Apollo 13 50 years Later
On April 11th 1970, NASA launched Apollo 13 launched on its ill-fated flight to the moon. The crew complement was James A. Lovell Jr., John L. Swigert Jr., and Fred W. Haise Jr. They had…
Articles by Mike R
Citizen Science
Citizen Science is considered as a fantastic and new way for the public to assist scientists with their work. This scientific research conducted partially or fully by. amateur and non-professional scientists allows public participation in…
WildFires: The Risk Posed To Astronomy
With the devastating Australian wildfire season of 2020 and the California wildfires over the past few years, we understand that the issue of wildfires are not contained to the Pacific Northwest. We just would just…
Could COVID-19 “Quarantine” Simulate A Space Mission?
Full disclosure: This is a more cheeky article and something that is more lighthearted, considering all the news surrounding COVID-19 might not be the most positive. This is more a fun, lighthearted article for fun,…
The Case For Exploring Uranus
As has been seen recently, with the recently reviewed data of Voyager 2, it was recently discovered that Uranus is actually losing its atmosphere! The full article can be found on the Phys.org website, but…
Types Of Common Satellite Orbits
Today, we will be talking about the different satellite orbits that are commonly used. These are the most often used, but not a full list of all the possible orbits. Geostationary transfer orbit This is…
Leap Years: What Are They
Leap years are a calendar year that contains an additional day added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year or seasonal year. As a result of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun taking approximately 365.242189 days, there needs…
Celebrating 60 Years Of Weather Satellites
2020 marks the 60th anniversary of the first weather satellite, Tiros 1 by NASA. Launched on April 1, 1960 at 11:40:09 UTC, Tiros-1 was the first successful low-Earth orbital weather satellite. It was a major test for…
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a physical sciences laboratory and a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST’s activities are organized into…
Deep Space Atomic Clock: An Introduction
A specific miniaturized type of atomic clock, the Deep Space Atomic Clock is a ultra-precise mercury-ion atomic clock that would be utilized for precise radio navigation in deep space. Managed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and activated in…