Pythagorean Astronomy: Robotic explorers

Posted on 1 August 2019 by Chris North

July 1969 was the month that the first people walked on the Moon. 12 people walked on the surface of our celestial neighbour between 1969 and 1972. Since then, humanity has been confined to low-Earth orbit. There is talk of sending people back to the Moon, on timescales that vary depending on who you talk
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Engine Failures to Event Horizons

Posted on 30 April 2019 by Chris North

A roundup of the month’s news from around the Solar System – and beyond. Starting with the Moon, where the first attempt by a privately funded organisation to land on the Moon has ended in a crash-landing. Despite the sad end, the Beresheet mission was otherwise a success, and a promising start for privately funded
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Cartwheeling snowmen

Posted on 31 January 2019 by Chris North

Chris North and Edward Gomez discuss the latest events from around the Solar System. At the start of the year, the Chinese Space Agency successfully landed their latest lander (Chang’e 4) on the far side of the Moon. The lander also carried a rover, Yutu 2, which has begun exploring the lunar surface, and a
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Vulcans, dust storms, and water on Mars

Posted on 27 September 2018 by Chris North

Chris North, Sarah Roberts and Mat Allen discuss a number of recent news stories. One of the latest planets to be discovered, “40 Eridani A a”, seems to be a lot like the fictional planet Vulcan, home to Spock in Star Trek. The RemoveDEBRIS mission has test-fired its net, and the Hyabusa 2 mission has
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