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Tour the universe in 60 seconds
Narrated by comedian David Mitchell, 60 Second Adventures in Astronomy explains the wonders of the universe in bite-size chunks.
The animation topics were developed by a team from The Open University’s Science faculty: Drs Janet Sumner, Stephen Serjeant, Andrew Norton and David Rothery.
OU Reader in Cosmology Dr Stephen Serjeant said: "We've found we can get across genuinely deep scientific concepts in only a minute and still have room for a few jokes.
"The origin and fate of the Universe, time dilation in relativity, how to make black holes – nothing was too tricky."
Millions of online viewers have already tuned in to the 60 Second Adventures series, which covers topics such as philosophy, English language, economics, and religion.
The production of 60 Second Adventures in Astronomy was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the video was produced by Angel Eye Media.
Find 60 Second Adventures in Astronomy on YouTube, iTunes U and OpenLearn.
The OU turns its attention to the stars in the latest series of its 60 Second Adventures videos, available on YouTube, iTunesU and the OU’s free online learning platform OpenLearn. Narrated by comedian David Mitchell, 60 Second Adventures in Astronomy explains the wonders of the universe in bite-size chunks. The animation topics were developed by a team from The ...
OU to investigate potential Lunar and Martian bases
Researchers at The Open University have presented plans for an extraplanetary laboratory that will determine whether it will be possible to establish a base on the Moon, or potentially Mars.
The Open University's Planetary and Space Sciences researchers have developed a conceptual Lunar Volatile Resources Analysis Package (L-VRAP) that, if selected for funding, will ascertain whether there are sufficient quantities of water and fuel at the Moon’s South Pole to support a future manned research base. Researchers also suggest that L-VRAP could be utilised in a similar mission to Mars.
L-VRAP is a miniature chemical laboratory capable of identifying and quantifying volatiles - elements and compounds with low boiling points such as nitrogen, water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen and methane - in the Moon’s crust and atmosphere.
The device could be fitted to a Lunar or Martian lander and would carry out scientific investigations that are essential to the success of long-term space exploration and could pave the way for an extended human presence away from the Earth.
Dr Simon Sheridan, Research Fellow at The Open University and one of the authors of the paper, said: “To date, only a tiny fraction of the Moon's surface has been physically sampled and analysed and all of that activity took place 40 years ago. Our L-VRAP device is a state of the art sampling and analysis package that will determine in situ, the abundance and the isotopic composition of volatiles present in the Moon’s atmosphere, surface and sub-surface.”
Previously thought to be a dry, barren landscape, recent evidence suggests that the Moon has large pools of frozen water in craters around its poles. By measuring the detailed isotopic composition of key elements, L-VRAP may be able to provide clues to the origin of any water detected on the Moon.
The Lunar Lander mission will be considered at the ESA Ministerial meeting in November 2012. If selected, L-VRAP could launch as early as 2019. Meanwhile, The Open University will be developing L-VRAP in readiness for other space mission opportunities.
The paper describing the L-VRAP has been published in Planetary and Space Science. A copy of “L-VRAP - A Lunar Volatile Resources Analysis Package for Lunar Exploration” is available here.
Pictured is an annotated image of the L-VRAP CAD model
Researchers at The Open University have presented plans for an extraplanetary laboratory that will determine whether it will be possible to establish a base on the Moon, or potentially Mars. The Open University's Planetary and Space Sciences researchers have developed a conceptual Lunar Volatile Resources Analysis Package (L-VRAP) that, if selected for funding, will ascertain whether there ...
OU researcher to study minerals on Mars
Dr Susanne Schwenzer in the University’s research centre for physical and environmental sciences is part of a team which will study minerals formed when hot or cold water interacts with rocks on Mars.
“We already know that there is water on Mars,” said Susanne. “Now, we want to know the temperature of the water and whether it is clean and supportive of potential life - or if it is poisonous. We also want to know if Mars has niches where microbial life could have existed.”
Susanne joins a mission led by Dr John Bridges, Reader in Planetary Science at the University of Leicester.
The Mars Science Laboratory mission, landing NASA’s most advanced planetary rover called Curiosity, is a deploying the most powerful suite of instruments yet sent to the Red Planet.
The rover is scheduled to land at 6.31am UK time on Monday 6 August, beside a Martian mountain within Gale Crater called Mt. Sharp, to begin two years of unprecedented scientific detective work.
Curiosity will also carry the biggest, most advanced suite of instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the Martian surface. The rover will analyse a dozen or so samples scooped from the soil and extracted from rocks.
The record of the planet's climate and geology is essentially "written in the rocks and soil"-in their formation, structure, and chemical composition. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and the local geologic setting in order to decide if the conditions on Mars were able to support microbial life.
Prior to the landing, the MSL spacecraft will decelerate significantly from a speed of about 13,200 miles per hour to enable the rover to achieve a landing speed of about 1.7 miles per hour. The success of the landing is a critical milestone toward the goal of sending humans to Mars by 2030.
A researcher at the OU will take part in a mission to explore the chemistry of Mars when the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) lands on the planet next week (6 August 2012). Dr Susanne Schwenzer in the University’s research centre for physical and environmental sciences is part of a team which will study minerals formed when hot or cold water interacts with rocks on ...
Hi everybody. I'm just wondering whether you anybody has set up or is setting up a facebook page?
Hi everybody. I'm just wondering whether you anybody has set up or is setting up a facebook page?
It's been 50 years since launch of first international satellite
The Ariel-1, the world's first international satellite, carried experiments designed by UK universities and was built and launched by NASA.
John Zarnecki, Professor of Space Science at the OU and chair of the UK Space Agency's Science Programme Advisory Committee, said: “Ariel-1 set the standard for international collaboration in space exploration, something that is essential today in the light of the tight budgets faced by national space programmes and because of the ambitious missions undertaken by space scientists and engineers.
"Projects like Cassini-Huygens to Saturn, a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency of which the UK is a major player, help us to understand how the solar system formed and evolved, and would not have been viable without international partnerships.
“On a more practical front, the Galileo constellation of European Navigation satellites currently under construction, will enable us to locate our position on Earth to unprecedented accuracy, opening up a whole new range of applications. And in two years’ time, the international Rosetta mission will arrive to land on the surface of a comet nucleus after a 10-year journey. It will carry a dust counter from Italy, a camera from Germany, a gas analyser from Switzerland... and a high-tech analytical laboratory from The Open University!”
Ian Wright, Professor of Planetary Sciences at the OU, is the Principal Investigator for the Ptolemy instrument on board the Rosetta mission, which is currently on its way to land on the surface of a comet in 2014. Ptolemy is a high-tech analytical laboratory which will process the comet sample.
The UK Space Agency is hosting a two-day conference at the Science Museum on 26 and 27 April and Professor Zarnecki will attend as a speaker.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first international satellite which the OU's Professor of Space Science John Zarnecki says set the standard for international collaboration in space exploration. The Ariel-1, the world's first international satellite, carried experiments designed by UK universities and was built and launched by NASA. John Zarnecki, ...
The Planets: A Very Short Introduction - blog post by OU planetary scientist
The OU's David Rothery, a geologist and planetary scientist, wrote this post for the Oxford University Press blog about The Planets: A Very Short Introduction. Read the full post. 5 Average: 5 (1 vote)