Guest Author • Mar 22, 2018 •
Alice Gorman, Flinders University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Sixty years ago, a grapefruit-sized aluminium sphere with six antennas and some tiny solar cells was launched into Earth orbit. The Vanguard 1 satellite is still up there and is the oldest human-made object in space. It’s our first … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 14, 2018 •
David Blair, University of Western Australia This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Whenever there’s an announcement of a new discovery of gravitational waves there is usually an accompanying sound, such as this: We have only detected half a dozen signals so far. The first five are black holes whose … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 09, 2018 •
Andrew Coates, UCL This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. We all recognise Jupiter by its banded pattern of counter-rotating zones and belts – this can be seen even with small garden telescopes. These stunning structures are powered by fast jet streams that are visible in the planet’s clouds. But what … Read More
Guest Author • Dec 22, 2017 •
“When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute – and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.” – Albert Einstein This guy kind of needs no introduction but, while most people know that he was a total genius, they don’t really … Read More
John Kerr • Oct 20, 2017 •
Earth is passing through a cloud of comet debris and there’s good chance to catch meteors lighting up the New Zealand sky – weather permitting! Kiwis will witness the peak of the annual Orionids meteor shower tonight – at least those who are committed to getting up early (or staying up late) and who have the luxury of a clear night. The shower is … Read More
Michael Reddell • Oct 15, 2017 •
I’ve been a little unclear what to make of the Rocket Lab story. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the idea that our regulatory systems can, on occasion, be sufficiently adaptive to cope with new and innovative industries – even if it is far from generally true. And I wish all the best to any New Zealander with innovations … Read More
Ken Perrott • Sep 15, 2017 •
After two decades in space, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is nearing the end of its remarkable journey of exploration. Having expended almost every bit of the rocket propellant it carried to Saturn, operators are deliberately plunging Cassini into the planet to ensure Saturn’s moons will remain pristine for future exploration. Watch live coverage of Cassini’s end of mission on … Read More
Peter Griffin • Aug 01, 2017 •
In December I was invited to a meeting at Carter Observatory of The Martian Trust, a charitable organisation set up in New Zealand to “build a self-sustaining research base on Mars”. I’m passionate about space and science, so I was intrigued to hear how the trust, founded by former Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Dr Charles Polk, planned to … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 27, 2017 •
Ian Crawford, UCL The search for life elsewhere in the universe is one of the most compelling aspects of modern science. Given its scientific importance, significant resources are devoted to this young science of astrobiology, ranging from rovers on Mars to telescopic observations of planets orbiting other stars. The holy grail of all this activity would be … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 01, 2017 •
By Candice Majewski, University of Sheffield The rocket that blasted into space from New Zealand on May 25 was special. Not only was it the first to launch from a private site, it was also the first to be powered by an engine made almost entirely using 3D printing. This might not make it the “first … Read More