Astrum

🚀 PSYCHE WILL FLY BY MARS TODAY 🚀

NASA’s Psyche probe will complete a Mars flyby today (15th May), making its closest approach at 15:28 EDT. The flyby will take the probe within 4,500 km of the planet and provide a gravitational boost to slingshot the probe toward its destination: a rare metal asteroid named 16 Psyche.

The probe is due to reach its destination in 2029. 16 Psyche is an M-type (metal-rich) asteroid orbiting within our solar system’s asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists believe the asteroid may be the exposed nickel-iron core of an early protoplanet, one of the building blocks of our solar system.

This Mars flyby will allow Psyche to power up and calibrate its instruments for use later in the mission. Psyche’s multispectral imager is currently capturing thousands of observations of Mars.

Scientists hope Psyche will detect a faint, dusty ring around Mars, made up of dust ejected by micrometeorite impacts on the planet’s moons, Phobos and Deimos. The alignment with the Sun should allow the ring’s dust particles to scatter sunlight toward the probe.

The probe will also hunt for tiny satellites around Mars, serving as a rehearsal run for detecting “moonlets” around asteroid 16 Psyche later on.

Psyche took this “crescent Mars” photo on 3rd May as it approached the planet. We’re eagerly awaiting new photos from the flyby, which we hope NASA will release soon!

You can check out our most recent video about Mars here: https://youtu.be/5FM0upDr4L0

1 week ago | [YT] | 2,787

Astrum

🐍 THE BIGGEST SNAKE OF ALL TIME 🐍

Head over to Astrum Earth to watch our new video about Titanoboa, the largest snake to have ever existed on Earth - https://youtu.be/7J0EJEB2qII

After the extinction of the dinosaurs, the behemoth Titanoboa emerged to become the ultimate apex predator. In the video, we explore new research that proves it was even deadlier than anyone imagined.

What was the Earth like when Titanoboa stalked its surface? How did it get so big? And... could it ever return?

#Titanoboa #Snake #Earth #AstrumEarth

1 week ago | [YT] | 894

Astrum

Today is Earth day, so let's all stop for a moment to appreciate our beautiful planet. It has been said that nobody understands the fragility of our planet like the astronauts who have seen it from above - especially those who went to the Moon, and saw our pale blue marble in all its glory.

In November 1970, just one year after seeing the Earth from space, Neil Armstrong spoke at the World Wildlife Fund’s second international congress, saying
“The importance of protecting and saving that home has never been felt more strongly. Protection seems most required, however, not from foreign aggressors or natural calamity, but from its own population.”

But Neil Armstrong nearly didn’t get to the Moon at all. Discover the full story of the Apollo 11 mission and all its ups and downs in our new series on Astrum Extra:
https://youtu.be/5uP6y2hU2mo

1 month ago | [YT] | 7,093

Astrum

Hi everyone,

Our friends over at Mentour have just launched a new channel! It's called Mentour Black Box - https://youtu.be/rNLn7Exiq4s

You might already be familiar with Mentour Pilot - I’ve always loved how they break down aviation disasters from a pilot’s point of view, with thoughtful, well-researched storytelling.

So, I was excited to see that they’re expanding beyond aviation, with a new channel that investigates the decisions, missed signals, and failures behind the worst disasters on Earth.

I can't wait to see what they come up with!
Go and show some love from the Astrum community on their new video.

Alex

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 497

Astrum

🌕 ARTEMIS II: THEY MADE IT! 🌕

The Artemis II crew has travelled further from Earth than any human being before them, and are now making their way home.

Yesterday, they reached the maximum point of their trajectory, 406,771 km (or 252,756 miles) from Earth. This smashes the record set by the three Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970 by a further 6616 km.

A NASA update confirms the mission has completed the lunar observation phase, approaching a mere 6545 km from the Moon’s surface.

They astronauts took these stunning photos of the solar eclipse and the Earthrise as they emerged from behind the Moon.

If you want to learn more about the Artemis II mission, check out our video: https://youtu.be/IiWj2l1BWkM

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1 month ago | [YT] | 13,290

Astrum

🚀 ARTEMIS II: COUNTING DOWN TO LAUNCH 🚀
https://youtu.be/IiWj2l1BWkM

Artemis II is finally getting ready for take-off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida tonight.
The launch window opens tonight at 18:20 local time (EDT).

The 10-day mission will circle the Moon and return back to Earth, in what will be the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years!

Originally scheduled to launch in February this year, Artemis II has been stuck on the launchpad due to glitches... watch our video to find out more!

NASA is keeping an eye on weather conditions to confirm it's safe to launch tonight.
Let us know if you're going to be watching!

1 month ago | [YT] | 2,905

Astrum

🌎 Earth’s inner core changed its spin! 🌎

Hi, we just wanted to acknowledge that some of you in the comments have pointed out that our thumbnail and title for this video missed out a key point.

The Earth's inner core HAS reversed its spin, but this is relative to the outer core and mantle, which we make clear in the video. We're sorry we didn't include this in the original thumbnail and title of the video, which we have now changed.

If you want to find out more about the Earth's core and how this change is happening, you can watch the video here on Astrum Earth:
https://youtu.be/hse8miXdksE

4 months ago | [YT] | 167

Astrum

🌎 Earth’s inner core just stopped spinning 🌎
https://youtu.be/hse8miXdksE

In our latest video on Astrum Earth, we’re exploring the strange behaviour at the heart of our planet.

Deep below your feet, Earth’s solid iron inner core spins differently to the rest of the planet. But scientists have noticed something strange in their measurements. Earth’s inner core came to a halt. Even stranger, it started spinning backwards.

What’s going on at the centre of our planet? And what does it mean for us on the surface?

If you’ve enjoyed our Astrum Space videos about the inner workings of our planet, head over to the ⁨@AstrumEarth⁩ channel for more content you might enjoy.

#AstrumEarth #Core #EarthScience

4 months ago | [YT] | 1,082

Astrum

We wanted to share this reply from one of our Astrum newsletter subscribers ❤️
Thank you and be sure to sign up if you haven't yet: astrumspace.kit.com/bfea330fbb

7 months ago | [YT] | 1,020

Astrum

Have you signed up for the Astrum newsletter yet? astrumspace.kit.com/bfea330fbb

8 months ago | [YT] | 248