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We're heading back to the moon!
In early 2026, NASA will once again be blasting a group of brave humans back to the moon! Initially flying around the back of the moon and back home again, the mission will be the next step towards people once again walking on the surface of the moon.
Would you like to join the mission? You can now add your name to a microchip which is going to accompany the astronauts round the back of the moon! Just follow this link!
Look up for the Planet Parade!
During January and February 2025 we have the rare opportunity to see six planets aligned in our night sky! Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye, while Uranus and Neptune will be visible with binoculars or a telescope.
If the clouds clear, be sure to look up to share in this wonderful sight!
A once-in-80,000-year sight!
Friend of Inspirational Space, Roger Sylvester, took this beautiful shot of Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), from his garden in Denmark.
The comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere until 30 October, and then not again for another 80,000 years!
The Aurora visits the UK!
Inspirational Space was so excited to see the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, in Leeds (UK) on 10 October 2024! The colours were faintly visible with the naked eye, and truly spectacular through the phone.
Aurora displays occur when charged particles from the sun collide with gases in the Earth's atmosphere around the magnetic poles. As they collide, light is emitted at various wavelengths, creating colourful displays in the sky.
Making the impossible possible
NASA is developing technologies that could “grow” habitats on the Moon, Mars, and beyond using fungi!
This could enable future explorers to travel with a compact habitat built out of lightweight material containing dormant fungi. By adding water, the fungi can potentially grow around that framework into a fully functional human habitat, while being safely contained to avoid contaminating the environment!
Inspirational Space loves NASA's aim to "change the possible" by supporting early-stage space technology research that could radically change the future - in space and here on Earth.
Solar Eclipse excitement grips America!
On Monday 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse will be visible across large parts of Central and North America, sweeping over more than 31 million people! Even those with cloud cover will experience the eerie senstation of daytime darkness and birds falling silent.
If you're not under the path, you can watch live on Nasa's YouTube channel from 5pm BST!
First artwork on the moon!
The first artwork on the moon! Here are 125 sculptures, created by artist Jeff Koons, which successfully landed on the moon in February 2024, onboard the Intuitive Machines spacecraft!
The sculptures show the different phases of the moon
Learn more here.
The answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything...?
Do you know how many times the sun will orbit round our Milky Way galaxy, from the time it first ignited until it becomes a Red Giant and swallows up the Earth?
42.
42!
So perhaps 42 really IS the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, as predicted by the Deep Thought computer in the book The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy!
Goodbye Ingenuity!
Goodbye Ingenuity! 👋 The first aircraft to fly on another world has stopped flying. The little helicopter on Mars carried on working for 3 years longer than the original 30 day plan!
Learn more here.
Looking forward to 2024!
Wow! Just look at Euclid's first images!
Euclid mission releases its first stunning pictures
The Euclid telescope was launched in July 2023, with a mission to reveal the influence of ‘dark’ matter and energy on the visible Universe. Over the next six years, Euclid will observe the shapes, distances and motions of billions of galaxies - out to 10 billion light-years! By doing this, it will create the largest cosmic 3D map ever made!
These first beautiful images, full of mind-blowing detail, prove that the mission is on track to enable a huge leap forward in our understanding of the cosmos as a whole.
For more information, here is the Euclid mission website.
Happy 1st Birthday, JWST!
On 12 July 2023, the world celebrated the 1st anniversary of the first images being released from the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA marked the occasion in style, by releasing this stunning new image.
The subject is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth (c.390 light years away). The image shows c. 50 young stars, all of them similar in mass to the Sun, or smaller. The darkest areas are the densest, where thick dust cocoons still-forming protostars. Huge bipolar jets of molecular hydrogen, represented in red, appear horizontally across the upper third and vertically on the right. These occur when a star first bursts through its natal envelope of cosmic dust, shooting out a pair of opposing jets into space like a newborn first stretching her arms out into the world. Some stars display the telltale shadow of a circumstellar disk, the makings of future planetary systems!
JWST: Unfolding the Universe
In just one year, the James Webb Space Telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the cosmos, peering into dust clouds and seeing light from faraway corners of the universe for the very first time. Thousands of engineers, scientists, and leaders have poured their life’s passion into this mission, and their efforts will continue to improve our understanding of the origins of the universe – and our place in it.
“On its first anniversary, the James Webb Space Telescope has already delivered upon its promise to unfold the universe, gifting humanity with a breathtaking treasure trove of images and science that will last for decades,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JWST!
Will Euclid solve the mysteries of the Dark Universe?
The European Space Agency's Euclid mission is due to launch on 1 July 2023, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
95% of the universe is made of dark matter and dark energy, and yet we know almost nothing about it! The Euclid mission is designed to explore the Dark Universe. The space telescope will observe billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years, to create a great map of the large-scale structure of the Universe across space and time.
Euclid will explore how the Universe has expanded and formed over cosmic history, revealing more about the role of gravity and the nature of dark energy and dark matter.
We can't wait to see what Euclid discovers!
What is happening with Betelgeuse?
One of the big mysteries of the universe is when will Betelgeuse go supernova? Betelgeuse is the giant red star above and to the left of Orion's Belt. When it does go supernova, it will be visible even in the day time! Over the past couple of months, Betelgeuse has brightened by 50%.... is it about to blow??
A photo of Betelgeuse, taken by Inspirational Space, using the COAST telescope in Tenerife
JUICE Blasts off!
On 14 April 2023, Juice – JUpiter ICy moons Explorer – launched into space on the Ariane 5 rocket. This ambitious mission will explore Ganymede, Callisto and Europa (which you can see on a clear night with binoculars!) to discover more about these beautiful moons as potential habitats for past or present life.
Juice has now begun its eight-year journey to Jupiter, arriving in July 2031 - set a calendar reminder!
Asteroid close encounter
The Near-Earth asteroid 2023 DZ2 is going to fly close by, within the orbits of Earth and the Moon, on 25 March 2023. See if you can spot it with binoculars, or watch it live by clicking on the picture!
Goodbye ZTF!
On 24 March 2023, Nasa released this beautiful picture of comet C/2022E3 (ZTF) heading back off to outer space.
This gorgeous visitor, which originated in the Oort Cloud at the edge of our solar system, may now never return. Scientists think that the influence of Jupiter's gravity on the comet may have sent it on an outbound journey off to explore the universe. Goodbye ZTF!
Planetary conjunction
Planetary conjunction
The stunning conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in February/March 2023 got people the world over looking up at the evening sky and wondering what those bright stars are.
This beautiful picture captured the event above Brill, Buckinghamshire (photographer David Munson).
Did you spot the comet?
Did you spot the comet?
Comet C2022 E3 ZTF did a fly-by of Earth in January and February 2023. Did you spot it? Through binoculars and telescopes, it could be seen as a little fuzzy green blob in the sky. The exciting thing is that the comet was last close by 50,000 years ago, when Neanderthals were walking the Earth! And it won't be back for an equally long time.
Use the Stellarium app to see where the comet is now!
There we all are - all 8 billion of us!
There we all are - all 8 billion of us!
On the 9th day of its mission, the Orion spacecraft, which was carried into space on the Artemis rocket in November 2022, took this wonderful picture of the Earth. Hanging there in space, our Pale Blue Dot appears so small and precious.
“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." - Carl Sagan
New view of the dark side of the moon
New view of the dark side of the moon
The Artemis rocket took the Orion spacecraft into space. In November 2022, Orion flew around and behind the moon, taking the most amazing pictures from its journey. We were super excited to see these new pictures of the 'dark' side of the moon - the side which always faces away from Earth. How amazing!
Artemis 1 brings back the excitement of the moon
Artemis 1 brings back the excitement of the moon
The launch of Artemis 1 on 16 November not only got my children out of bed early, but also brought a sense of excitement and inspiration about the moon that has never before been felt by today's generation of children. Being able to watch live as the rocket launched, and then staring amazed at the views of Earth from the Orion module, inspired my children to wave at the sky and request porridge rockets for breakfast =). They are excited to witness the beginning of a journey that will continue into their adulthood, and one day return people to the moon and even take them to Mars.
It's awe-inspiring to think how big things are in space
Flick through the images to get an idea of how big the objects are within our solar system, and beyond!
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