What is the largest single structure in our solar system? The answer that immediately comes to mind for most of us is the Sun. But that is actually incorrect. The largest single structure in our solar system is Jupiter’s magnetosphere. Think of a magnetosphere as a gigantic shield. It is …
Violent Relaxation – calming the galactic neighborhood
Recently, Curious Droid did a live video featuring Ethan Siegel, a respected astrophysicist. The topic of the live dhoe was how the universe might end. As I tend to do when I watch a Live video, I was taking notes and I jotted down the term that Siegel used: Violent …
Life in a Martian Lava Tube
Question: What do dinosaurs have in common with volcanoes on Mars? Answer: It is believed by some scientists that both went extinct at about the same time, some 50 million years ago. Like the dinosaurs, Martian volcanoes left evidence of their existence behind for us to find. In the case …
Titan: The Coolest Vacation Spot in the Solar System
Titan… the largest moon of Saturn. And the second largest moon in the solar system. I use the term “moon” loosely. Technically Titan is a moon, but only because it happens to orbit around an object that is not the Sun. In any other situation, Titan would certainly be categorized …
The Story of the Soyuz : From Rocky to Reliable
On April 23, 1967, the Soviet space program launched the first manned Soyuz mission of what would turn out to be the most reliable vehicle to deliver humans to and from low Earth orbit. This vehicle would prove so reliable, in fact, that it is still used today and is …