Journalist. Former BBC Science Correspondent. Way too interested in icebergs for my own good.
Cambridge, UK
Joined January 2010
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My last story as a staffer for the BBC. A puzzle that surrounds the end-of-life manoeuvres of the oldest UK satellite still up there - #Skynet1A. Who moved it, when and why? bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwr…
ALT © Artist's impression of Skynet-1A by Gerry Fletcher for BBC News
UK taxpayers spent £400m to rescue OneWeb from bankruptcy and yet today France is the country that extracts the defence and industrial value from this asset. A tale as old as time. europeanspaceflight.com/fran… via @ESpaceflight
Truly profound insights into the way Planet Earth is working are just over the horizon. "Planetary Intelligence" is coming. will4planet.substack.com/p/p… Thank you @Will4Planet. We just need to make the right choices. Can we be trusted?
Jonathan Amos retweeted
I'm saddened by the passing of Craig Venter, a brilliant scientist and visionary entrepreneur whose partnership with the NIH led to the mapping of the human genome—unlocking new insights about ourselves and our common humanity.
I'll always be grateful for the chance to know him and learn from him. His legacy will endure with every new discovery built on his lifetime of research and innovation.
Jonathan Amos retweeted
13 questions in 20 minutes and not a single one about Artemis II… at an event honoring the Artemis II astronauts.
Speaking as a former White House Correspondent, I get how the game is played. But come on y’all. That’s just bad etiquette and deeply incurious.
These are the first humans to travel to the moon in over 50 years, and nobody had a question worth asking them?
President Trump Participates in a Greeting with Artemis II Astronauts xitter.cf/i/broadcasts/1qxvvkqdV…
I'm reasonably convinced now that Iceberg A23a has completely collapsed. The USNIC is no longer tracking a berg of that name. But A23k (also not listed) does lumber on, albeit in a disheveled state. This view is from Thursday (9 April) NOAA-21 VIIRS. usicecenter.gov/Products/Ant…
ALT A23k NOAA-21 VIIRS - 9/4/26 - Iceberg A23k
Watch the Artemis II SLS launch from every conceivable angle. images-assets.nasa.gov/video…
End days for Iceberg A23. The two largest remaining fragments - A and K - had major blowouts on or just after the 28th of March. The largest chunks are ~50 sq km. A23 calved from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in 1986. Quite the journey it's had over four decades.
ALT 2 April. A23a after fragmentation event (Nasa)
ALT 2 April. A23k after fragmentation event (Nasa)
The last two big fragments of the once mighty A23 iceberg. The US National Ice Center calls the bottom-left object A23k and the top-right, A23a. Its latest report (20/3/26) said both were about 140 sq km. Latitude is roughly 50 deg S.
ALT Image by Nasa/Terra/Modis 26/3/2026
Jonathan Amos retweeted
Front cover reveal! Here is the cover of my second book, HOTOL & Skylon: The story of Britain's spaceplanes, that is being published by the British Interplanetary Society @BIS_spaceflight this year. Spanning more than 40 years, the story follows the engineers whose ideas 1/2 – at France
This is pretty cool. @SurreySat has been engaged to develop the spacecraft platform for the Lazuli space observatory, which is Eric and Wendy Schmidt's idea for a privately-built telescope with a primary mirror larger than Hubble's.
ALT Artist impression of the Lazuli space telescope.
Not quite RIP, but maybe last breaths. The BBC's Mark Poynting and Erwan Rivault catalogue the life and times of Iceberg A23a: bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt…
Every day now brings another blowout. This image from Nasa/Terra/Modis comes from yesterday (6 March). As Mark and Erwan point out: at 48 deg South, the iceberg is nearer the equator than London.
ALT Iceberg A23a - 6 March 2026 - Nasa Terra Modis
Iceberg A23a crosses the 49th Parallel South and suffers another big fragmentation event. Now only 170 sq km. Still bigger than many British cities but a far cry from the 4,000 sq km behemoth that broke free from Antarctica in 1986.
ALT Iceberg A23a - NASA Terra Modis 3 March 2026
Iceberg A23a lost a 1/4 of its area on Sunday. Image left is from Saturday. Image right is today. Now just 315 sq km and surrounded by the spreading melange from Sunday's sudden collapse. Notice how quickly the ramparts corralling surface meltwater have reformed.
ALT NASA/TERRA/MODIS 21 Feb 2026
ALT NASA/TERRA/MODIS 25 Feb 2026
The remnant iceberg A23a has suffered another massive hydrofracture event at 46 deg S, 32 deg W. You can just make out the slush puppie splurge of melange around a central block of robust ice. Not long now. This image is from @eumetsat Meteosat-12 at 11:20 UTC on Sunday.
