• Summer Reading: Three Books Discussed by the Planetary Society

    Now that we are past Memorial Day, it is time to start thinking about that beach vacation. To help with your reading selections, below I have highlighted episodes from Planetary Radio’s Book Club Edition that discussed three different books. I have included a link to the podcast as well as a quick summary from each…

  • Space Quote: Not All is Lost at Launch Complex 36

    “We have regained some access to Launch Complex 36 and are actively investigating the hotfire anomaly. We will start clearing the pad soon and have a good rebuild plan in place. The booster and GS2s in the integration facility appear healthy from quick looks.” -Statement on Twitter/X by Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp regarding the…

  • It Was Quite a Week for Blue Origin

    It was certainly a mixed week for Blue Origin. The week started with new lunar contracts and ended with a rocket that could not get off the launch pad. Yesterday’s explosion not only destroyed a New Glenn rocket, but also a launch pad. It was reminiscent of the Roscosmos launch pad explosion late last year,…

  • Pic of the Week: The Crystal Ball Nebula

    This week’s image is from the Gemini North telescope located on the summit of Maunakea in Hawaii. NGC 1514, or the Crystal Ball Nebula, is about 1,500 light-years away. It was first discovered in 1790 by German–British astronomer William Herschel, who classified it as a planetary nebula. Here is a little more about the nebula from…

  • Astronomy Questions: What Do You Know About SpaceX?

    As part of the recent release of financial data related to SpaceX’s upcoming Initial Public Offering, we learned a few things about the company. Here are a few questions pertaining to that data and SpaceX operations in general. True or False: SpaceX had a net loss in 2025. Multiple Choice: SpaceX provides computing power to…

  • Space Stories: ESA & China Are Smiling, Blue Origin Beats SpaceX to the Moon, and JWST Analyzes Exoplanet Atmosphere

    Here are some recent space-related stories. —European Space Agency: “Smile Lifts Off on Quest to Reveal Earth’s Invisible Shield Against the Solar Wind“ The Smile spacecraft lifted off on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 04:52 BST / 05:52 CEST (00:52 local time) on 19 May 2026. The launch marks the beginning…

  • Study Findings: TESS Planet Occurrence Rates Reveal the Disappearance of the Radius Valley around Mid-to-late M Dwarfs

    The Astronomical Journal abstract of study findings: We present the deepest systematic search for planets around mid-to-late M dwarfs to date. We have surveyed 8134 mid-to-late M dwarfs observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite with a custom-built pipeline and recover 77 vetted transiting planet candidates. We characterize the sensitivity of our survey via injection–recovery and measure…

  • Space Quote: NASA Has Lessons for Automating American Industry

    “At NASA, decades of designing humanoid robots for environments that don’t forgive narrow thinking revealed that the machines that failed were the ones built for a single scenario. The ones that succeeded could multitask and be reprogrammed– for deployment in different settings. The arm built for the Space Shuttle, for example, was designed to position…

  • Twelfth Starship Launch Successful

    Fortunately, the first SpaceX Starship launch of the year (and the twelfth for the rocket) went well yesterday with only a few bumps along the way. While it was not perfect, given that it was the first test of a new version of the rocket, it was a good night for the rocket-maker and NASA.…

  • Sci-Fi Quote: Another Star Wars Movie to Save the Day

    “Mainly, I’m tired of the world around us, and I’m tired of everything sucking so much. “The Mandalorian” series, which stylistically harkens back to the great spaghetti westerns of the mid-1960s, has brought great joy and escapism, and I will celebrate this new movie and savor its joy and escapism, no matter what any critic…