We did a quick whip around the office for festive byte nominations and in the spirit of the season are sharing our favourite Seasonal Space goodies from the world wide web.
SANTA FLY-BY :: The folks at the International Space Station (ISS) will be giving Santa be a helping hand this year as he sets out on his travels around the world. Any girls and boys looking up to see a sleigh can catch the ISS on Christmas Eve as it passes over Ireland and the UK at 17.20 and again at 18.57. It will look just like a very bright star, or a sleigh in the distance!
Click here to find out how to recognise the ISS and get links to times when it will pass over your area.
GIFTS FOR GEEKS :: For the Sheldon Cooper in your life, or just needing a Star Trek Pizza Cutter for yourself, check out Space.com’s Space Gifts 2014 – The Best Gift Ideas in the Universe for some covetable stuff.
Even it it’s a bit too late to make Christmas in this years post, there are birthdays and other special occasions throughout the year when these gifts could prove lifesaving!
LET IT SNOW :: For the last few years designer/artist Anthony Herrera has made templates for the most amazing Star Wars Snowflakes! Templates are free to download, and there’s a great video tutorial too. This should keep boys of all sizes busy with a sharp knife for at least a half hour.
Well done to our own Anthony Roche for making the Darth Vader snowflake here on the left.
CHRISTMAS IN SPACE :: The BBC’s 12 missions of Christmas gives a roundup of where our Spacecraft exploring the solar system are this Christmas and how long they’ve been away from their home planet.
And don’t forget the ever popular NORAD Santa Tracker, courtesy of the North American Aerospace Defense Command since 1955. Read more about the interesting story that led to this great voluntary project.