Category Archives: Space Travel

JUICE Explorer

Posted on April 29, 2023 by alicebyrnes

As discussed briefly in class, the European Space Agency (ESA) just successfully launched the Juice (formerly JUICE: JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission on April 14th! I had no idea this mission even existed before it was mentioned, so I decided to explore it further. The goal of this mission is focused on Jupiter’s moons. While […] Continue reading →

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Binary on the Golden Records

Posted on April 29, 2023 by casciand7

The Voyager Golden Records are the successors to the pioneer plaques in that they were launched four years later and contain more information than their predecessors. As phonographic record, there are lots of sounds and images of life on Earth contained on them, which can be read in detail here. The cover of the records, […] Continue reading →

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Binary in the Pioneer Plaques

Posted on April 29, 2023 by casciand7

About the size of a license plate, the Pioneer plaques were placed on the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 spacecrafts with the hopes of reaching intelligent extraterrestrial life. The two circles on the upper left of the plaque represent two hydrogen atoms, the most abundant element in the universe. If you look closely, the line […] Continue reading →

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Political Economics of Space Exploration

Posted on April 25, 2023 by georgeboardman20

Image from NASA Press Release I remember when I was young thinking, why haven’t we put humans on Mars yet? We have the feasibility to do so, but why? The answer comes down to the intersection between power politics and economics that often hamper, restrict and sometimes fuel the drive for space exploration. Before this […] Continue reading →

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The Universe and Me

Posted on April 23, 2023 by cuia2

     Looking back on the whole course, I felt like I learned so much about our solar system and beyond. I think it’s important to understand where you come from so you can better understand yourself and your place in the universe. Now, I definitely know more about the theory behind the formation of our solar […] Continue reading →

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Cumulative Post Featuring the JUICE Launch

Posted on April 20, 2023 by sydneyastr2110

As I reflect on my blog posts this semester as well as overall topics within the class, I appreciate the time aspect. By that I mean that we have examined the past, present, and future of astronomy. My blogs included everything from the Carrington Event, a result of a large solar flare in 1859, to […] Continue reading →

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The Principal Investigator of the New Horizons Mission

Posted on April 9, 2023 by sydneyastr2110

I like to write my blog posts about a specific topic we discussed in class or used in a homework assignment. The most recent homework assignment concerning the speech given by Alan Stern was especially fascinating to me. Stern did a great job in discussing the New Horizons mission, he covered everything from the team […] Continue reading →

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Water Beads on the Moon

Posted on April 8, 2023 by willems49

After analyzing Moon samples taken over two years ago, scientists have discovered glass beads of water on the surface of the Moon. The Chinese probe, Chang’e 5, took soil samples from the lunar surface as part of China’s first sample-return mission. These glass beads are thought to be across the entire surface of the Moon […] Continue reading →

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Voyager 1 and the Golden Records

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Europa

Voyager 1 is the farthest human-made object from Earth (Space.com). Voyager 1 is a space probe, launched in 1977 with the mission to explore the outer planets of the Solar System. Voyager 2, its twin probe, was actually launched first, with a slower, more meandering trajectory past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Voyager 1 soon […] Continue reading →

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Achieving Light Speed: Curvature Propulsion

Posted on January 21, 2023 by alicebyrnes

Space curvature propulsion is a theoretical idea that has been explored through science fiction (including Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy) as method of allowing ships to travel through space at or beyond the speed of light. While this idea currently resides firmly in the realm of science fiction, the theoretical basis is rooted […] Continue reading →

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