Ed Helms and Lunar Nukes

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Grand Central Publishing.

Actor Ed Helms is making his rounds to sell his book Snafu: The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screwups.

One of the stories he tells is about the US “planting nukes on the moon.” Is this true?

Yes, it was a top secret effort called Project A119, with the goal of exploding a hydrogen bomb on the Moon. And believe it or not, Carl Sagan was involved in the calculations related to this zany idea.

This was in the late 1950s during the Cold War when the US and Soviet Union were doing everything they could to trump one another. It also was right after Sputnik, when the US felt it was losing the space race. In this case, the US would make a clear demonstration of its power through this distant explosion.

Fortunately, the US decided to take a better route by going into orbit and eventually to the Moon. If we had blown up the Moon, Carl Sagan would have been remembered in a very different way today – less as the educator, and more as Dr. Strangelove.

Just never underestimate the ability of the government to go down some dark roads. We needed guardrails then like we need them now.

You can read more about it in this History.com story.

One More Nation Signs the Artemis Accords

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Signatories of the Artemis Accords. (NASA)

With the recent addition of Norway, 55 nations have now signed the Artemis Accords.

And what do the Artemis Accords ask of nations? Here is the purpose of the agreement, which started back in 2020:

The purpose of these Accords is to establish a common vision via a practical set of principles, guidelines, and best practices to enhance the governance of the civil exploration and use of outer space with the intention of advancing the Artemis Program. Adherence to a practical set of principles, guidelines, and best practices in carrying out activities in outer space is intended to increase the safety of operations, reduce uncertainty, and promote the sustainable and beneficial use of space for all humankind. The Accords represent a political commitment to the principles described herein, many of which provide for operational implementation of important obligations contained in the Outer Space Treaty and other instruments.

This includes the sharing of scientific findings and related material, such as China’s recent sharing of lunar samples. Specifically, Section 8, Item 2 of the Accords states:

The Signatories are committed to the open sharing of scientific data. The Signatories plan to make the scientific results obtained from cooperative activities under these Accords available to the public and the international scientific community, as appropriate, in a timely manner.

While the validity of international trade treaties have come into question under this US president, let’s hope the scientific promises are honored. Heck, even Russia knows how to behave with the scientific community on the International Space Station and elsewhere.

Space Quote: Soviet-Era Space Probe May Come Down Tonight

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Replica of the Soviet Union’sVernera 8 landing capsule launched towards Venus. (European Space Agency)

“As this is a lander that was designed to survive passage through the Venus atmosphere, it is possible that it will survive reentry through the Earth atmosphere intact, and impact intact.”

-Statement by Marco Langbroek, an expert on Space Situational Awareness at Delft Technical University in the Netherlands, pertaining to the Venera 8 probe that was to be sent to Venus by the Soviets more than 50 years ago. However, the probe, renamed Kosmos 482, never left Earth orbit. Only now is it ready to return to the Earth’s surface tonight, though the exact location is unknown.

Update: Sunday morning at 2:24 am EST the lander broke up over the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta.

Space Quote: Escaping the Aches and Pains of Earth

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA astronaut Don Pettit. (NASA)

“You’re floating, and your body, all these little aches and pains, and everything heal up, and you feel like you’re 30 years old again and free of pain, free of everything, and ready to do your mission work. So, I love being in orbit. It’s a great place to be for me and my physiology.”

-Comment by NASA astronaut Don Pettit during a press conference after his return to Earth from the International Space Station. The 70-year-old spent 220 days on the station. His 70th birthday was the same day he returned to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Space Stories: Safe Return of Astronaut & Cosmonauts from ISS, Resupply of ISS Successful, and Continuing Concerns About ISS Risks

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying Expedition 72 NASA astronaut Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner back to Earth from the ISS on April 19, 2025 (April 20, 2025, Kazakhstan time). (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Here are some recent stories of interest related to the International Space Station (ISS).

—ABC News: “Capsule with 1 American, 2 Russians returns to Earth from International Space Station“

A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russians and one American from the International Space Station landed Sunday in Kazakhstan, ending their seven-month research assignment. According to Russian space agency Roscosmos, the capsule carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner and astronaut Don Pettit of U.S. space agency NASA landed on the Kazakh steppe near the city of Zhezkazgan at 6:20 a.m. (0120 GMT). Roscosmos said the parachute-assisted landing was a trouble-free descent.

—Space.com: “SpaceX CRS-32 Dragon Cargo Capsule Arrives at the ISS with 6,700 Pounds of Supplies“

A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) this morning (April 22), wrapping up about 28 hours traveling on orbit to close the gap between them. Elon Musk’s company launched its 32nd robotic resupply mission to the ISS for NASA early Monday morning (April 21), sending a Dragon freighter aloft from Florida’s Space Coast.

—Gizmodo: “The ISS Is in the ‘Riskiest Period of Its Existence,’ NASA Safety Panel Warns“

During a meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) held on Thursday, members of a NASA safety panel stated that there are growing risks threatening the space station as it nears the end of its use, SpaceNews reported. “The ISS has entered the riskiest period of its existence,” Rich Williams, a member of the panel, said during the meeting. At the top of the list of growing risks is a leak where air has been escaping at an increasing rate from a tunnel that connects a docking port to a Russian module.