Space Quote: The New Galileo, or Just a Dreamer?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Mariner Books.

“This is an example from the modern world of what the Vatican did at the time of Galileo…People have their own prejudices. I don’t have any problem with that…The whole idea of doing science is to maintain an agnostic point of view, be curious, wonder over the possibilities…It’s what makes science exciting.”

-Statement by Israel-born Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb to The Times of Israel. He was referring to his submission of an academic paper about the 3I/ATLAS comet where the last sentence in the paper noted that the comet could be targeting our solar system. He was asked to remove this sentence if he wanted his paper to be published. Astronomer Loeb has made a number of controversial comments about this new comet as well as an earlier comet named ‘Oumuamua, which was the subject of his book Extraterrestrial:
The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.

Space Quote: It’s Raining Satellites

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay.

“Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US, recorded an average of between one to two Starlink satellites deorbiting each day in 2025. That figure is expected to rise to around five per day as SpaceX continues to grow its space internet constellation.”

-Statement in the UK’s Independent newspaper regarding SpaceX’s Starlink satellites burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Given that the satellites are only expected to last 5 years and there are already 8,500 in orbit, this should come as no surprise. Fortunately, the satellites are designed to burn up after their useful life space. Of course, that does not necessarily mean that burning debris and the related pollutants are welcome. It will only get worse once Amazon and China start pumping even more satellites into orbit.

Space Quote: Surmising Planetary-mass Bodies in the Outer Solar System

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Image (Credit): Illustrations of the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. (European Space Agency)

“One explanation is the presence of an unseen planet, probably smaller than the Earth and probably bigger than Mercury, orbiting in the deep outer solar system…This paper is not a discovery of a planet, but it’s certainly the discovery of a puzzle for which a planet is a likely solution.”

-Statement by lead author Amir Siraj, an astrophysicist and a doctoral candidate in the department of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, as quoted by CNN News. The presence of a new, distant planet attempts to address the tilted orbits of some distant objects in the Kuiper Belt. The issue is discussed in a recent paper by Siraj and his fellow authors titled Measuring the Mean Plane of the Distant Kuiper Belt and found in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.

Space Quote: SpaceX Delays May Sink Efforts to Beat China to the Moon

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Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of SpaceX’s Starship HLS on the Moon. (SpaceX)

“The HLS schedule is significantly challenged and, in our estimation, could be years late for a 2027 Artemis 3 moon landing.”

-Statement by Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) member Paul Sean Hill, as quoted by Space News. NASA contracted with SpaceX to develop the Human Landing System (HLS) for the astronauts landing on the Moon as part of Artemis III and later missions. While Blue Origin has also been tapped by NASA to assist with later missions, SpaceX was expected to provide the initial HLS. Maybe NASA should have picked two companies to provide the initial HLS, with the second in place still assisting with later landings. The ASAP’s 2024 Annual Report highlighted the many risks related to Artemis III, including several related to the HLS (shown below). Everyone knew this was going to be difficult, and no one wants to be asked to answer “Who Lost the Moon?” Also, it is good we still have a few advisory panels left after the recent purge.

Image (Credit): Figure 1, “First-time milestones for the Artemis III mission,” contained in the ASAP’s 2024 Annual Report. (ASAP)

Space Quote: Potential Biosignature Found on Mars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Martian rock nicknamed “Cheyava Falls” found in Jezero Crater last year. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

““The discovery of a potential biosignature, or a feature or signature that could be consistent with biological processes, but that requires further work and study to confirm a biological origin is something that we’re sharing with you all today that grows from years of hard work, dedication and collaboration between over 1,000 scientists and engineers here at the (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory and our partner institutions around the country and internationally.”

–Statement by Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), at a news conference earlier on Wednesday. The rock in question, found in an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater, was sampled by the Perseverance rover last year. For more on the findings you can visit the NASA site here.