The World's Busiest Space Ports

The Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia is the world's busiest active spaceport. Since 1957 it has launched 1,577 rockets into space. By comparison Cape Canaveral has had 873 launches in the same period.

Aerospace Security's Spaceports of the World interactive map visualizes the history of the space race around the world since the 1950s. The map reveals the cumulative launches of rockets into space from each spaceport from 1957 to 2018. On the map individual spaceports are represented by scaled circular markers. The size of these circular markers indicate the cumulative number of launches from the spaceport. Spaceports which have been used for launching humans into space have a blue outline.

If you click on an individual spaceport on the map you can learn more about the orbital destinations of launches from that spaceport and details about the inclination for each launch’s primary payload.

Mapping Medieval Comet Sightings

Medieval Comet Sightings is a story map exploring how comet sightings were recorded by medieval historians and used to explain subsequent unfortunate events. The map uses research by Dr Marilina Cesario which combines medieval history with astrophysics to explore how comets were understood in the Medieval period.

Medieval historians often used the appearance of a comet (in hindsight) as a portentous sign of some calamitous event. The map shows some of the locations where medieval historians reported comet sightings, sightings which they believe foreshadowed subsequent events. For example the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle notes that a comet in 676 anticipated the end of Bishop Wilfred's control of Northumbria.

One of the most significant events in British history is the Norman Conquest in 1066. Halley's comet is recorded in the famous Bayeux Tapestry. It's appearance in 1066 was possibly very bad luck for the English. Although strangely the comet appears to have had the completely opposite effect on the luck of the Normans, who went on to conquer Harold at the Battle of Hastings and subsequently the whole of England.

If you are interested in how comets are viewed and recorded in the 21st Century then you might want to visit the University of Maryland's Comet Wirtanen Observing Campaign. Comet 46P / Wirtenen is currently visible from Earth. The Comet Wirtanen Observing Campaign is attempting to provide a clearinghouse for observations of the comet.

The ISS - Live from Space

This week we have an amazing opportunity to watch a live broadcast from the International Space Station. National Geographic are broadcasting the program around the world and in the UK Channel 4 are running a similar program.

To celebrate this week's launch of Live from Space National Geographic has also released a very nice Google Map showing the live position of the International Space Station. Live from Space provides a satellite view of the Earth, showing the current position of the ISS. The map includes live data of the ISS's altitude and velocity and also tells you which country it is currently flying over.

YouTube Space Lab

Google have partnered with NASA, ESA and JAXA to launch a new YouTube channel called Space Lab.

The channel is running a competition for 14-18 years old to come up with a science experiment, which could be streamed live on YouTube from the International Space Station.

Space Lab also includes an ever growing playlist of the most inspiring space videos from across YouTube and a real-time Google Map showing the position of the International Space Station above the Earth.

_________________

What the Space Station Astronauts See

Current Position of the ISS

The opportunity for space tourism is probably still a little way off for most of us. Whilst we all wait for Richard Branson to make space travel a lot more affordable we will have to make do with this Google Map showing the current location of the International Space Station on Google Maps.

The map shows the current view from the ISS looking down at the Earth. So you can fire up this map and pretend that you are a space station astronaut watching the Earth spin beautifully beneath you.



If your imagination needs a little more help then you should also check out NASA Astronaut Ron Garan's photo stream on Twitpic. Garan is currently posting photos from the space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station.


Hat-tip: @MPegg and @Renalid

_________________

Satellite Tracking with Google Maps

NASA App HD for iPad

NASA have released a new application for the iPad. The application brings to the iPad a large range of features including mission information, images, videos and Twitter feeds.

The application also features a satellite tracker that uses Google Maps to show the paths of satellites. Using the satellite tracker you can view the visible passes of satellites for any location.

If you don't have an iPad don't worry. Sight Space Station is an amazing satellite tracking website that allows anyone to track satellites on Google Maps, with the Google Earth Browser plug-in and even in Google Street View.

The Google Map view shows the path of the satellite around the Earth and the Google Earth option allows you to view the path of the satellite as if you were looking down from space.

The most stunning feature, however, is the Street View option that allows the user to view the satellite superimposed on top of Google's Street View imagery. This is really useful as it shows the elevation of the satellite as it passes overhead.

Via: Le Technoblog du LAC

________________