The Russian Space zoo capsule Bion M1 landed in early morning on Sunday, May 19, near Orenburg, Southern Russia, about 750 kilometers southeast of Moscow. Even though the reentry and landing had proceeded more or less as planned, it was reported that all 8 Mongolian gerbils and most of the 45 mice present onboard the capsule were found dead. Russian news agency [...]
Articles written by: Tereza Pultarova
The Unpredictable End of Skylab
Putting all the information together, one might think Skylab’s destiny was to test NASA’s nerves and crisis management ability. Whereas the launch and onset of operations 40 years ago showed how dedicated NASA was to solving all the faults and glitches that threatened the project from the start, the final episodes of the station’s life were marked with planning and scheduling errors and [...]
The Dreams and Reality of Zambia’s Space Program
It’s not only the rich and powerful who have ambitious dreams of space exploration, as was recently illuminated by a project of Spanish photographer Cristina de Middel. Scraping the depths of the internet in a quest for a quirky, unbelievable story, she came across an article about a grade-school teacher in Zambia who, in 1964, established a makeshift Academy of [...]
Bion-M1 Reflection: Why Do We Still Need to Send Animals to Space?
On April 19, a Russian Soyuz rocket, launched from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carried into orbit an atypical satellite – space capsule Bion-M1. This 2,450 kg space zoo is currently accommodating 45 mice, 8 gerbils, 15 geckos, and samples of plants and microorganisms. It orbits at an altitude of more than 575 kilometers and will stay in space for [...]
Scared of Cancer? Then Avoid Space Travel, New Study Suggests
There has never been any doubt that space travel is not the leisure of choice for everyone. Despite the fact that some of the world’s richest people do not hesitate to pay incredible amounts of money to get a seat on yet unproven space vehicles, the majority of the population will probably never really cherish the idea of undergoing high [...]
Is It Space Junk? Texan Electrician Finds Mysterious Sphere in his Backyard
By Tereza Pultarova and Dean Gentz It was late February 2013 when Dean Gentz, an American electrician, spotted a strange object in his cow pasture near the tiny town of Buna, east Texas. First, he didn’t pay any special attention to it thinking it was most probably just another toy his nephews and nieces had left around. When he finally decided to [...]
Mass of the Largest Fragment of the Russian Meteorite Estimated to be 200-500 kg
On February 23, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) published the first calculations of the detailed trajectory, landing masses of individual pieces, and expected landing sites of the fragments of the Russian Meteorite that crashed down near Chelyabinsk on February 15, 2013. The report was published in the IAU’s Electronic Telegram No. 3423. This service is only available to registered members [...]
Russian Meteorite Bound to Become the 20th Meteorite with a “Birth Certificate”
There is nothing particularly rare about meteorites. More than 50,000 various pieces of space rock have been collected around the globe throughout the history. What is rare though is a meteorite that has been observed, whose descent through the atmosphere has been recorded, and whose trajectory has been subsequently calculated (including the path in the Solar System prior to the [...]
Not If But When: UK Scientists Release Report on Consequences of Solar Superstorm
At the beginning of February, the UK Royal Academy of Engineering released a report assessing the impact a solar superstorm would have on the United Kingdom. What scientists have in mind when talking about a solar superstorm is an event similar in strength and size to the infamous 1859 Carrington event. This, so far the most intense geomagnetic storm measured, [...]
Faster than Expected: Baumgartner’s Jump Exceeded Expectations
The three month’s analysis of data regarding the historic jump of Austrian adventurer Felix Baumgartner has brought interesting results. During his supersonic fall from the edge of space, Baumgartner was hurtling even faster than previously calculated. The final data were made public as a part of a comprehensive report issued on February 5, 2013. What are the revised figures then? [...]
