Earth & Solar System

08/04/2026

There are some amazing photos from Artemis II on the NASA Johnson Flickr account 🌕

Explore NASA Johnson’s 63,091 photos on Flickr!

07/04/2026

If you haven't read this guest blog by one of our undergraduate students and filled out his survey, he would be really grateful of your input to help his communicating science dissertation. Thanks!

Manchester scientists at work in the lab

01/04/2026

The countdown is on! NASA Artemis is scheduled to launch later today, the first crewed mission to the in over 50 years.
The launch window opens just before 23:30 UK time, it could be a late night...

At long last, after more than 50 years, this week humans will once again be orbiting around the Moon! With the upcoming NASA Artemis II launch scheduled for April 1st, no not an April fool’s joke …

30/03/2026

Jodie is one of the new PhD students who joined our group at the start of this academic year. Most of us consider Manchester to be north, but Jodie previously studied at the University of St Andrews, so has moved a long way south! Her PhD focuses on trying to understand how meteorites are altered by heat and water.

24/03/2026

A couple of new PhD students joined our group back in October. Now they've had a few months to settle in, it is time to introduce them to the world. First up is Flo - although new to the group, Flo is not new to The University of Manchester, she studied Earth and Planetary Science as an undergraduate student in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences before starting her PhD.
You can follow Flo on Instagram at

12/03/2026

We have a new guest blog post written by one of our undergraduates studying for a degree in Earth and Planetary Science. If you have time please do complete the survey so that they can collect some data to support their communicating science research project. Thank you!

Manchester scientists at work in the lab

19/02/2026

We had a great time at the Science and Industry Museum on Tuesday! Huge congratulations to Khattab, Jacob & Mum, Heaton Family, Meteorite Masters and Jonesies who found all 12 of the meteorites in our Meteorite Hunt 🥇 And thanks to everyone who stopped to chat and have a go 🌝

13/11/2025

We've got the scoreboard from our Meteorite Hunt at The University of Manchester Faculty of Science and Engineering Fun Lab at The Trafford Centre a couple of weekends ago (sorry for the delay).
Team Stormtrooper were first to find all 12 meteorites, but were later joined at the top by Cataleia, Amirah, Shivansh & Banana Giraffe.
We won't mention A and A's score 🙈
Thanks for visiting us, and well done to all!

03/11/2025

These are not the rocks you're looking for!
We were at The Trafford Centre yesterday with The University of Manchester Faculty of Science and Engineering for a Space themed Fun Lab, and we encountered some unexpected visitors! It turns out that Storm Troopers are quite good at finding meteorites, and were the first of the day to top the Meteorite Hunt leader board. Full scores to follow...

16/06/2025

We had a great time at the The University of Manchester on Saturday, thanks to everyone who visited us 🌝
Congratulations to Cyberz who topped the Meteorite Hunt scoreboard with 9 points 🥇
I think Team A hit a new record low with -8 points 😞
Social responsibility at The University of Manchester

12/03/2025

We had a great time at the Schools Fair in the Manchester Museum on Monday and Tuesday. It was fantastic to talk to so many interested and enthusiastic secondary school pupils ☄️🌝