Spaced Out – never out of space!
Astronomy Educator David Britten features on the fortnightly Spaced Out segment on 95bFM Drive where he chats all things space science, Stardome and stargazing.
To keep up to date on these headlines make sure to have a listen around 4:40pm Tuesdays fortnightly (or catch up on it later here). Then check back here on ‘Spaced Out – never out of space!’ every two weeks to see the headlines summarised, as well as anything else that you need to know to ensure you remain the most knowledgeable person in your friend group!
Spaced Out has been broadcast fortnightly since July 2011 – read more here
Podcast archives of Spaced Out at bFM can be found here
Spaced Out is part of the 95bFM Drive show with Johnny and Big Hungry, 4-7pm weekdays – read more here
16 February 2021
UAE’s innovative ‘Hope’ probe enters orbit around Mars
China’s ambitious Mars mission, ‘Tianwen-1’, successfully in Mars orbit
NASA’s ‘Perseverance’ rover imminent arrival at Mars read here and here
‘Farfarout’ most distant object in Solar System
Physicists are reinventing the laser
Mix of five exoplanets circle their star in orbital harmony read here and here
Martian drilling efforts abandoned
SpaceX reusable rocket completes record eighth flight
Oumuamua was an alien machine – perhaps
Our galaxy probably full of dead alien civilizations
Transformer rover to perform daring Martian exploration
Virgin competitor for Rocket Lab
Blue Origin suborbital flight success
Venomous-spider stars discovered with destroyed radio telescope
Bumblebee gravity may explain accelerating cosmic expansion
Unexpectedly fast Earth spin could need leap second to be subtracted
China to allow access to the world’s largest radio telescope
Trump signs new space policies read more here and here
Dwarf planet could be lurking in outer solar system
China to allow access to the world’s largest radio telescope
Trump signs new space policies read more here and here
Dwarf planet could be lurking in outer solar system
Catastrophic collapse of the iconic Arecibo telescope – read here
For more, read the following articles from Space.com Article 1 Article 2 Article 3 Article 4
Asteroid samples successfully retrieved from Japanese mission read here and here
First robotic lunar rendezvous – Moon rocks on way back to Earth read here and here
Australian telescope maps millions of galaxies
Using microbes to build an extraterrestrial habitat
Detection of solar neutrinos reveals fusion process in the Sun
Japanese asteroid samples return to Earth 6 December see here and here
Damaged Arecibo radio telescope to be decommissioned read here and here
China mission to collect first Moon rocks since 1976
Rocket Lab launches 30 satellites and recovers splashdown booster
Partial penumbral lunar eclipse 30 November
Radical telescope project to study weird dimming of Betelgeuse see here
First NZ student designed and built satellite launch free by Rocket Lab see here
Arecibo radio telescope second cable failure
Twin Mark Kelly fourth astronaut senator
Water identified on sunlit surface of the Moon read more here and here
International Lifetime Achievement Award for New Zealand astronomer read more here and here
Bennu asteroid mission too successful
Phosphine undetected in Venus clouds in infrared read more here and here
Sun may have had a binary companion
Fourth woman to win Nobel Prize for Physics
Astronomers seek help against satellite megaconstellation threats
The cycle of Earth/Mars close passes
There’s too much gold in the universe
Boulders on Bennu shed new light on asteroid’s history
‘Self-eating rocket’ technology gets a boost
So little cosmic matter, but it really matters see here and here
NASA’s new toilet ready for use in space
Rocket Lab first US launch scheduled for October
Biosignature discovered high in atmosphere of Venus here
Read more here See further articles here and here
Rocket Lab secretly launched their first satellite on last launch
How to see Uranus at night this week without a telescope
Mice with missing gene could help stop astronauts losing bone and muscle mass in space
Law of gravity works down to at least a twentieth of a millimetre
New quantum paradox throws the foundations of observed reality into question
Laser light bounced off lunar orbiter. Read more about this here and here
Fastest spinning white dwarf star
Rocket Lab returns to space after launch failure
Earth’s core solid for a billion years
Citizen scientists discover 95 cool brown dwarfs
Thousands of ‘blanets’ might orbit supermassive black hole
Massive wildfires threaten historic Lick Observatory
Amazon’s constellation of more than 3,200 satellites approved
Schoolgirls discover Mars-crosser asteroid
Rocket Lab planning mission to Venus
Arecibo Radio Telescope seriously damaged after cable break
NASA to discontinue using racist nicknames for astronomical objects
Ceres’ bright patches caused by upwelling salty water
Strange Betelgeuse dimming caused by giant stellar belch
Dark-energy map provides both answers and problems
SpaceX updates 59-year-old splashdown
Rocket Lab identifies and fixes fault from mission failure
Early Mars may have had ice sheets, not running water
Quiet Earth during Covid-19 lockdowns
Space thruster just 1 cm across
Three missions to Mars in two weeks, from the UAE, China and NASA: Hope Tianwen Perseverance
NASA re-counts Apollo EVAs to reach 300th space walk
NASA sets new planetary protection rules
Astronaut Stephanie Wilson may be first woman to step onto Moon in 2024
Revolutionary table-top gravitational wave detector design
Orbiting astronaut had a blood clot
NASA space toilet challenge – further reading here
Rocket Lab launch failure: payloads lost
Massive star suddenly vanished
Exoplanet is rare exposed planetary core
Recent significant dimming of Betelgeuse caused by huge starspots
Super precise centre of Solar System measurement technique
Nuclear propulsion rules in space changed
4,000th comet detected by SOHO
Nottingham astrophysicist calculates 36 alien civilizations exist in our Galaxy
Basic model of the Universe may need a revamp
Russian space head discusses Russian space program and future plans
New Horizons probe images shifted star positions
Astronomers find missing matter in the Universe
Pluto’s atmosphere is collapsing fast
Earth’s intelligent life is probably ‘rare’
Parker Solar Probe fifth solar flyby
Debate on weight of the Universe
Petition against politicization of Space
US manned spaceflight returns to orbit – further reading here
Europa water plumes discovered
Virgin Orbit test flight fails to reach orbit
Mars colonists may need modified DNA
First re-startable solid rocket fuel breakthrough
Sixty years of laser technology
NZ astronomers find Earth-like planet – further reading here and here
Heaviest uncontrolled re-entry since 1991 passes over Central Park on way to Atlantic annihilation
Exploding Sun – astronomy blog
Head of Russian human spaceflight programme dies after Covid-19 positive test – further reading here
Richard Branson to sell stake in Virgin Galactic to prop up other businesses
Possible resolution of biggest discrepancy in cosmology
Tom Cruise plans filming aboard ISS
Hubble Space Telescope 30th anniversary – further reading here, here, here and here
Big disappointment as Comet Atlas disintegrates
European Mars Rover launch delayed till 2022
May the 4th Star Wars Challenge (check Stardome Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for details)
More than 120 of largest telescopes now closed because of pandemic
NZ Rocket Lab catches Electron rocket mid-air with helicopter
50-Year anniversary of Apollo 13 drama – further reading here and here
Black hole that bends light back on itself
Trump signs executive order promoting exploitation of lunar resources – further reading here
Dealing with sickness in space – clean, check, isolate, clean, research, clean, …
How astronauts deal with severe isolation – further reading here
Satellites visible (naked eye) above New Zealand
Citizen science projects – helping with scientific research from home – further reading here and here
Daylight Saving Time ends 3am Sunday 5 April (move clock back 1 hour)
SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites – total now 360 launched
520 Megapixel camera finds 139 new objects beyond Neptune
New NASA Mars rover named after school student competition
2020 Equinox the earliest in 124 years
Salty space rock solves missing nitrogen mystery
Fossil mollusc shells show days were half an hour shorter 70 million years ago
Obituaries – Katherine Johnson, Mike Hughes, Heather Couper
Servicing private satellites in orbit
China to build a new space station
Earth formed much faster than we thought
Physicist and visionary, Freeman Dyson, has died
Rocket Lab scores Moon mission for NASA
Fifth batch of 60 Starlink satellites launched – total now 300
Breakthrough Listen releases 2 petabytes of SETI data
Two Russian satellites are stalking an orbiting US spysat
Trump’s 2021 NASA budget proposal axes 2 telescopes, 2 Earth science missions & STEM grants
Will satellite constellations clog the night sky? – further reading here and here
Awesome images from largest solar telescope
The world’s oldest asteroid may have thawed the Earth
Competition for Rocket Lab in Oamaru
Spitzer Space Telescope will shut down on 30th January
NZ Defence Force aims to develop space capability
Material older than the Sun found in Australian meteorite
Milky Way supermassive black hole generates hybrid stars
Largest structure in our galaxy
Treating a surprise blood clot in space
Is Betelgeuse fainting a feint, or is it getting ready to explode?
Chinese lander and rover mark one year exploring lunar far side
Chang’e 4 scientific data release
Doug Ellison processed images from Chang’e 4 and Yutu 2
Planets as light as candy floss
Star and exoplanet get official Maori names – further reading here
Space X ‘Space Train’ threat to night sky – further reading here
Enceladus’ tiger stripes explained
Our supermassive black hole may have a companion
Iron meteorites may be hidden under Antarctic ice
Our future if climate change is not stopped
Southland teenager leads project to build satellite
Astronomy from the far side of the Moon
UFOs – the USS Nimitz UFO Incident – further reading here (Joe Rogan Experience) and here
White House in lockdown over mysterious slow moving blob
Rocket Lab launch mistaken for mysterious UFO
Evidence of first alien planet orbiting a white dwarf star
NASA to shut down Spitzer Space Telescope early next year
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter still providing valuable data
Parker Solar Probe revealing secrets of our Sun
Car accident with creature from outer space
Government funding for NZ space mission control centre – further reading here
Japanese spacecraft heads home with asteroid samples
Voyager 2 data raises questions about interstellar space – further reading here
Supernovas more powerful than anyone imagined
India confirms its Vikram lander crashed on the Moon
Black holes may be completely different to what we thought
The 11 biggest unanswered questions about dark matter
Most massive neutron star almost shouldn’t exist – further reading here
Last transit of Mercury until 2032
Russia keeping cause of ISS hole secret
LRO fails to find India’s ‘Vikram’ lander on Moon’s surface
Asteroid impact on Jupiter confirmed
India finds lost lunar lander – further reading here and here
Cometary interloper from another solar system
Thousands of tardigrades litter the moon after crash
NASA activates deep space atomic clock
US military assesses strategic value of cislunar space
NASA used to think female astronauts needed makeup
Aussie prospector finds large rare meteorite 4.6 billion years old
Virgin Galactic space port opens for tourists
Bernie Sanders will tell about aliens if elected President
Rocket Lab to catch booster rockets with a helicopter
Rocket Lab eighth flight launches four satellites
Chang’e-4 rover sends stunning photos of Moon’s far side
Another comet falls into the Sun
Satellites launched from NZ will be tracked to monitor traffic and debris
Concern over Starlink satellite failures
Astronomers very concerned about SpaceX’s megaconstellation
Dark sky astro tourism centre opens in Tekapo
Curiosity Rover 7-year anniversary on Mars
European Mars lander suffers parachute damage in test
New Zealand withdraws from Square Kilometre Array Project
TESS space telescope finds its smallest planet so far
2019 Quick Space Highlights
Formation of Ultima Thule in the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto
Opportunity Rover lost after monster dust storm on Mars
First image of a black hole – further reading here
Night time for first probe on Moon’s far side
Moon crash site found! NASA probe spots Israeli lunar lander crash site
India finds its Vikram lunar lander, but still no signal
Neil Armstrong’s family received $6 million in a secret settlement
20 New moons found orbiting Saturn, bringing total to more than Jupiter
Japanese craft at asteroid Ryugu