McGill hosted the eighth Interstellar Symposium from July 10 to 13 and assembled a stellar panel of experts, ranging from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engineers to space lawyers, to discuss how to expand civilization into space. The public panel featured: Alan Stern, the engineer in charge of the[Read More…]
Tag: NASA
Could invasive species biologists bring their expertise to NASA?
In February of 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars. Perseverance was the fifth rover that the space agency sent to the planet, but it had a unique purpose. The rover conducted the first mission to Mars designed to collect samples to be brought back to Earth, where they would[Read More…]
Interstellar travel: Sending tiny spacecrafts to the stars
Exploring what lies in the expanse of our universe has always been a topic of interest for scientists and engineers. This curiosity has shaped the field of space exploration and propelled nations to send astronauts to explore the cosmos. Experiments enacted beyond the confines of our planet have yielded a[Read More…]
Unravelling the engineering behind the Perseverance landing
On Feb. 18, physicists and engineers marked a new chapter in Martian history: A series of radio signals confirmed the touchdown of NASA’s Perseverance rover. Over seven months, the rover completed a 300 million mile journey to Mars, averaging a speed of about 12,000 miles an hour. The Perseverance Rover[Read More…]
An obituary for ‘Oppy,’ humanity’s long-lost Space Prince
Opportunity, the Mars robotic rover that stunned humanity by remaining operational for over ten years past it’s original mission date, powered off for the last time on Feb. 13, 2019; a final goodbye at the end of a 225-million kilometer journey. Affectionately nicknamed ‘Oppy,’ the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s[Read More…]
Eyes on the skies: Upcoming innovations in 2019
2018 proved to be breakthrough year for the scientific community. From finding the first traces of liquid water on Mars to unearthing the largest land animal to have ever lived, humanity continued on its quest to better understand the universe around us. Now, as scientists turn their attention to 2019,[Read More…]
Nanosatellites: The future of space exploration?
NASA has always been an institute of great scientific accomplishment and innovation, but this comes with a hefty price tag. As the agency moves forward in its three-stage plan to put humans on Mars, the public agency’s budget is under heavy scrutiny. Increased pressure has been put on NASA to[Read More…]
What to make of NASA’s announcement of newly discovered planets
What do a beer, a Roman Catholic religious order, and a newly discovered planetary system have in common? They are all named Trappist, but only one of the three could potentially hold the key to life beyond Earth. On Feb. 22, NASA announced the groundbreaking discovery of seven new exoplanets—planets[Read More…]
