• Blast from the Past: Adventures on Mars

    Back in 2016, NASA put a few fun posters online advertising opportunities on Mars. The posters were originally originally commissioned by NASA to be part of an exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex in 2009. Visit the NASA poster site if you want the files for these images and others. They are great…

  • ChatGPT: Imagining a Future Press Release About CERES

    I was playing with ChatGPT recently and asked it to create a NASA press release that would be issued if we ever found life on the dwarf planet Ceres. I wanted to see what it would create. Here it is: NASA Press Release: NASA Discovers Possible Signs of Life on Ceres NASA scientists studying data…

  • Space Mission: ESA’s Juice Mission

    On April 13th, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission from French Guiana. The purpose of the mission is to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter as well as three of its moons (and their oceans) – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. The spacecraft will eventually go into orbit…

  • Pic of the Week: Blooming Stars in the Irregular Spiral Galaxy NGC 5486

    This week’s image is from the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows the irregular spiral galaxy NGC 5486 with pink areas indicating the formation of new stars. Here is a little more from the European Space Agency (ESA): NGC 5486 hangs against a background of dim, distant galaxies in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space…

  • Prototype of the New NASA Space Suits

    It is called the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or AxEMU, but you can call it a lunar spacesuit. The newly designed spacesuit was on display today at the Space Center Houston’s Moon 2 Mars Festival. While the final suit will be in white, you get the idea with the prototype on display. Axiom Space, the…

  • Space Stories: Deorbiting the ISS, Impounded Russian Rockets, and a Telescope on the Dark Side of the Moon

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Space News: “NASA Planning to Spend up to $1 Billion on Space Station Deorbit Module“ NASA is projecting spending nearly $1 billion on a tug to deorbit the International Space Station at the end of the decade to provide redundancy for safely disposing of the station. NASA released additional…

  • Space Quote: NASA’s Proposed Budget for FY 2024

    “President Biden’s budget will help us explore new cosmic shores, continue to make strides in traveling to and working in space and on the Moon, increase the speed and safety of air travel with cutting-edge technologies, and help protect our planet and improve lives here on Earth.” –Statement by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson regarding the release…

  • Movie: 65 (Million Years Ago)

    Adam Driver (from Star Wars fame) is starring in a new movie released this weekend that combines Planet of the Apes with Jurassic Park. Driver plays a space traveler who goes back in time and does not know the “uncharted” planet he landed on until the big-teeth neighbors come around to say “hi.” Here is…

  • Television: The JWST on NOVA, Again

    NOVA has a new episode this season on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Unlike last season’s episode, Ultimate Space Telescope, which discussed the creation, launch, and early success of the space telescope, this episode, New Eye on the Universe, goes deeper into the goals of the space telescope as well as the findings since…

  • One More Rocket Mishap, This Time in Japan

    The string of rocket failures continues. I had earlier mentioned the UK and Alaskan mishaps, while an Arianespace Vega C rocket launch from French Guiana when awry last December, and now Japan has suffered its own failure this week. Tuesday’s failed launch of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) H3 rocket is a setback for…