August 2016
Fireflies and saucers
... Mercury-6 spacecraft, astronaut John Glenn noticed a strange phenomenon. The spacecraft was in orbit and, when the Sun came up, he reported with great excitement that he was surrounded by thousands of small glowing particles that were moving...
May 2017
Growing plants without gravity
..., Exploration of Outer Space by Rocket Devices. “Just as the Earth’s atmosphere is cleaned by plants with the help of the Sun,” he wrote, “so our artificial atmosphere can be renewed... the plants we take along with us during the journey can...
June 2018
Cosmic communications and the anthropology of outer space
... with the potential, if not the promise, for culture contact. As Voyagers 1 and 2 swing away from the Sun at over 35,000 mph, they act as connective webs to Earth-dwelling humans. Space morphs into a transductive medium...
November 2018
Monitoring illegal rainforest deforestation
... that occurred in the past, usually one year previously. Present systems to cover the Amazon rainforest utilise Sun synchronous orbit (SSO) satellites with passages over the forest usually at the same daily time, (between...
September 2019
Extending the life of geostationary orbit satellites
... satellite communications, because satellites in GEO appear from the ground to be stationary. However, gravitational forces exerted by the Sun and Moon cause their orbits to change and they must continually apply thrust against these forces...
February 2020
Debunking the myths on space patents
... refreshing to say the least: from reusable rockets to suborbital planes, and even convertible cars orbiting the sun near Mars. However, for some companies with business models based on radical technology, the situation has...
