It’s the NASA’s 60th Anniversary! For 60 years, they have advanced aeronautic research, led human space exploration, discovered the unknown far beyond Earth, developed new technologies, & conducted studies to improve life for all.
For six decades, NASA has led the peaceful exploration of space, making discoveries about our planet, our solar system, and our universe. At home, NASA research has made great advances in aviation, helped to develop a commercial space industry, enrich our economy, create jobs, and strengthen national security. Outside the United States, our international partnerships shine as examples of diplomacy. Space exploration has brought together people of diverse backgrounds working for the good of all humankind
As we celebrate NASA’s first 60 years of achievement, we honour the sacrifice that came with it: the tragic loss of lives including aviation pilots and the crew members of Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia. Sacrifice has also come in the countless hours dedicated NASA personnel, on the ground and in space, have spent away from families to plan and execute missions. The next decade promises to be full of adventures that only science fiction writers dreamed of and only NASA and its partners will accomplish.
We will be running our drop-in ‘Be Mystified – The Forces of Science!’ workshops at Techniquest Glyndwr’s Fun Day, in Wrexham this Saturday (29th September 2018)!
The event will be held in the old TJ Hughes building, in Wrexham!
We will be running three different drop-in activities, our Galactic Quiz with prizes and some friction challenges:
Be Mystified – The Forces of Science!
Make a Hoop Glider, a Thaumatrope and a Levitating Ball Blower – while learning the science behind them – All of which you can take away with you!
From 11am until 4.30pm Techniquest Glyndwr will be opening the doors again to the public to this major building in the town centre situated between Chester Street and Henblas Square.
The event coincides with each of the monthly Wrexham Street Festivals that now take place on the last Saturday of the month in the town centre.
We will be exhibiting at New Scientist Live again this year 21st – 23rd September 2018 – ExCeL London!
We will be running three different drop-in activities, our Galactic Quiz with prizes and some friction challenges:
Be Mystified – The Forces of Science!
Make a Hoop Glider, a Thaumatrope and a Levitating Ball Blower – while learning the science behind them – All of which you can take away with you!
Plus, we have our Galactic Quiz and some friction challenges that will get you thinking!
So come and find us at stand 144 in the COSMOS Zone, to have some STEMtastic fun!
We were running our drop-in ‘Be Mystified – The Forces of Science!’ workshops and some friction activities at Techniquest Glyndwr’s Family Fun Days, in Wrexham Friday and Saturday (24th/25th August).
In a unique collaboration with the RAF and its celebrations marking the 100th year – Technquest Glyndwr presented an even bigger range of activities over the course of the event in the former TJ Hughes building in Chester Street/Henblas Square with the additional input from t he RAF.
We were running two different drop-in activities and some friction challenges:
Be Mystified – The Forces of Science!
Visitors made Hoop Gliders and RAF themed Thaumatropes, while learning the science behind them – Both of which they could take away with them!
Plus, we had some friction challenges to get them thinking!
The event was held in the old TJ Hughes building, in Wrexham.
We took our new MajorTim.space Galactic Photo Prop for the first time to an event!
The Photo accessory was very popular with the visitors and even an RAF serviceman wanted to try it out!
All of the visitors to our stand had a STEMtastic time!
On this day 9 years ago (1st September 2009) – ESA’s six new astronauts report to EAC in Germany to take up duty.
The six new astronauts started their first days of their 18-month basic training in preparation for future missions to the International Space Station and beyond.
The new astronauts were:
Samantha Cristoforetti, from Milan, Italy.
Alexander Gerst, from Künzelsau, Germany.
Andreas Mogensen, from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Luca Parmitano, from Paternò, Italy.
Timothy Peake, from Chichester, UK.
Photo source – ESA
Basic training for the European astronauts took place mostly at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC), where they followed a training programme developed by EAC according to international specifications agreed between the International Space Station (ISS) partners.
The new astronauts were selected in May 2009.
Congratulations to all of the six astronauts above – on all of your amazing achievements over the last 9 years!
A couple of weeks ago (15.08.2018) we delivered our ‘Be Mystified – The Forces of Science!’ workshops with GirlGuiding Brownie groups, as part of their Wild Sleepout at RSPB Conwy!
The Brownies made Hoop Gliders and Thaumatropes, while learning the science behind them – Both of which they could take away with them!
It was great to see the young people having fun exploring STEM and excited to spend the night at RSPB Conwy!
After they made their hoop gliders we took them outside for a test flight!
They enjoyed testing them so much that we had to do a competition – which was very close and we were unable to pick a winner – they were all winners!
Fantastic STEM Explorers – who enjoyed learning the science behind the activities!
If you run a Scout Association/Girlguiding unit or Youth Club/Group in North Wales – contact us for more information about our workshops – Also, visit our MajorTim.space’s ‘Galactic Outreach Workshops’! page for more info!
We will be running our drop-in ‘Be Mystified – The Forces of Science!’ workshops and some friction activities at Techniquest Glyndwr’s Family Fun Days, in Wrexham this Friday and Saturday (24th/25th August).
In a unique collaboration with the RAF and its celebrations marking the 100th year – Technquest Glyndwr will be presenting an even bigger range of activities over the three days in the former TJ Hughes building in Chester Street/Henblas Square with the additional input from the RAF.
We will be running two different drop-in activities and some friction challenges:
Be Mystified – The Forces of Science!
Make a Hoop Glider and a RAF themed Thaumatrope, while learning the science behind them – Both of which you can take away with you!
Plus, we have some friction challenges that will get you thinking!
The event will be held in the old TJ Hughes building, in Wrexham.
Our drop-in ‘Be Mystified – The Forces of Science!’ workshops are always extremely popular!
Recently (12.08.2018), NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe Mission to ‘touch’ the Sun!
Photo source – NASA
NASA’s historic Parker Solar Probe mission will revolutionize our understanding of the Sun, where changing conditions can propagate out into the solar system, affecting Earth and other worlds. Parker Solar Probe will travel through the Sun’s atmosphere, closer to the surface than any spacecraft before it, facing brutal heat and radiation conditions and ultimately providing humanity with the closest-ever observations of a star.
It is the first space craft to be named after a living person – astrophysicist Eugene Parker, 91, who first described solar wind in 1958.
“Wow, here we go! We’re in for some learning over the next several years,” he said after watching the lift-off from the scene. The University of Chicago professor said he had been biting his nails in anticipation.
Dr. Eugene Parker watches the launch of the spacecraft that bears his name – NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. Photo source – NASA/Glenn Benson
Journey to the Sun
In order to unlock the mysteries of the Sun’s atmosphere, Parker Solar Probe will use Venus’s gravity during seven flybys over nearly seven years to gradually bring its orbit closer to the Sun. The spacecraft will fly through the Sun’s atmosphere as close as 3.8 million miles to our star’s surface, well within the orbit of Mercury and more than seven times closer than any spacecraft has come before – Earth’s average distance to the Sun is 93 million miles.
Flying into the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona, for the first time, Parker Solar Probe will employ a combination of in situ measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and expand our knowledge of the origin and evolution of the solar wind. It will also make critical contributions to our ability to forecast changes in Earth’s space environment that affect life and technology on Earth.
Extreme Exploration
Parker Solar Probe will perform its scientific investigations in a hazardous region of intense heat and solar radiation. The spacecraft will fly close enough to the Sun to watch the solar wind speed up from subsonic to supersonic and it will fly though the birthplace of the highest-energy solar particles.
To perform these unprecedented investigations, the spacecraft and instruments will be protected from the Sun’s heat by a 4.5-inch-thick (11.43 cm) carbon-composite shield, which will need to withstand temperatures outside the spacecraft that reach nearly 2,500 F (1,377 C).
The Science of the Sun
The primary science goals for the mission are to trace how energy and heat move through the solar corona and to explore what accelerates the solar wind as well as solar energetic particles. Scientists have sought these answers for more than 60 years, but the investigation requires sending a probe right through the 2,500 degrees fahrenheit heat of the corona. Today, this is finally possible with cutting-edge thermal engineering advances that can protect the mission on its dangerous journey. Parker Solar Probe carries four instrument suites designed to study magnetic fields, plasma and energetic particles and image the solar wind.
Teaming for Success
Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living With a Star flight program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, manages the mission for NASA. APL has designed and built the spacecraft and also operate it.
Asteroid 249516 Aretha, found by NASA’s NEOWISE mission and named after the Aretha Franklin to commemorate the ‘Queen of Soul’ will keep orbiting beyond Mars.
Photo source – NASA
Aretha Franklin died last Thursday (16.08.2018), aged 76 years.
She won 17 Grammy Awards and influenced countless singers. She recorded such hits as “Respect”, “Chain of Fools” and “Think”.
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.
The asteroid was first detected in 2001 and was designated as an asteroid in February 2010 by the NEOWISE project, according to NASA. The project officially named the space object after Franklin in 2014.
It measures just under three miles across and it orbits between Mars and Jupiter — one of hundreds of thousands currently traveling in that main asteroid belt, according to NASA’s count. It takes 249516 Aretha about five-and-a-half years to make one trip around the sun, according to The Atlantic.
As long as Aretha the asteroid doesn’t crash into another space object, she’ll be orbiting the sun forever.
