Press

A vibrant pink rocket, soaring towards the cosmos—this is the captivating image greeting readers of Mia and the Martians. The children’s book whisks imaginations to the red planet with its intrepid protagonist, Mia, and her feline co-pilot, Nebula. Through Mia’s eyes, children see a young explorer driven by her love for Mars, the very world she plans to showcase at the school science fair.

Astrophysicists Emma Louden and Tanya Harrison have skillfully crafted a tale of discovery and inspiration, with illustrator Wouter Pasman giving life to the eagerly awaited adventure. Louden, a dedicated scholar from Yale, takes readers on a journey that mirrors her own lifelong fascination with the stars. Her goal? To inspire a new generation to gaze upwards with wonder and possibility.

Read more: Young Astronomer’s Tale Aims to Ignite Cosmic Curiosity by Maya Edwards

Opening the newly published children’s book “Mia and the Martians,” readers see a young girl rushing to the edge of the page, proudly outstretching a pink rocket in her hand. The reader learns what the girl, Mia, is going to present for next week’s science fair.

“My favorite planet, of course! Mars!” exclaims the protagonist, Mia.

In her custom-built spaceship, Mia embarks on a fantastical journey to Mars with her co-pilot cat, Nebula. They meet the “Martians,” based on the real-life rovers of Mars throughout the story. Enlisting the rovers’ help, Mia learns the lesson of perseverance and finds a way back home to Earth. 

To bring this story to the page, astrophysicists Emma Louden GRD ’26 and Tanya Harrison partnered with Wouter Pasman, an illustrator and space enthusiast to co-author their debut children’s book.

Read more: Yale Astronomy Graduate Student Writes a Martian Adventure Children’s Book (Yale News)

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has landed in New Mexico, wrapping up a three-month test mission that faced technical issues and forced it to leave the two astronauts it carried temporarily stranded in space.

The spacecraft touched down at White Sands Space Harbor in the New Mexico desert at 04:01 GMT on Saturday. The two crew members it had flown to space – Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams – remained at the International Space Station (ISS) due to safety concerns with the craft.

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Wilmore and Williams, whose mission was initially planned for just eight days, must return to Earth on a vehicle from Boeing’s rival SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, in February 2025.

“It must be demoralising in a way when you’ve gone expecting to be up there for eight days and suddenly your mission turns into eight months,” Tanya Harrison, a fellow at the University of British Columbia’s Outer Space Institute, told Al Jazeera.

“At the same time this is a highly trained crew that knows that stuff like this can happen … they’re trained, they’re ready,” she said.

Read more: Boeing’s Starliner returns to Earth – leaving crew behind

Some airlines are offering special flights to see April’s total solar eclipse, giving passengers a unique opportunity to witness the astronomical event from 30,000 feet.

The April 8 eclipse — when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, blocking out the sun’s rays — will pass over North America, and those in the right place will spend about 4-and-a-half minutes under the cloak of darkness. A lucky few will have the opportunity to observe the eclipse’s totality for longer as they soar through the sky chasing the early night.

Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines are operating flights that will follow the eclipse’s path of totality in America. The Delta flight was so popular among astronomy enthusiasts that the flights sold out in 24 hours, prompting the airline to add a second. This next total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States won’t occur until 2044.

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Alaska Airlines in 2017 operated a special invitation-only flight that gave passengers an unreal look at the eclipse. Although the airline isn’t offering flights that chase this year’s eclipse, it’s offering flights to destinations that fall in the eclipse’s path of totality to get space nuts in the right place.

Tanya Harrison, a planetary scientist who works at the Earth and Planetary Institute of Canada, was one of the experts on the 2017 flight who took in the eclipse from the skies. She has also witnessed a nearly total eclipse in Arizona and said viewing it from an airplane “was hands down probably the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten to do, including working on Mars Rovers.”

“There’s something about space that fascinates everyone,” she said. “The sky is a shared experience. We can all look up and see what’s going on.”

Read more: Airlines Operating Special Solar Eclipse Flights To Give Passengers a 30,000-Foot View of Phenomenon by Brinley Hineman

Mars looms large in the scientific imagination, as well as in fiction. Of all the worlds of the solar system, it’s the only one Earth-like enough for exploration with Earth-like tools: Its atmosphere is thin and transparent, its surface is dry and cold, and it’s close enough for regular study. From telescope eyepieces, we’ve probed the Red Planet for centuries. And over the past 50 years, we’ve even sent instruments for a closer look.

However, in geological terms, that’s just a sliver of time. Mars’s deep history remains a mystery.

Read more: Five Martian Mysteries That Have Scientists Scratching Their Heads by Matthew R. Francis

At the second Annual John S. MacDonald Outer Space Lecture on September 18, UBC welcomed an acclaimed Canadian-born NASA researcher to discuss her decades-long career at the forefront of space exploration.

Jan Chodas is a NASA icon. She’s enjoyed a successful 40-year career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and a stint as the Director of Planetary Science before retiring this year. Her leadership as project manager was integral to several NASA projects, including the Juno mission to Jupiter and the Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa.

The Outer Space Institute welcomed her to UBC with space tech company MDA.

Tanya Harrison, a fellow Canadian astrophysicist and Outer Space Institute fellow, moderated the talk as Chodas reflected on her out-of-this-world career, shared her hopes for the future and answered audience member’s burning questions about the great beyond

Read more: UBC welcomes former NASA Director of Planetary Science Jan Chodas by Sophia Russo

Last weekend, over 10,000 of you came together to celebrate the power of human storytelling. Here are a few highlights.

We just hosted our first-ever virtual conference: Medium Day.

Like Medium itself, the day was full of stories worth telling and listening to. Authors shared authentic, personal points of view. Publication editors gathered their communities for inspiration and collaboration. Readers and writers learned about everything from humor writing to software development to cartooning to space exploration. Illustrators drew live cartoons. Scientists shared original research. Entrepreneurs offered practical wisdom. And so much more.

Most of all, Medium Day was a celebration of the communities you all have built with each other. In the words of writer Amy Sea, “My initial takeaway from Medium Day was we’re storytellers above everything else, but we’re also a community. The only way we can get better is to honor that.”

Read more: A huge thank you to everyone who showed up for Medium Day by Medium Staff

A Martian Environmentalist (Dr. Tanya Harrison, aka “Tanya of Mars”) and Earth Scientist (Dr. Raha Hakimdavar, formerly of NASA) will come together to delve into the connection between space exploration and Earth’s climate crisis. This session will reveal how exploring Mars and developing the technology required for humans to survive there can revolutionize our efforts in tackling climate change here on Earth, providing a unique perspective on the positive influence of space exploration and how investing in space science can lead us toward crucial breakthroughs in climate change adaptation and mitigation and creating a more environmentally sustainable society.

Vote for this fireside chat to appear at SXSW 2024 here: https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/143992

New York, NY (February , 2023) — The Explorers Club today announced geologist, author, and Mars mission operation specialist Tanya Harrison, as one of its 50 People Changing the World That the World Needs to Know About, a group of scientists, educators and conservationists whose work will unlock the secrets of the oceans, advance conservation efforts, protect rare and endangered species, and take us further into space. Link to the full List of EC50 2023 members

Dr. Harrison has worked as a scientist and mission operations specialist on multiple NASA missions to Mars, including the Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance rovers, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Bridging the worlds of Mars and Earth, as well as academia and industry, she currently works as the Director of Science for Impact at Planet Labs, and was previously the Director of Research for Arizona State University’s NewSpace Initiative.

As a highly respected expert in the field, Tanya has made numerous TV appearances, including on National Geographic, CTV, and Al Jazeera English, and has written on space-related topics for outlets such as Astronomy magazine. She has also served as an author and editor on multiple Mars-related academic books. Her first non-academic book, For All Humankind, made the #1 release on Amazon’s Aeronautics and Astronautics book list. Committed to fostering the next generation in space, Tanya is active in many mentorships, education, and outreach initiatives and she serves on the Board of Advisors for Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), and co-founded the Zed Factor Fellowship to increase diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in aerospace.

The Explorers Club 50 (EC50) was established in 2020 to amplify the communication of science so that it is more inclusive and represents the many diverse voices in the global scientific community.

“We’re hoping to find or inspire the next Buzz Aldrin, Jane Goodall, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, or Kathy Sullivan.  We see our EC50 members as being the next generation of individuals who will take us further into space, conserve our earth and oceans, and protect at-risk species worldwide,” said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, president of The Explorers Club. “At a time where science is often under attack, we need to ensure that this next generation of scientists and educators are given as many platforms and resources as possible to conduct and promote their work.”

The EC50 winners will receive membership in The Explorers Club, access to the Club’s worldwide network of explorers, will be promoted in a special Explorers Club’s EC50 Publication, lecture opportunities and more. The Explorers Club also allocates staff and resources to help promote and market past and present EC50 members, showcasing their achievements.

“These are individuals that have accomplished the extraordinary but are not yet household names, but that’s going to change. They are the future of exploration, and the world needs to know about them and their work.” said Richard Wiese, President Emeritus of The Explorers Club and founder of the EC50 Program.  “This Explorers Club initiative is designed to reflect the diversity of both the individual and their accomplishments, and to bring the awardees together amplifying their voices through shared knowledge and experience.”

About The Explorers Club:

Since its inception in 1904, members of the Club have traversed the earth, the seas, the skies, and even the moon, on expeditions. First to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean and first to the surface of the moon – all accomplished by Explorers Club Members. Notable members include Teddy Roosevelt, Neil Armstrong, Jane Goodall, Edmund Hillary, John Glenn, Sally Ride, Bob Ballard, and more. https://www.explorers.org/

For more information contact:

Joe Orlando
jorlando@explorers.org
973-936-2797

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LOS ANGELES, April 20 (Reuters) – The spectacular explosion of SpaceX’s new Starship rocket minutes after it soared off its launch pad on a first flight test is the latest vivid illustration of a “successful failure” business formula that serves Elon Musk’s company well, experts said on Thursday.

Rather than seeing the fiery disintegration of Musk’s colossal, next-generation Starship system as a setback, experts said the dramatic loss of the rocket ship would help accelerate development of the vehicle.

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Planetary scientist Tanya Harrison, a fellow at the University of British Columbia’s Outer Space Institute, said clearing the launch tower and ascending through a critical point known as maximum aerodynamic pressure were major feats on the first flight of such a large, complex launch system.

“It’s part of the testing process,” she said in an interview. “There are a lot of accidents that happen when you’re trying to design a new rocket. The fact that it launched at all made a lot of people really happy.”

She said the risks of a single flight test were small in comparison to the ambitious gains at stake.

“This is the biggest rocket that humanity has tried to build,” she said, adding that it is designed to carry “orders of magnitude” more cargo and people to and from deep space than any existing spacecraft.

Whereas NASA is working on a mission to retrieve samples of Martian soil and minerals measured in kilograms being collected by the Mars Perseverance rover, Starship will carry back many tons of rock, as well transport dozens of astronauts and entire lab facilities to and from the moon and Mars, Harrison said.

Read more: SpaceX rocket explosion illustrates Elon Musk’s ‘successful failure’ formula by Steve Gorman and Arlene Eiras

SpaceX’s massive Starship vehicle, meant to provide a way for astronauts to visit the Moon and Mars, is preparing to launch for the first time. If successful, the flight will make Starship the most powerful rocket ever to leave Earth’s surface. No people will be on board for the first full test, which was scheduled for 17 April but has been delayed for at least 48 hours because of a frozen pressure valve.

Scientists say that as well as ferrying astronauts into deep space, Starship could enable new types of astrophysics and planetary science — because it can launch scientific payloads, such as telescopes and interplanetary spacecraft that are heavier than other space vehicles can manage.

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Scientific missions using Starship could include robotic spacecraft to map ice beneath the Martian surface as a resource for future explorers, or instruments that are designed to search for signs of life on Mars, says Jennifer Heldmann, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. “We could do those quickly and take advantage of Starship’s capabilities,” she says.

Starship could also pull off endeavours such as bringing rocks back from Mars, which NASA and the European Space Agency are currently planning to do with several spacecraft in a complex system over many years. “Starship could enable you to do that in one go,” says Tanya Harrison, a planetary scientist at the Outer Space Institute who is based in Seattle, Washington. “It’s really a whole new way of being able to think about the possibilities of what you could do on Mars.”

Read more: Mega rocket Starship could enable new types of astrophysics by Alexandra Witza

The possibility of life on other planets has been a subject of fascination for centuries. As we explore the universe and search for signs of life on other planets, the question of whether there is sea salt on Mars has become an intriguing topic for researchers.

Sea salt is a common substance found on Earth, and it plays a significant role in our lives. It is used in food preparation, as a preservative, and as a key ingredient in many skincare products. But is there sea salt on Mars?

Some researchers believe that there may be traces of sea salt on Mars, based on data from the Curiosity rover. In 2013, Curiosity discovered evidence of a dry lakebed on the surface of Mars that contained deposits of salts, including calcium sulfate and sodium chloride. While these salts are not the same as the sea salt found on Earth, they are an indication that there may be a history of water on Mars.

To gain more insight into the presence of sea salt on Mars, we reached out to Dr. Tanya Harrison, a planetary scientist and expert in Martian geology.

Read more: Exploring the Salty Secrets of Mars: Insights from Planetary Scientist Dr. Tanya Harrison by Tidal Salt