In this fascinating article Duncan Lunan describes the development of the Space Suit.
Spacesuits, Part 1
The Science of the Sun #OISF
Without it we wouldn’t be here at all, as it is responsible for Earth’s creation and ongoing development, which includes us as temporary tenants, and one day in the far future it will likely be responsible for the destruction of the Solar System when it runs out of hydrogen, becomes a red giant which will likely swallow us up before collapsing inward, exploding and throwing the remaining planets into space after roasting them and drenching them with huge amounts of radiation that even Factor 5 million sunscreen and a duffle coat wouldn’t stop.
Why I Don’t Play the Machines
“In early 1967 the late Prof. Oscar Schwiglhofer , founder of the Scottish Branch of the British Interplanetary Society which by then had become independent as ASTRA, was given the chance to use a simulation of a Moon landing on a Strathclyde University computer programme.”
Unbuild Your Own Solar System
Prof. Freeman Dyson’s suggestion that an advanced civilisation might break up the planets of its solar system and build a shell around its star, to utilise all the matter and energy available to it . Image of a Solid Dyson sphere, impossible
Did Mars Have Seasonal Weather Patterns?
Patterns in mud cracks show that Mars may have had cyclical moisture patterns. Left: the terrain in the Gale Crater where Curiosity is currently exploring. Right: mud cracks on Earth, where wet-dry cycling has occurred, creating Y-shaped patterns. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, LANL.
Explore The Moon
Interested in finding out more about The Moon? The Orkney News has several articles about The Moon, many of them written by space expert Duncan Lunan.
The Sky Above You – August 2023
The Moon will be Full on August 3rd, and again on August 31st, a ‘Blue Moon’ Full twice in the same month, and both of them ‘Supermoons’ when it is at its closest to Earth as well as Full.
The Miles M.52 and the Douglas Skyrocket
‘The aircraft was to be powered by a new jet engine specially developed for it by Frank Whittle. Eric Brown was chosen to be M.52 test pilot, “because I was the smallest man in the room”, he said ‘
AU Mic b, a “hot Neptune”: Observing Planet Evolution
An illustration of the planet AU Mic b shedding its atmosphere as it orbits its sun, AU Microscopii. Image credit: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted, STScI.
The Moon – Curiouser and Curiouser
“just when I thought it was safe to come out of the moonlight”…Petavius B pyramidal closeup
