Articles

In last month's post, I began the year with an optimistic outlook for human spaceflight. This month, I plan to bring a dose of realism...

Over the past few years, as I've been jotting down my thoughts on policy events, noteworthy spacecraft launches, and recent discoveries...

Mars has been keeping me busy! This is the fourth article I have written on the red planet in twelve months and who knows how many I will...

And we're off! Watching the Falcon Heavy launcher effortlessly lift the 6-ton Europa Clipper spacecraft into the sky on the 14th of...

My latest book on ocean worlds is barely off the press and already a new study has surfaced shedding light on one of the ocean world...

Finally, after over a year of hard work, the second edition of my first book is out! I’m thrilled about this new edition—essentially a...

Let me put this out in front: Carl Sagan is a hero of mine. How could he not be? He was a scientific communicator par excellence. His...

In October of last year, I shared my insights on the significance of sample return missions, with a particular emphasis on the OSIRIS-REx...

At some junctures in life, one often reevaluates their deeply ingrained beliefs. This introspection might involve spiritual reflection,...

In this month's post, we review one of the most exciting discoveries made in our Solar System: the detection of methane gas on Mars. This...

Within the field of astrobiology, Earth-based analogues of habitable environments found in space (e.g., early Mars) can provide deep...

Building on the November post about the trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and the remarkable observations made by the James Webb Space...

Planetary exploration missions are journeys of epic endurance, stretching across many years and, more often than not, decades. Even after...

The year 2023 has been exceptional in many regards, from the avalanche of JWST scientific papers covering many fields of astronomy to the...

Luck had it that as soon as I had decided to write an article for my October post on the importance of sample return missions on the back...

When the James Web Space Telescope (JWST) was launched almost two years ago now—time flies—one of the key observations I was looking...

After travelling for over 160 million kilometres in space, the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft whizzed by Earth on the 24th of September to release...

Having written about the ups and downs of India’s past Chandrayaan missions in my second book – Imaging Our Solar System – it was with...

Interstellar space, this vast region of space that lies between stars, is a very empty place with an average density of only about one...

Is there anybody out there? The question of whether or not there is another life or even intelligent life in the universe is one of the...

I have always been fascinated by the Kuiper Belt and the worlds that lay beyond it. The Kuiper Belt, home to Pluto and Arrokoth, is...

A few weeks ago, a booming sound rumbled throughout the lush jungles of French Guiana as Ariane V took off for its penultimate launch,...

When Voyager 2 whizzed past Uranus in January 1986, it encountered a system tilted by 97.7 degrees, as if lying on its side. Such a...

In May last year, I shared with you (here) my initial thoughts on the 782-page Planetary Decadal Survey published by the US National...

Last week, I gave a talk at a local astronomy club on the topic of my latest book: the evolution of space mission cameras and instruments...

Remarkable, don’t you think, that we have made it through another year in the amazing story of humanity, so terrific, so tremendous, but...

Just a few weeks ago, on the 16th of November to be precise, I woke up at 5h45 in the morning (UK time) and went to my living room in my...

It seems that not a month goes by without some fantastic images being returned from an imaging instrument somewhere in space. Of all the...

How lucky we are to live during the era of the James Webb Space Telescope! Webb has merely begun its decades-long mission (hopefully, it...

When considering life in outer space, we have been bathed – dare I say conditioned - for over a century now with stories that mainly...

I was recently commissioned to write an article on the European space tech industry. Through my research into this topic, I discovered a...

As a person who is passionate about space as well as prehistory, and having recently moved near Avebury Stone Circle, I had to experience...

As you read these lines, something exciting is happening; and it might change our perception of life in our Universe - no less! Indeed,...

So, here it is finally! The day planetary science nerds like yours truly have been waiting for so long occurred on the 19th of April. On...

As we’ve all watched in horror the advent of war in Ukraine and been deeply moved by the scale of the human tragedy unfolding, another...

Imagine, one and a half million kilometers above your head lies the most productive space mission or observatory ever conceived, yielding...

Last month, I shared with you my excitement about the new golden age we are currently living through; from state-of-the-art heavy lift...

As we start this new year, I can’t help but contemplate the golden age we are currently experiencing in space science and exploration. If...

If all goes well, space enthusiasts from around the world will be watching a nail-biting event on the 22nd of December at 12:20 GMT as...

The search for our deepest origins is one of the most challenging and yet rewarding endeavours humanity has ever undertaken. For more...