow

The Apollo 11 Quarantine

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

When Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins returned from space after the Apollo 11 moon landing, they were immediately placed into a quarantine. This was the first manned mission to the moon, and the scientists weren’t sure if there would be any dangerous particles on the moon that the astronauts might bring back to […] Continue reading →

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Launching Spacecraft with Nuclear Bombs

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

You might be familiar with the Orion Spacecraft, which is the vehicle being used in NASA’s Artemis series of lunar missions. However, have you ever heard of Project Orion? Most conventional spacecraft are propelled using chemical reactions which create high velocity exhaust that is focused through a rocket nozzle. Newton’s Third Law dictates that the […] Continue reading →

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Comets and Their Periods

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

Comets are characterized by their highly eccentric orbits and incredibly long periods. Comet Swift-Tuttle, for example, has an orbital period of 133 years. This is comparable to the orbital period of the furthest planet from the Sun, Neptune, which has a period of 165 years. From our perspective on Earth, 150 years is a long […] Continue reading →

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Where Did We Get Our Water?

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

We know that Earth is the only planet in the solar system currently capable of housing liquid water. The other planets are too low pressure or too hot for water to exist as it does on Earth. However, other bodies in the solar system do have solid water, also known as ice! The moon and […] Continue reading →

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Could We Give Mars a Better Atmosphere?

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

Is it possible to give Mars a livable atmosphere? In theory, yes! However, it would be infeasible to do it in our lifetimes. Or within the next couple hundred years. This video from Kurzgesagt (fantastic channel, by the way) details how we might be able to give Mars an atmosphere and biosphere using our current […] Continue reading →

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Powered and Unpowered Gravity Assists

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

The farthest planets in the solar system are so distant, it is infeasible to reach them using only rockets. The delta-v, or change in velocity, required to propel a spacecraft to a gas giant like Saturn is far too impractical for today’s rockets to achieve. The main problem is that a spacecraft needs tons of […] Continue reading →

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

Kepler, Galileo, and Brahe all lived at the same time during the late 1500’s for 30 years. Galileo and Kepler were then alive for another 29 years.. Isaac Newton is undoubtedly the most impactful of these astronomers. Newton invented calculus, pioneered classical physics, and derived the theory of gravitation. Calculus and physics are essential tools […] Continue reading →

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Happy New Year!

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

Today marks the start of a new lunar year! There are several key differences between a solar new year and a lunar new year. The most common calendar system in the West, the Gregorian calendar, is based on the Earth’s orbit around the sun. Every New Year, the Earth is more or less in the […] Continue reading →

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