The Open University

Mars: Boiling water could be carving slopes into surface

3 May 2016

Features on Mars which had been attributed to flowing salty water could be caused by an altogether more explosive reason, according to new research published this week in Nature Geoscience. Scientists at The Open University used a unique Mars simulation chamber to conduct experiments and found that the streaks and slopes on the planet’s surface […]

Mercury Transit gets its own show on OU campus

29 April 2016

Members of the public are being invited to join scientists on the OU’s campus in Milton Keynes to experience a once-in-a-generation celestial event. The Transit of Mercury will see Mercury pass directly across the Sun’s face on May 9th. The Open University is throwing open its doors to schools and budding astronomers to come and […]

The Last Man on the Moon – a moving tale that’ll bring out your inner astronaut

5 April 2016

“Dream the impossible – and go out and make it happen. I walked on the moon. What can’t you do?” These are the final words spoken by Eugene (Gene) Cernan in the documentary film The Last Man on the Moon. They are a challenge, spoken by an man in his 80s, not just to his […]

Dr Manish Patel in the recording studio.

Ground control to Major Manish. OU academic to record single for space mission

1 April 2016

There has been Band Aid, USA for Africa and Peter Kay’s Animated All Star Band. But today a new name is being added to the list of legendary charity single artists. Manish Patel, Senior Lecturer in Space Science at The Open University, is putting aside his academic research and picking up the microphone to record […]

Saturn’s moons may be younger than the dinosaurs – so could life really exist there?

31 March 2016

Saturn is home to more than 60 moons – from the massive Titan and the crater-riddled Phoebe, to Enceladus with its geysers. Enceladus in particular has been put forward as a good candidate for harbouring microbial life, thanks to its warm internal ocean. After all, if intelligent life could evolve on Earth in a few […]

Mars and me: a day in the life of a PhD student

18 March 2016

In the same week the European Space Agency (ESA) launched its ExoMars Mission, we spoke to OU PhD student Rhian Chapman about dust storms on the Red Planet and her fascination with space: the final frontier… Name: Rhian Chapman Age: 33 Hometown: Shepperton, Surrey What is the focus of your PhD and what stage are you […]

How the ExoMars mission could sniff out life on Mars – and what to do next

16 March 2016

“It (could be) life Jim, but (perhaps) not as we know it.” This is not just a sci-fi catchphrase, but also something some planetary scientists have uttered in response to the discovery of methane in Mars’ atmosphere. That’s right – scientists believe that some kind of past or present microbial lifeform on Mars could have […]

ExoMars Mission 2016, EDM and TGO separation

On a mission to Planet Mars

10 March 2016

Establishing whether the planet Mars has ever supported life is one of the great unanswered questions of modern science. On Monday 14 March 2016, the European Space Agency (ESA) will be launching its ExoMars Mission to investigate the environment of the Red Planet. The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which is due to launch from […]

Farewell to Philae?

16 February 2016

How do you say goodbye to a valued colleague with whom you have worked closely for almost two decades? Maybe there is a farewell party, a collection for a gift, a bunch of flowers? If the colleague is moving to an exciting new post, the affair is usually joyful, possibly tinged with envy as well […]

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OU research student names ridge on planet Mercury

8 February 2016

PhD student mapping features on the planet’s surface Large ridge is as long as distance from London to Liverpool In May you can observe Mercury yourself as it transits the Sun A large ridge on Mercury, the length of the distance between London and Liverpool, has been named ‘Unity’ after the ship which took Edmond […]

OU News

Category: Space