The Open University

Open University scientists marvel at the rarity of the Mercury Transit

12 November 2019

Members of the Open University’s space science community gathered together to watch a one-off celestial event on Monday 11 November. Professor David Rothery and Jack Wright, research assistant, were joined by employees from across the campus to witness the Mercury Transit. For the first time in three years, planet Mercury was visible as it travelled […]

OU probes new star mapping technology

4 October 2019

OU researchers have received £570,000 from the European Science Agency for the next phase of scientific devices for mapping stars and galaxies. Dr Nathan Bush and Dr Ben Dryer from the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, will use this funding to develop a new type of scientific device for space imaging applications, such […]

Could humans live on Kepler 452-b?

23 September 2019

Professor Andrew Norton, Professor of Astrophysics Education at The Open University writes for The Conversation about whether life could be sustained on Kepler 452-b. Kepler-452 is the name of a star in the constellation of Cygnus (the swan). It’s a star that’s similar to our own sun, but it’s too faint for us to see from Earth […]

Tardigrades: we’re now polluting the moon with near indestructible little creatures

8 August 2019

Monica Grady, The Open University writing for The Conversation An Israeli spacecraft called Beresheet almost made it to the moon in April. It took a selfie with the lunar surface in the background, but then lost contact with Earth and presumably crashed onto the lunar surface. Now it’s been revealed that the mission was carrying […]

Moon 2069: lunar tourism and deep space launches a century on from Apollo?

31 July 2019

Monica Grady, The Open University We’ve just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, glorying in the achievements of three astronauts and the team of engineers and scientists behind them. From that perspective, we can look back and see what we have learned from the mission. But what if we take a giant […]

To the moon and beyond 5: What space exploration will look like in 2069

31 July 2019

Miriam Frankel, The Conversation and Martin Archer, Queen Mary University of London What will space exploration look like in 2069, a century after the first moon landing? In the fifth and final episode of the podcast series, To the moon and beyond, we speak to space scientists about the missions they are dreaming about and […]

Moon landings: what the future holds

20 July 2019

As the world remembers the day 50 years ago that astronauts stepped on the Moon for the first time, the OU’s Dr Mahesh Anand, considers the future of space exploration and establishing a Moon base, with the challenges this could involve. Dr Anand is a renowned lunar scientist and Reader in Planetary Science and Exploration, […]

Image of an astronaut on the surface of the moon

My three minutes with the first man on the Moon

19 July 2019

When you meet the man who took the first “small step” for man on the Moon, it’s not surprisingly an occasion which sticks in your memory. The OU’s Emeritus Professor John Zarnecki had that encounter just over nine years ago and recalls his chat with Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong: In March 2010 Professor John […]

Water on the Moon; the work behind the dream

17 July 2019

Hannah Sargeant is a PhD student at The Open University, working on techniques to extract water from Moon rocks. As around the globe, people remember the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings, we talked to her about what led her to the OU and her work as a researcher: “Why did I choose to work […]

Open University announced as NASA partner on mission to the Moon

15 July 2019

Scientists from The Open University (OU) are supporting one of a series of ground-breaking missions by NASA to go back to the Moon. The announcement comes as the world prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landings, when astronauts from Apollo 11 walked on the Moon on July 20th 1969. These new […]

OU News

Category: Space