Author: M. Özgür Nevres

I am a software developer and a science enthusiast. I was graduated from the Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Computer Engineering. In the past, I worked at the Istanbul Technical University Science Center as a science instructor. I write about the planet Earth and science on this website, ourplnt.com. I am also an animal lover! I take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

Venera 13 became the first spacecraft to record sounds on another planet [Venus] on March 1, 1982

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 1, 2023
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Photo of the surface of Venus taken by the Venera 13 lander. The space probe also became the first spacecraft to record sounds on another planet. Image: NASA

On March 1, 1982, the landing vehicle of the Soviet Union’s Venera 13 spacecraft landed on Venus and became the first spacecraft to record sounds on another planet.

Moon Landing Space Exploration

Carl Sagan: The Gift of Apollo [Video]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date February 19, 2023
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In the video below, in a poetry of language unparalleled by any other, the one and only Carl Sagan talks to us about the Gift of Apollo, bringing focus and perspective to the greatest engineering achievement in human history.

Solar System Astronomy This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History

Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930

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Post date February 18, 2023
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Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930, by the American astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh (February 4, 1906 – January 17, 1997) at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Geology Planet Earth

These Photos Show the Incredible Power of Earthquakes

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date February 10, 2023
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Railway tracks bent more than 3 meters (10 feet) during Turkey earthquakes (2023) — During the earthquakes that occurred in Turkey on February 6, 2023, the land moved more than 3 meters (10 feet) on the fault lines in some places. This photo shows the incredible power of earthquakes. Railway tracks bent more than 3 meters (10 feet).

On the early morning of February 6, 2023, two consecutive devastating earthquakes (with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.7 on the Richter scale, just nine hours apart in the same area) hit Turkey and Syria, killing tens of thousands and injuring hundreds of thousands of people.

Planet Earth

32 Largest Deserts on Earth

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Post date February 1, 2023
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Here are the top 32 largest deserts in the world. The list also includes cold deserts.

Moon Landing Space Exploration This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History

Apollo 1 Tragedy [January 27, 1967]

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Post date January 27, 2023
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Apollo 1 Astronauts (left to right) Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, pose in front of Launch Complex 34 which is housing their Saturn 1 launch vehicle. The astronauts died ten days later in a fire on the launch pad. Image: wikipedia Roger B. Chaffee (b. February 15, 1935), Virgil I. Grissom (b. April 3, 1926) and Edward H. White II (b. November 14, 1930) died on January 27, 1967, when a flash fire swept through the Apollo 1 command module during a launch rehearsal test. The three men inside perished despite the best efforts of the ground crew. It would take more than 18 months, and extensive redesigns, before NASA sent more men into space. The Apollo program changed forever after the incident. The improvements in astronaut safety allowed the agency to complete the rest of the program with no further fatalities. The agency also met the United States president John F. Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the moon in 1969, during Apollo 11.

On January 27, 1967, three NASA astronauts, Roger B. Chaffee (b. February 15, 1935), Virgil I. Grissom (b. April 3, 1926), and Edward H. White II (b. November 14, 1930) died when a flash fire swept through the Apollo 1 command module during a launch rehearsal test. The three men inside perished despite the best efforts of the ground crew. It would take more than 18 months, and extensive redesigns, before NASA sent more astronauts into space.

Space Exploration Mars This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History

Opportunity landed on Mars on January 25, 2004

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Post date January 25, 2023
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Opportunity Mars rover - artist conception — This artist conception portrays Opportunity on the surface of Mars. Opportunity was launched on July 7, 2003, 28 days after its twin, Spirit, which launched on June 10, 2003, as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover program. It landed in Meridiani Planum, a plain located 2 degrees south of Mars’s equator on January 25, 2004, three weeks after Spirit touched down on the other side of the planet. Both rovers had a planned 90-sol (Martian day) duration of activity (slightly more than 90 earth days). Spirit functioned until getting stuck in 2009 and ceased communications in 2010, while Opportunity was able to stay operational for 5353 sols after landing. By June 10, 2018, when it last contacted NASA and sent it last photo (the image in the right-hand-side above) to Earth, which shows the intensity of the dust storm, Opportunity had traveled a distance of 45.16 kilometers (28.06 miles) and exceeded its operating plan by 14 years, 295 days (in Earth Time), 55 times its designed lifespan. Image source: NASA

On January 15, 2004, NASA’s Opportunity rover landed on Mars (in Meridiani Planum), three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down on the other side of the red planet on January 4.

Solar System Space Exploration This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History

The first Uranus flyby was performed by Voyager 2 on January 24, 1986

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Post date January 24, 2023
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Voyager 2 Uranus flyby — On January 24, 1986, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft performed the first (and as of 2023, the only so far) Uranus flyby in the history of space exploration.

On January 24, 1986, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft performed the first (and as of 2023, the only so far) Uranus flyby in the history of space exploration.

Solar System Astronomy This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History

Neptune became the outermost planet on January 21, 1979

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Post date January 21, 2023
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Between 1979 and 1999, Neptune was the outermost planet in the Solar System. Pluto and Neptune orbits — For a 20-year period between January 1979 and March 1999, Pluto's highly elliptical orbit brought it closer than Neptune to the Sun, hence Neptune became the outermost planet in the Solar System for that period. Please note that Pluto, Neptune, and Sun are not to scale in this image.

On January 21, 1979, a rare phenomenon occurred in our solar system: Neptune, the 8th planet from the Sun, took over Pluto and became the outermost planet as Pluto moved closer due to their highly elliptical orbits. Pluto was still a planet back then (good old days!).

Solar System Space Exploration This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History

The first soft landing on Titan was performed by the Huygens spacecraft on January 14, 2005

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Post date January 14, 2023
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Huygens spacecraft on Titan [artist concept] — An artist's concept of the Huygens probe on Titan. On January 14, 2005, the robotic Huygens probe performed the first soft landing on Titan, Saturn's enigmatic moon, and sent back the first-ever images from beneath Titan's thick cloud layers. This artist's impression is based on those images. In the foreground, sits the car-sized lander that sent back images for more than 90 minutes before running out of battery power. The parachute that slowed Huygens' re-entry is seen in the background, still attached to the lander. Smooth stones, possibly containing water ice, are strewn about the landscape. Analyses of Huygens' images and data show that Titan's surface today has intriguing similarities to the surface of the early Earth. Image source: NASA

On January 14, 2005, the Huygens spacecraft, the atmospheric entry robotic probe part of the Casini-Huygens mission performed the first soft landing on Titan. As of 2023, it is the only one accomplished in the outer Solar System and was also the first on a moon other than Earth’s, and the most distant landing ever.