Western Space

Welcome to Science Literacy Week 2025! 🚀🪐

Championed by the Canadian Association of Science Centres (CASC) the goal of #ScienceLiteracyWeek is to celebrate Canadian science, inspire curiosity, and support STEM-related public engagement initiatives.

Learn more: www.scienceliteracy.ca/about/

We welcomed @westernu.ca alumni + the public at the #WesternHoco tours on September 27th!

Researchers from Western Space and @rotmanphilosophy.bsky.social gave a great overview of the space and philosophy research happening at Western.

Thanks to @westernuAlumni for organizing the event!

It’s official, we are all in! Join us as we continue to drive impactful change for Canada and the world. There's so much to be proud of and so much more to do. #AllinWesternU

Learn more: allin.westernu.ca?utm_medium=s...

In partnership with the @rotmanphilosophy.bsky.social, the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration will be participating in Western's annual Homecoming celebrations on Saturday, September 27th!

Register by September 23rd here: www.westernconnect.ca/site/Calenda...

image of meteor streaking toward the ground with a tree in the foreground.

An international team of nearly 100 researchers, including @westernu.ca adjunct professor Auriane Egal + professor Denis Vida published the first-ever comprehensive study of an asteroid's journey from space down to impact on earth. ☄️

Read the full story here: news.westernu.ca/2025/09/plan...

Are you attending EPSC - DPS Joint Meeting in Finland next week? Come visit Western Space at Booth #14!

Learn more about the conference here: epsc-dps2025.eu

#WesternU #WesternuSpace #ESPCDPS2025 #finland #spacesciences

@europlanetmedia.bsky.social @aas.org

Welcome back Western Space!

We are looking forward to another great year of activities, opportunities and more to bring to our membership.

Follow along on our website at www.space.uwo.ca

colorful image of the inner features of the butterfly bebula. The colors are bright oranges, vibrant blues and pinks on a black starless background. The text reads 'Western astrophysicists help decode chemistry behind cosmic butterfly's beauty.'

An international team including @westernu.ca profs Jan Cami and Els Peeters discovered new molecules in images of the Butterfly Nebula collected by #JWST!

Learn more here:
news.westernu.ca/2025/08/webb...

image of a large crater on surface of mars. Crater is surrounded by an apron of upturned rock known as the ejecta blanket.

Congratulations to recent @westernu.ca PhD geology graduate James Burley on the official naming of the Martian crater Tokmok! 🛰️

Learn more about this research here: ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023LPIC...

Learn more about Tokmok crater here: planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/16402

Western Space is attending the Europlanet Science Congress - Division for Planetary Sciences joint annual meeting from Sept. 7-12th in Helsinki, Finland!

Visit booth #14 to learn about our researchers, projects & opportunities for collaboration.

@europlanetmedia.bsky.social
@westernu.ca

@westernu.ca Global Meteor Network researchers are using cameras to tackle aviation-induced climate change in real-time caused by condensation trails, or contrails for short. ✈️

Learn more here: www.ctvnews.ca/london/artic...

NASA tests scientific instruments in Arizona crater ahead of moon landing attempt NASA wants to land Artemis astronauts on the moon in 2027, but the scientific instruments they'll bring must be tested on Earth. The best place to do that is a mile-wide meteorite crater in Arizona.

Link to article: www.npr.org/2025/07/17/n...

two scientists stand infront of an impact crater with equipment in the foreground.

How can you study impact craters like an astronaut? It's easier than you may think. Planetary science prof @planetneish.bsky.social + her grad students recently conducted analogue studies at Meteor Crater to assess the feasibility of in-situ tools that will be used by astronauts.

Learn more below:

www.cnn.com/2025/07/25/s...

Artists representation of a grey asteroid 2024 YR4 floating through the dark starry universe

The asteroid 2024 YR4, studied by scientists for its likelihood of impacting earth in 2032, is now predicted to have a greater chance of hitting the Moon.

@westernu.ca prof Paul Wiegert spoke to CNN about the significance of this once in a 5,000 year event.

Learn more below:

📢 #WesternU instructors,

Did you know that you can give students free & easy access to your Course Readings? Our service is one way you can help alleviate rising costs & provide more equitable access to higher education.

Find out more 👇
lib.uwo.ca/coursereadin...

image of space and space craft decorate the hallway outside of the mission control facility

Sarah Gallagher, director of Western Space took @spaceqmedia.bsky.social through mission control's diverse functionality and discussed current and future plans for the facility.

Read the full article below: spaceq.ca/mission-cont...

The Perseid Meteor Shower is getting started tonight! While it peaks in mid-August, it is one of the best meteor showers all year ☄️

The meteors are visible streaking from the Perseus Constellation region of the sky, and originate from the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet.

Western celebrates 5 Vanier Scholars, 2 Banting Fellows - Western News Western is celebrating its five newest Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship recipients, two new Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients and their research.

I am so happy and proud of my PhD student Ananya Srivastava who has been awarded an uber prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship 😀🎉

@westernu.ca @westernuspace.bsky.social

news.westernu.ca/2025/07/vani...

Super excited for my #PhD student Simona Ruso who is defending her thesis today on the characterization of subglacial channels on Earth & Mars 😀

@westernuspace.bsky.social @westernu.ca

Congratulations to @westernu.ca PhD Geology student Ananya Srivastava for being selected as one of the recipients of the prestigious 2025 Vanier Graduate Scholarships! 🚀

Learn more: news.westernu.ca/2025/07/vani...

On June 20th, some of the Skylark CubeSat team visited the Gr. 6 students at the Eva Circe-Cote French Immersion Public School in St. Thomas! The students got to learn all about cubesats designed & built at Western University. Thank you to the ECC FIPS School for hosting them!

@westernu.ca

Western Space launches new Mission Control Facility Western Space's new Mission Control Facility is a hub for taking ‘dreaming to doing’. The new facility will propel the next generation of space research.

We are proud to celebrate the official launch of the Western Space Mission Control Facility!

This facility provides a multifaceted workspace for analogue missions + remote imagery planning sessions to support interdisciplinary space research objectives.

news.westernu.ca/2025/06/west...

The Western Skylark Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.

This design competition was open to grade 6-12 students in southwestern Ontario, and gave them an opportunity to design the official mission patch for the Skylark cubesat launching in June 2026.

Learn more about Skylark: space.uwo.ca/research/Mis...

After nearly 50 entries and much deliberation, we are pleased to announce the winner of the Western Skylark cubesat mission patch design competition - Manel Mihalj!

Thank you the all those who participated! Check out the patch and the inspiration for the design below.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space.

He represented determination, perseverance, and curiosity that inspired many young Canadians and aspiring astronauts around the world.

We at Western Space send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

We are pleased to be represented by @westernuspace.bsky.social Research Officer, @epilles.bsky.social at the upcoming Space Canada Horizons event. He will be highlighting ongoing research initiatives on multi-modal methane emission monitoring taking place at
Western University.

space-horizons.ca

Thanks to all our academic presenters and students who shared their work at Space Day 2025! From exploring impact craters on earth, to wearable mechatronic systems, to studying how black holes form, we enjoyed hearing all about their engaging and interdisciplinary research.

@westernu.bsky.social

Space Day 2025 was a great success!

We'd like to extend special thanks to our keynote speaker @weinersmith.bsky.social, and our panelists @aerospacewriter.bsky.social, @katehowells.bsky.social, and Helen Gregory for their participation in our Art and Space-themed Space Day!

@westernu.bsky.social

It was our absolute pleasure!