Amazingly, the Philae lander recorded the sound (through the landers’ legs) of the first landing on the comet, when it bounced back up into space. We have a recording of a space probe bouncing off a comet. Off a comet! ESA have made it available via soundcloud here : The sound of touchdown.
Ars Technica has an good story on the Soviet mission to rescue Salyut 7, which was left floating dead in space due to a power malfunction with nobody on board. It’s a tale of engineering know-how, luck and hard work, largely based on the high level of experience of Soviet cosmonauts and the mission control […]
Phil Plait over on Bad Astronomer has a lovely selection of the best pictures from Cassini’s 10 years at Saturn. By far my favourite is the, well, frankly bizarre moon Hyperion. It looks like a well-used oasis sponge. It also has a chaotic rotation, and is the only moon in the system that isn’t tidally […]
