Anxious Times

Of course these are anxious times. So much to worry about. And now there is less than a week to go before launch. I am not an astronomer, but even I sense the tension mounting. If all goes according to plan the James Webb Space Telescope, successor to the mighty Hubble, is due to be…

Are we nearly there yet?

Just about 8 hours to go before NASA’s Perseverance rover attempts the challenging task of landing on Mars. I am getting excited, but also a little bit nervous too. Such a great mission, so much at stake. I will be glued to NASA TV at 7.15 pm (UK time) when the live coverage starts, with…

Back from Ryugu

It is always nice to get a bit of good news in what has been a pretty rubbish year. Well, totally rubbish to be precise. So, on Saturday it was a real treat to watch the live feed from JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency, as the sample return capsule from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft blazed a trail in the skies above Australia.

A good time to visit a relative

Venus is often viewed as Earth’s sister planet, or perhaps more accurately its ugly sister. This familial comparison stems from their approximately equal mass and physical size. But compared to the relatively benign and hospitable surface conditions that prevail on Earth, Venus is the stuff of nightmares. The planet has a surface temperature of 464…