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Concept Spacecraft

Concept Spacecraft

Dennis Tito’s Mars Mission: Possible but Pointless

Imagine taking two human beings and sealing them in a box for 500 days. The pair must survive on only the boxes of food and water crammed around them. Throughout their confinement they are at risk of being sprayed with a lethal dose of radiation. This is not the cruel Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsFebruary 22, 2013 ago
Image of z1 microgravity test
Concept Spacecraft

Spacesuits of the Future

As we further consider spacesuits we may find a question arising in many of our minds: Why build any new spacesuits at all? Why not just reuse previous designs, especially when the expense of space technology manufacture is considered? The answer is that with man’s space exploration program being in Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsFebruary 19, 2013 ago
Concept Spacecraft

Flying Saucers From NASA

Spacecraft with a lenticular design (that is, shaped like a biconvex lens) were actively studied by NASA and US industry in the late 1950s and early ‘60s. A craft of such a shape would experience lower heating on re-entry than a winged layout as the heat would be spread over Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsSeptember 10, 2012 ago
Concept Spacecraft

Nazis in Space: The Truth about Hitler’s Space Program

Has lurid fiction like the movie Iron Sky any basis in fact?  Everyone knows that WW2 Germany developed rockets far in advance of the Allies, but some argue that in 1945 the Third Reich was on the verge of developing a space program!   Ever since Adolf Hitler’s ‘Thousand Year’ Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsJune 23, 2011 ago
Image of C-1057 concept
Concept Spacecraft

10 Space Shuttles which never flew

NASA’s Space Shuttles have become a familar sight in their thirty years of service, but there have been other shuttle designs which never left the ground.Some were ingenious alternative concepts to the vehicle which is shortly to be retired, some were potential replacements and there was even a couple of Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsMay 12, 2011 ago
Concept Spacecraft

Clipperships of the Cosmos: Solar Sails Move from Theory to Fact

One day vast solar sails pushed along by rays of sunlight may carry payloads between the planets. Tracy McConnell explains how this romantic vision is slowly becoming a fact. The concept of sailing gracefully through the stars is a provocative one that has been around for longer than you may Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsMarch 14, 2011 ago
Concept Spacecraft

Could we visit an asteroid in the next ten years?

  It is 14 November 2019 and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, when humans first walked on another world, has been and gone but today a new and exciting voyage begins. A massive booster stage pushes a spacecraft out of Earth orbit. This vehicle comprises two Orion Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsOctober 15, 2010 ago
Concept Spacecraft

Project Orion: the incredible nuclear spacecraft

NASA’s next manned spacecraft will be the Orion, a capsule which will be carried into space by a rocket. Weighing 25 tonnes, each Orion will carry up to six people. Accommodation on board is cosy at best, cramped at worst. Orion was intended to take astronauts to the Moon and  Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsOctober 1, 2010 ago
Concept Spacecraft

Mars by ’85? NASA’s alternative history

In the early 1960s, the sky had no limits for NASA . Planners for the agency foresaw an ever-expanding future of exploration through the Solar System. Some amazing missions were planned. Alas in August 1967, the US Congress refused to support NASA’s plans for the 1970s. Ever since then NASA’s Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsSeptember 27, 2010 ago
Concept Spacecraft

Rods from god: a terrifying space weapon?

“Rods from God” is the nick-name given to a hypothetical orbital weapon for bombarding targets on the Earth from space. Just how feasible is this concept?   There are undeniable links between the spaceflight and military communities but apart from a few tests of anti-satellite weapons, the odd armed space Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsSeptember 27, 2010 ago

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RSS Intergalactic Craic
  • S3Ep1 - Wee Bitta Craic: Welcome Ethan, Alice and Zuri!
    Want a Wee Bitta Craic? Then say hello to some of our PhD students, Ethan, Alice and Zuri. They will be hosting their own Wee Bitta Craic episodes and will give you an insight into the life of a PhD students here at AOP!
  • Season 3 - What's the craic?
    What's the Craic? Intergalactic Craic is back and it's shaking things up! Join Heather and her brand new co-host to find out more!
  • Space is Cloudy, Who Knew? Featuring Kerem Çubuk
    This week Heather and Courtney interview Armagh Observatory PhD Candidate Kerem Çubuk on his area of research - molecular clouds! Turns out we can't escape the cloudy conditions, even millions of lightyears away.  Kerem and his colleagues also have a Youtube Channel dedicated to science communication in Turkish. To find out more, visit ahtapot.club 
Welcome to Astronotes

Hello and welcome to Astronotes, the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium’s official blog. Here you will find the latest news and views from all those who work in our organisation, from the fascinating worlds of astronomy and space exploration. We hope you will come here to learn what is hot and exciting, profound or even weird from worlds beyond ours . So that's the introduction out of the way, now on with the Universe!

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