On Monday, November 15th, Russia launched an anti-satellite missile test which created enough debris to endanger the astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS). There are two Russian astronauts or cosmonauts onboard the ISS as well. As a result of the debris, all the astronauts took refuge on board a spacecraft from 2 AM EST to 4 AM EST. The ISS orbited around the Earth twice (once every 90 minutes) which also went through or near the plume. Luckily no damage to the ISS or the astronauts. They were given the go-ahead to return back to the ISS where they would continue to monitor the debris and still on high alert. The astronauts also sealed up all the hatches to several modules of the ISS. It’s largely frowned upon to destroy satellites in space as not only could the debris endanger the astronauts on board but also the people on Earth. There are thousands of debris...

China Aerospace Science and Technology agency launches a critical mission called the Chang Zheng 5 or also known as Long March 5 outside of China. This launch is amazing and a testament to China’s commitment to space. The success of Long March 5 means it paves the way for a mission to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. It officially launched at 7:45 AM EST from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan, People’s Republic of China. If you’re familiar with rockets from the U.S such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 or Europe’s Ariane 5 then you have a good idea of the power and lift capacity Long March 5 has. Falcon 9 Credit: SpaceX Long March 5 If we take a little deeper look at the stages of the rocket it looks like the following: Stage 1 has four strap-on liquid-fueled boosters that push the rocket into spaceThe 2nd stage burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygenThe 3rd and final...

It’s one of the most exciting times to be alive when it comes to space exploration. For starters, we are finally going back to the Moon and will get to experience it in much greater detail than ever before. This got me thinking about what agencies like NASA, ESA, or ISRO have planned in the next 5 or even 10 years. After some research, here are some space missions I am excited about. Let’s jump into it! NASA (National Aeronautics Space Administration) ESA (European Space Agency)ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) Future NASA Missions ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer) – 2019 Artist depiction of the ICON satellite Here’s a mission that happened recently. This is NASA’s ICON mission or the Ionospheric Connection Explorer. The ICON mission will study where space weather and Earth weather meet. What’s interesting is this mission will orbit even...

Located about 710 light-years away from Earth is a red giant star called R Aquarii. A red giant star is a star that is at the end of its stellar evolution. It’s what will eventually happen to our own Sun. However, there is a lot going on in the photo below and actually, there are two stars in this photo. This story is about these two stars tangled in destiny. Credit: Hubble/NASA/ESA Let’s start with what is happening inside the red giant star R Aquarii. As it’s going through the last hurrah of its life the star is constantly contracting and expanding. As Phil Plait describes it, there is a small instability occurring in the star which triggers these physical contracts and expansions. As it contracts the star gets hotter. Then the pressure increases and the star starts to slow down the contraction and start to expand the star physically. This whole process lasts about...

Canada’s involvement with space exploration ranges from sending one of our astronauts like the infamous Chris Hadfield to lending a hand or a robotic arm to the ISS. Today Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that Canada will contribute a smart robotic system to NASA’s Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway (LOP-G) program. An artist’s concept of Canada’s smart robotic system located on the exterior of the Gateway, a small space station in orbit around the Moon. (Credits:Canadian Space Agency, NASA) Cool, so what’s Canada contributing eh? It will include a new robotic arm called Canadarm3 and other tools and specialized equipment that will be used by said arm. What’s exciting about this announcement is that Canada is the first country to officially sign on to the Lunar orbital gateway program. Why this is exciting is it sets a precedent that Canada is serious...

NASA’s New Horizon’s team released a high resolution image of Kuiper Belt object called Ultima Thule. It’s exciting news because the New Horizon spacecraft made its closest approach January 1st, 2019 and sent back this rough image below. What’s interesting about Ultima Thule is it’s actually two joined bodies. One body is called Ultima and the other Thule. So now let’s look at the updated version. Why I am excited about this particular story is first it gives you a sense of how long it takes to get data back from this spacecraft and produce a high resolution image. Mind you, the data is traveling at the speed of light and still takes 6 hours to send data or receive data. That means if you wanted to make a request right now to get data that it would take 6 hours for the spacecraft to get it and then another 6 hours to receive the data. Doesn’t...