Welcome to Astronotes
Hello, I’m Colin, welcoming you to Astronotes, the Planetarium’s official blog. Here you will find the latest news and views from the fascinating worlds of astronomy and space exploration. We hope you will come here to learn what is hot and exciting, profound or even weird from worlds beyond ours . So that's the introduction out of the way, now on with the Universe!
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spaceplane Archive
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Flying Saucers From NASA
Posted on September 10, 2012 | No CommentsSpacecraft with a lenticular design (that is, shaped like a biconvex lens) were actively studied by NASA and US industry in the late 1950s and early ‘60s.A craft of such... -
Wings into Orbit: the Skylon Spaceplane Project
Posted on August 17, 2012 | 3 CommentsI’m sure you’ve heard the one:what do you get if you cross a sheep and a spacecraft?Or what about:what do you get if you cross a plane and a spaceship?Well... -
X-37: Speculation, Secrets and Espionage?
Posted on May 10, 2012 | 2 CommentsThe Boeing X-37, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), is an unmanned American spacecraft. Its first orbital mission was on 22 April 2010 returning back to Earth on 3... -
Image of the Month: Rockets Then and Now
Posted on March 9, 2012 | No CommentsOnce upon a time rockets were exciting symbols of a glorious and exciting future when everyone would get their chance to have a holiday on the Moon. Well the future... -
Space Tourism: the Frightening Truth
Posted on October 6, 2011 | 24 CommentsBack in December 2009, with great fanfare, space tourism company Virgin Galactic unveiled the vehicles their fare-paying passengers will ride in as they ascend into space. Built by the Spaceship... -
The Shuttle and Me
Posted on July 7, 2011 | 3 CommentsNASA’s final Shuttle flight is due this week, in this article Colin Johnston reveals what this historic space project has meant to him. (This article is a sequel to... -
Nazis in Space: The Truth about Hitler’s Space Program
Posted on June 23, 2011 | 10 CommentsHas lurid fiction like the movie Iron Sky any basis in fact? Everyone knows that WW2 Germany developed rockets far in advance of the Allies, but some argue that in... -
10 Space Shuttles which never flew
Posted on May 12, 2011 | 5 CommentsNASA’s Space Shuttles have become a familar sight in their thirty years of service, but there have been other shuttle designs which never left the ground.Some were ingenious alternative concepts... -
Space Shuttle: A thirty year history of tragedy and triumph
Posted on April 7, 2011 | 3 CommentsThis year will see both the end of space flights by NASA’s Shuttle fleet and the thirtieth anniversary of the first orbital mission by this historic spacecraft. Our coverage of... -
X-37: Secrets of the Pentagon’s spaceship
Posted on April 5, 2011 | 6 CommentsX-37: a spaceplane developed in secret for classified missions in Earth orbit. It sounds like something from a Cold War techno-thriller novel but the United States Air force’s X-37B is...