James Campbell
jcacampbell.bsky.social
James Campbell
@jcacampbell.bsky.social
Aerospace engineer and dog owner. All things aeronautics and space. Experience in modelling of structural crashworthiness and impact behaviour of satellites and aircraft.
Reposted by James Campbell
Shielding Chart

xkcd.com/3158/
October 23, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
One person who shares this will receive a free subscription to our outstanding aviation blog - what you waiting for? hushkit.substack.com
a black and white drawing of a fighter jet with the letters raf visible on the tail
ALT: a black and white drawing of a fighter jet with the letters raf visible on the tail
media.tenor.com
September 20, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
As a result I was forced to make my own IMAP launch press kit which I now share with you... (corrections welcome)

planet4589.org/latest.html
Jonathan's Space Report - Latest Issue
Jonathan's Space Report | Latest Issue
planet4589.org
September 16, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
How Britain built some of the world’s safest roads (The death rate per mile driven has declined 22-fold since 1950.)
How Britain built some of the world’s safest roads
The death rate per mile driven has declined 22-fold since 1950.
ourworldindata.org
September 8, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
Interesting stuff about mis/perceptions of HE. But some 'correct' answers are only just so.

Public 'wrongly' believe 'Graduates must start paying back their student loan as soon as they get any paid job', which *is* false, but minimum wage @40h/w is £25,396.80 vs repayment threshold £25,000.
August 27, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Strictly the definition of weight is the gravitational force on an object. If two objects have the same mass then they have the same weight. So 1.0 kg x 9.81 m/s2 = 9.81 N. Both have a weight of 9.81 N.
This is an actual practical issue in high-precision metrology when using standard kilograms made of stainless steel (more practical) vs the platinum-iridium standards (denser).
August 21, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
Farewell & thanks for everything Captain James Lovell. Apollo 8 Command Module Pilot - arguably NASA’s boldest mission - Commander & survivor of the ill fated Apollo 13. I’ve met few people more inspiring or more generous with their legacy. God Speed, safe flight. #AdAstra #NASA
August 8, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
Published in #RASTI RAS Techniques & Instruments: "Classification of LEO satellites using occultations of background stars", Cooke et al. This is Fig. 1: for the caption & to read the paper please visit academic.oup.com/rasti/articl... @oxfordacademic.bsky.social @royalastrosoc.bsky.social
May 22, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
Every student suicide is a tragedy, but it is a mistake to put the burden of preventing it on universities. Young people who aren’t students deserve to be supported too; they already have a much higher suicide rate. We need a joined-up societal approach.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Student suicide review says unis must act to stop more deaths
The government wants universities to check the safety of halls and reach out to families after a death.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 21, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell is a go-to expert for all things spaceflight. but that has always been his side gig -- until now. on McDowell's decision to retire this year & leave the U.S.:

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/s...
Jonathan McDowell on Retiring From Harvard and Leaving the U.S. (Gift Article)
Jonathan McDowell is retiring from studying the universe. But he’s ramping up efforts to chronicle humanity’s exploration of space.
www.nytimes.com
April 13, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
Kangeroos in space 🦘🚀 One of the stories in the latest bonus episode of the #16Sunsets space shuttle podcast. @drkevinfong.bsky.social in conversation with shuttle flight director and raconteur Rob Kelso. Mission control high jinks and serious spaceflight insights too #nasa
apple.co/4i8Xi6s
Bonus Episode: Rob Kelso - Inside the Cathedral of Mission Control
Podcast Episode · 16 Sunsets · S1 Bonus · 48m
apple.co
April 10, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
My latest @newscientist.com cartoon
March 16, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
Thread: One of the ways that GCAT planet4589.org/space/gcat goes a little deeper than most space object catalogues is the fact that when possible I give the serial numbers of things like launch vehicles.
Jonathan's Space Report | GCAT
Jonathan McDowell's new homepage
planet4589.org
March 6, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
We now have enough Starlink reentries to use the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis estimator to determine the median Starlink operational lifetime: 5.3 years. This mixes together V1 and V2M Starlinks.
February 26, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
Incoming Asteroid xkcd.com/3049
February 12, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
In 1978 NASA selected a new class of astronauts, the most diverse in the agency’s history. This is their story. #16Sunsets podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/1...
New Frontiers
Podcast Episode · 16 Sunsets · S1 E4 · 56m
podcasts.apple.com
February 8, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
Episode 5 has landed wherever you get your pods ! Do not miss Anatomy of a Firecracker #16Sunsets @drkevinfong.bsky.social

pod.link/1771470820
January 30, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
New episode of our space shuttle podcast #16Sunsets released. All about the mighty launch system inc its vulnerabilities. @drkevinfong.bsky.social with ex #NASA engineers who designed & tested the rocketry and astronauts Crippen, Hoffman, Mullane & Stewart who reckoned with the risks
bit.ly/4hmmMh1
Anatomy of a Firecracker
Podcast Episode · 16 Sunsets · S1 E5 · 1h 2m
bit.ly
January 30, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
Ep 4 #16Sunsets New Frontiers. Worth a listen on this day more than most. #NASA has always pushed back boundaries in space & here on Earth. In 1978 it selected the Thirty Five New Guys, at the time the most diverse astronaut class in its history. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/1...
New Frontiers
Podcast Episode · 16 Sunsets · S1 E4 · 56m
podcasts.apple.com
January 27, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
For those who don’t know, Jonathan is *the* person who keeps track of stuff in space, a key part of the information ecosystem for anyone who studies or writes about satellites. He now needs some help to keep doing this. (1/2)
Well, big news. I am planning to move the Space Library to a new home. And I need some help - in 35 years I've never asked for funding, donations or subscriptions for my Space Report, to keep it independent, but now I need to raise some additional funds.
www.gofundme.com/f/fund-jonat...
Donate to Fund Jonathan's Space Report Library Transition, organized by Jonathan McDowell
For 35 years I've been sharing information about space exploration w… Jonathan McDowell needs your support for Fund Jonathan's Space Report Library Transition
www.gofundme.com
January 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
Launch lessons from Virgin Orbit - how the UK Space Agency is aiming for a smoother blast off for the next generation of rocket launches from the UK #spaceflight https://buff.ly/3DVFT2y
January 17, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
How big data helped Airbus avoid a potential catastrophic accident theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf... (via @elanhead.com) #staycurrent
How big data helped Airbus avoid a potential catastrophic accident
Two case studies, one of them not widely known, illustrate how the airframer’s Skywise platform is yielding actionable safety insights.
theaircurrent.com
January 17, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
Heads-up! RAeS Space Conference, 29 January, 'Leading Global Change through the Earth & Space Sustainability Initiative (ESSI)' #SpaceDebris #SpaceX #NASA #ESA #BlueOrigin https://buff.ly/4hf7CK4
January 16, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by James Campbell
For the 4th year in a row, my all-sky camera has been taking an image of the sky above the Netherlands every 15 seconds. Combining these images reveal the length of the night changing throughout the year, the passage of clouds and the motion of the Moon and the Sun through the sky. #astrophotography
January 4, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by James Campbell
Night
December 30, 2024 at 11:23 PM