Discovery Space - Cool Space Jobs Interview - Thursday 28 May 2009

Well, yesterday, I was greatly honoured to undertake an IM interview for the Discovery Channel Space Science (Discovery Space) thanks to my good friend and colleague, Dr. Ian O’Neill, who has become the new host there (I wait in anticipation of some great things happening at Discovery Space with Ian at the helm). This is his first interview at Discovery and I am very excited by its outcome. I have the transcript below (courtesy of Discovery Space) and it can also be found on Discovery Space here! Happy reading and please feel free to comment below…

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JENAM 2009 - The Official Opening

Today (Monday 20 April 2009) saw the first day of JENAM/MIST/UKSP for EWASS with an official opening at a little after 09:00h BST following the pre-conference social opening yesterday evening (Sunday 19 April 2009). The opening ceremony started with a short introduction by the University of Hertfordshire’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Tim Wilson. Prof. Andy Fabian OBE FRS, President of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) then gave a brief summary of the RAS and commented on the current government’s support for science while introducing the next speaker (a parliamentary Minister).

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The Opening of JENAM 2009

So, I am again at another conference. This time however, it is one of a slightly different slant away from my main-stream space, solar, and heliospheric science relations to that of overall astronomy. Although, this conference does hold its fair share of such fields through a set of joint conference groups rolled into one. Yes, it’s none other than the Joint European National Astronomy Meeting (JENAM) here at the University of Hertfordshire, in England, GB. It’s actually on the de Havilland campus in Hatfield where everything is taking place. This also includes the British Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) National Astronomy Meeting (NAM), the United Kingdom Solar Physics (UKSP) meeting, and the Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Solar-Terrestrial (MIST) meeting in which I am co-organiser of a joint session on heliospheres and astrospheres; and overall is part of the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) and the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) 2009…

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ISS Node 3 - Tranquility

Well, seems my suggestion of Tranquility wasn’t the only thought of the same… So, here I am supposedly packing for three conferences among other things to go back to in the UK in a few hours and I find out that Tranquility was actually the name of ISS Node 3 chosen. Some people might say predictable, but I’ve not seen it anywhere except in my article here on the moon landings… Either way, I’m happy!

Go Tranquility (better than Colbert any day if you ask me)!

Image taken from astroengine.com.

A Pre-20-Year Anniversary for Asteroid Apophis

On 13th April 2029, twenty years from today, the asteroid designated Apophis (full designation 99942 Apophis, originally designated 2004 MN₄) is going to come very close to the Earth. It originally caused a brief period of concern throughout December 2004 because some initial observations of its trajectory indicated a significant probability that it would strike the Earth some time in 2029; this probability being up to 2.7%. It was discovered by Roy A. Tucker, David J. Tholen, and Fabrizio Bernardi on 19th June 2004 (hence the orginal 2004 designation).

It will fly by at only 18,300 miles above the Earth’s surface. At this relatively-low altitude, it will appear well inside the height of Earth’s manmade geosynchronous communications satellites. At its closest approach, the asteroid (with a width of 300 metres) will shine as bright as a 3rd magnitude star and make itself easily visible to the naked eye from cities across three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa. After certain calculations, it turns out that there is a small chance (about 1 in 45,000 that is) that the encounter with Apophis in 2029 will bend its orbit sufficiently, so that when it returns to Earth it actually hits it on 13th April 2036 (or so the experts say). Should such an impact arrise, NASA estimates that it could hit the Earth with the equivalent energy of an 880 Megaton bomb! Just as a point of comparison, the 1883 super eruption of the volcano Krakatoa was the equivalent of approximately 200 megatons.

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Putting Man on the Moon - Perhaps a More Unusual Commentary

The U.S.A. started out the Space Race very much on the losing front. NASA suffered many losses to the Soviet Union (the Russians) in the early years. This began with the first successful satellite launch into space of Sputnik 1 by the Russians. Sputnik 1 was launched on the 4th of October 1957 and its successful launch ushered in the dawn of the Space Age. Later, the Russians were first to successfully launch a man (human) into Space. His name was Yuri Gagarin. The launch took place on 12th April 1961 aboard the spacecraft Vostok 3KA-2 (otherwise called Vostok 1).

When it came to the moon, again, the Russians led the way (at least at first). The first unmanned moon (hard) landing was undertaken with the Luna-2 lander on 12th September 1959. This was the first successful lunar impact. Such a hard landing was not equalled by the USA until the success (but crash success) of the lunar impact Ranger 7 Mission on 28th July 1964. The first unmanned (soft) moon landing however, was actually by the USA Surveyor 1 Mission on 30th May 1966.

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