science
On This Day: Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
The name most frequently associated with modern rocketry is that of Wernher von Braun (1912-1977), the German rocket scientist who moved to the United States at the end of the Second World War, known to […]
Read MoreOn This Day: Mariner 2 Was Launched
On this day, in 1962, Mariner 2 was launched by NASA. In December of the same year it flew past Venus, becoming the first space probe to make a successful fly-by encounter with another planet. […]
Read MoreOn This Day: NASA was Born
On this day in 1958, the creation of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration was authorised by US congress. Eleven years later – almost to the day – they did this:
Read MoreIt’s a Science Fictional Day
Today is one of those days when the science fictional world spills over into the real world. First of all, today is Asteroid Day, a global event dedicated to increasing the awareness of asteroids and […]
Read MoreSpace Probes
Gateway is on record as being an ardent admirer of NASA and its wonderful Astronomy Picture of the Day site. Wanna know why? Because this: To boldly go . . .
Read MoreOn This Day: Sir Patrick Moore
On this day in 1923, Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore was born in Pinner, Middlesex. He developed an interest in astronomy from an early age, joining the British Astronomical Association at the age of eleven and running […]
Read MoreHappy Birthday, Rocket Boy!
On this day, in 1943, Homer Hadley Hickam Jr was born. His is probably not a name that will be familiar to a great many of our readers, but we’d argue (politely but firmly) that […]
Read MoreHappy Birthday, Buzz Aldrin!
Having suffered the indignity of overlooking a milestone birthday of one great figure, we have no intention of making it two-for-two so early in the year. As one of the most intellectually limited figures ever […]
Read MoreThat’s One Small Step for Man . . .
It’s amazing what we can achieve when we direct our resources and imagination towards goals other than the most efficient methods of killing each other and/or extracting every last penny from the economy regardless of […]
Read MoreThe Science Fictional World: 16th May
Hey, everyone! It’s May 16th – and you know what that means! Er . . . no? No, nor do we, really, but one of the very interesting things about science fiction is that it […]
Read MoreRemembering Sir Patrick Moore
It is a year ago today that we lost one of the most enduring, best-loved and eccentric popularisers of science of the television era. Before there was Professor Brian Cox, before the excellent Neil deGrasse […]
Read MoreOn This Day: Johannes Kepler
On this day in 1630, the German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler died in Regensburg, Bavaria. He was, at one point, assistant to the great Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe, and later served as imperial mathematician […]
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