• Space Quote: Yanks Yank Venus Support from Europeans

    “At the moment, we are finalizing our agreement with NASA, but it is looking like they are not able to provide the radar…So that is why we are going full steam ahead with the European solution.” –Statement by Anne Grete Straume-Lindner, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) project scientist for the Venus mission called Envision, regarding…

  • Pic of the Week: The Jodrell Bank Lovell Radio Telescope

    The image above shows the Jodrell Bank Lovell Radio Telescope located in England. The Brits plan to shut this telescope down in 2028 as part of budget cuts. First commissioned in 1957, parts of the telescope came from the World War 1 decommissioned battleships HMS Revenge and HMS Royal Sovereign. In 2019, the telescope was…

  • Artemis II: And Then There Was One

    Four astronauts circled the Moon earlier this year, more than 50 years after the final lunar landing, but only one of them will remain an astronaut going forward. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen (age 50), who served as mission specialist on the Moon mission, retired from his position with the Canadian Space Agency in July. And…

  • 60 Years of Star Trek and Counting

    This week we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, a simple science fiction story from 1966 that was first broadcast in Canada and barely lasted for three seasons. But from that tepid beginning arose an idea that led to multiple spin-off television series, movies, books, and more. And it has been a hopeful show…

  • Movies: The End of the Mandalorian

    If you were awaiting last week’s streaming roll out The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney+, you may have come away both happy and disappointed. I was happy that I did not pay $18 for a movie ticket to see the Mandalorian mess, but I was disappointed about every other part of the experience. This film…

  • Space Stories: A New Lunar Spacesuit, a Map of the Cosmos, and Modeling Planetary Systems

    Here are some recent space-related stories of interest. —Ars Technica: “Wary of Artemis IV Timeline, NASA is Changing Lunar Spacesuit Design” NASA has decided to use a simpler spacesuit for its initial missions to the lunar surface, Ars has learned. The agency announced the decision during an internal meeting this week as it seeks to accelerate…

  • Study Findings: Deimos’s Shape and Geology Explained by a Subcatastrophic Impact

    Nature Astronomy abstract of study findings: Small planetary bodies record the processes that shaped the Solar System, but their surfaces and interiors often evolve in unexpected ways. Deimos, the potato-shaped, 12-km-diameter outer satellite of Mars, has a strikingly smooth surface covered by fine regolith, in contrast to its heavily cratered and grooved sibling, 22-km-diameter Phobos. Moreover, Deimos’s topography…

  • Space Quote: Blue Origin to be Key Link With Red Planet

    “[Mars Telecommunications Orbiter] is the backbone of America’s Mars exploration program for the next decade and beyond and will provide the reliable communications capacity that will keep future robotic and human missions connected to each other and to Earth…This awarded contract is a testament to the Blue Origin team that has been building Blue Ring…

  • Television: Blade Runner 2099

    If you are not in the mood this weekend to see The Dog Stars, the latest Ridley Scott film, remember we still have another Ridley Scott show coming later this year. Blade Runner 2099, a new 8-episode series, premieres on Amazon Prime this November 25th. While Mr. Scott was not involved with this production, his…

  • Pic of the Week: A Halloween Preview – N44

    Talk about eerie. This week’s image is from the NASA/European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hubble Space telescope. The ghostly image shows nebula LHA 120-N44, or N44, which is about 160,000 light-years away. It is within the Large Magellanic Cloud that orbits our galaxy. Here is more from NASA describing what you are seeing: N44 is dominated…