Satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) can deviate hundreds of kilometers from their expected trajectory when bad space weather hits. The problem affects the International Space Station, China’s Tiangong Space Station and many Earth observation satellites that need to get up close to our planet. Experts say this positioning uncertainty increases the risk of dangerous … Read more
Aparna Venkatesan is an astronomer and dark sky advocate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of San Francisco. Johannes Barentijn is an astronomer, historian, author, science communicator and founder of Dark Sky Consulting, LLC. As long as there have been humans, the moon has been a calendar, ancestor, ritual, inspiration and … Read more
There are still some interesting residual effects to be seen from the recent nosedive to Earth of the European Remote Sensing satellite, or ERS-2. After its launch in April 1995, ERS-2 studied our planet for almost sixteen years. Then, in 2011, the European Space Agency (ESA) has decided to end the mission of the radar-guided … Read more