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space history

Earth Satellites

Hubble Space Telescope: Ten amazing facts you didn’t know

Gleaned from NASA and Hubblesite.org, here are some facts you may not know about the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).   1.      The HST’s history is longer than you might have thought, going back to just after World War II. In 1946, the astronomer Lyman Spitzer (1914-97) identified the main advantages Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 years4 years ago
Science Fiction

Apollo 18: the truth about the lost Moon missions

Apollo 18 is a SF/Horror movie presented as newly-found film footage taken by the fictional crew of a lost 1970s lunar landing mission.  The Apollo 18 film uses real NASA movie footage from the Moon (some of it doctored with CGI) and new studio-shot footage with actors and special effects Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 years5 years ago
Colin Johnston

Remembering Challenger: the end of innocence

An older generation will never forget where they were when they heard the news of President Kennedy’s murder Alas, I have three such memories. The 2001 terror attacks in the US, the destruction of Columbia and its crew in 2003 and the loss of Challenger are events whose horror has Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 years5 years ago
The Future

2011’s Space Odysseys

2011 will be a year of exciting and historic upcoming events in space exploration. It is is also a significant anniversary year of some triumphs and tragedies in space history. Here’s a look at what lies in store. This year marks four centuries since sunspots were first observed telescopically by Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 years6 years ago
Human Exploration

Apollo 8’s Christmas space odyssey

Christmas 1968 saw three men from Earth make a remarkable and unprecedented voyage of exploration. A dramatic and hurriedly planned mission gave the crew the first human view of the Moon’s farside and the whole human race saw our homeplanet in a new way.  This is the story of Apollo Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 years7 years 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, 11 years6 years 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, 11 years7 years ago
Concept Spacecraft

The amazing Aldebaran spacecraft

  The late ’50s and ’60s were a different time from the anxious era that is today. Nuclear power and space travel were both cool and wonderful new technologies. The only thing that could be cooler and more wonderful would be to combine the two. One suggestion was the US Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 years7 years ago
Rockets

Blue Streak: the UK’s Cold War rocket

The Blue Streak rocket was an advanced British missile of the 1950s which nearly became a space rocket before ending up a casualty of government apathy. Let’s look at Blue Streak’s rise and fall.     These days most British economists agree that designing and manufacturing things are rather icky Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 years5 years ago

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RSS Intergalactic Craic
  • Rocks to Rockets: 4 More Amazing Women in Science!
    Welcome to Season 2 everyone! Heather and Courtney kick off the new season with some amazing women in science that everyone should know. Any questions? Email us at podcast@armagh.ac.uk 
  • The Safest Dinner Party of 2020
    For the last episode of Season 1, Heather and Courtney suggest their ideal astronomy guests to a dinner party. They cover some of humanity's greatest astronomical achievements as well as discuss some of the rumours surrounding a particular famous astronomer's party behaviour! Need Some Space?
  • Turning Back The Clock - The History of AOP
    Join Heather and Special Guest Host Dr Rok Nezic as they delve into the archives and discuss the history of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium through their favourite objects. Clocks, books, instruments and rooms, they've got it all covered, and they have a bit of craic along the way.
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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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