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satellites

Investigating satellites – introduction

Article

Investigating satellites – introduction

A satellite is anything that orbits around another object. Moons are natural satellites that orbit around planets, whereas artificial satellites ...

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Capturing space junk and bringing it back to Earth

Article

Capturing space junk and bringing it back to Earth

This article has been republished from The Conversation under Creative Commons licence CC BY-ND 4.0. It was written by Ralph Cooney, Professor Emeritus in Advanced Materials, ...

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CAPSTONE – returning humans to the Moon

Article

CAPSTONE – returning humans to the Moon

On 20 July 1969, around 600 million people stopped to watch humans first set foot on the Moon. The words, “That’s one small step for man, ...

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Aotearoa New Zealand in space – an introduction

Article

Aotearoa New Zealand in space – an introduction

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in the space sector? It goes way beyond astronauts and rockets and it’s growing fast! ...

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Working in the space sector

Article

Working in the space sector

In the 20th century, most people would have considered being an astronaut the number one job related to space. Now, in the 21st century, opportunities to ...

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What is a CubeSat?

Article

What is a CubeSat?

CubeSats are tiny box-shaped satellites that are mainly launched into low Earth orbit to observe the Earth, test new communications technology or perform miniature experiments. In ...

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Space debris

Article

Space debris

When we talk about space, we often mention big numbers – after all, space is vast. When it comes to space debris, the numbers may surprise ...

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Innovations in aerospace

Article

Innovations in aerospace

Aotearoa New Zealand’s remote location and unique geography have made its residents innovative by necessity. From inventing pōhā to preserve nga tītī to initiating refrigerated meat ...

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Remote sensing and water quality

Article

Remote sensing and water quality

When you look across a lake, what colour do you expect to see? The common answer is usually blue – but what shade of blue? The ...

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Methane – a greenhouse gas

Article

Methane – a greenhouse gas

Methane comprises just 0.00018% of the Earth’s atmosphere – so why are we concerned about it? Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher explains how the majority of methane emissions ...

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New Zealand Space Agency and MBIE logos.

Article

Measuring methane from space

In order to reduce methane emissions, we need to know where they come from. Methane, like other greenhouse gases, is invisible to human eyes – so ...

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Building satellites for Earth observation

Article

Building satellites for Earth observation

Satellites are built to perform specific functions. Expecting a GPS satellite to collect weather data is a bit like expecting your mountain bike to pull water ...

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How do we know about Earth movements?

Article

How do we know about Earth movements?

Aotearoa New Zealand experiences a lot of geological activity – the land is right at the junction of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates – making ...

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How do we find dark vessels on the ocean?

Article

How do we find dark vessels on the ocean?

International fishing involves some really big numbers. There are an estimated 4.6 million fishing vessels in the world. Most of these are small and local, but ...

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How are satellites helping albatross?

Article

How are satellites helping albatross?

The toroa/northern royal albatross is one of the largest seabirds in the world! They are referred to as graceful giants of the ocean, and with a ...

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The Global Positioning System

Article

The Global Positioning System

This article is an introduction to GPS – how it works via satellite systems and trilateration, and how it is used in industry, transport and recreation. ...

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Rocket Lab

Article

Rocket Lab

When we first met Sir Peter Beck in 2010, his company Rocket Lab (formed in 2006) had not long achieved New Zealand’s first launch of a ...

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Comets

Article

Comets

In November 2014, the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta Mission landed a space probe called Philae onto the surface of Comet 67P, while Rosetta continued to ...

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To catch a comet – the Rosetta Mission

Article

To catch a comet – the Rosetta Mission

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Rosetta spacecraft from Earth in March 2004. It then took Rosetta 10 years to catch Comet 67P. Avionics engineer ...

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Alternative conceptions about gravity

Article

Alternative conceptions about gravity

Educational research has shown that students develop intuitive ideas and beliefs about natural phenomena. As students learn more about their physical environment, they tend to interpret ...

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Associate Professor Wolfgang Rack

Article

Professor Wolfgang Rack

Position: Professor, Gateway Antarctica, College of Science, University of Canterbury. Field: Glaciology and remote sensing Dr Wolfgang Rack, a Professor at the University of Canterbury College ...

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Dr Allan McInnes

Article

Dr Allan McInnes

Position: Senior Lecturer, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury. Field: System design, embedded systems, software engineering, Organisation: As a child, Dr Allan McInnes ...

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Dr Adrian McDonald

Article

Professor Adrian McDonald

Position: Professor, University of Canterbury. Field: Atmospheric physics Dr Adrian McDonald is with the Physics and Astronomy Department at University of Canterbury. His research involves using ...

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Kelvin Barnsdale

Article

Kelvin Barnsdale

Position: Senior Research Engineer, University of Canterbury Field: Electronic systems in harsh environments Most parents have dreams for their children, and Kelvin Barnsdale’s father was no ...

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Diagram of Ptolemy’s model (geocentric) with Earth at the centre

Article

Our Solar System – revolutionary ideas

Since the earliest times, humans have made observations of the night sky. These observations, particularly of the Earth, Moon, Sun and planets (visible to the naked ...

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