Captain JP's log

Thanks for the top-tips on vacation destinations, NASA . To be honest I was thinking that sailing the seas of Titan might be better, or ...

So how could you have start / finish lines and marks in space where this no up nor down and nothing is fixed? A couple of ideas spring t...

The last post included a video that described how to sail in space using solar sails. But if you had two such craft then you could race......

Two space music videos for you. The one above from the Planetary Society includes Carl Sagan talking about sailing.... in SPAAACE! How...

This morning I got up at 05:30 to do a spot of astronomy. It wasn't as bad as it sounds thanks to the hour change, so in BST it woul...

My absolute most favourite thing to do on a plane is to look out of the window, which is almost always better than any in-flight entertain...

Golly, what an exciting afternoon! Double screen time with both twitter and live feed open. Congrats to the Rosetta and Philae team for...

I'm currently reading Chris Hadfield 's book  An Astronaut's Guide to Life (spoiler alert: its great) and he wrote this: T...

The last few mornings London has been covered with a thick blanket of fog, causing the Thames Clipper to sound its horn as it felt its way...

This photo of the Isle of Wight and the Solent was taken by Chris Hadfield , the man with the coolest job title both on and off the planet...

This very cool photo was taken by astronaut Chris Hadfield on the International Space Station who said: From London on the Thames to t...

For this trip we're taking the Iridium 9555 phone. At the London Boat Show I asked around for packages and the cheapest option seemed ...

Ok not from space, but via space. This blog post went from iPad to wifi box to Iridium phone up to one satellite, bounce its way between a f...

A lovely abstract for which the reality is as interesting: this is an image from the probe Cassini currently orbiting Saturn, as explained h...

I can hear it now: "We come in peace.... take that you dirty Martian rock! Pzam! Pzam!!" Very cool - apart from the fact that ...

Following up on yesterday's 50th anniversary with moon photo post here is a paper weight of Gagarin I picked up when in Tbilisi .

In honour of the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's successful first orbital flight here's another picture of the moon ( taken this time ...

I've been feeling overwhelmed by the scale of the planet, and its not just the sight of O'Docker's yacht in the midst of the wi...

One of the things I was meant to do last weekend was another hunt for a suitable inflatable kayak, after failing to find one at the Boat Sho...

A couple of days ago I posted Buff Spaceman's report on the " Spontaneous Crystalline DHMO Alien Sculpture Phenomena " or SCD...