• A Day in Astronomy: India Lands a Spacecraft on the Moon

    On this day in 2023, India became the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon (following the Soviet Union, the U.S., and China). India’s Chandrayaan-3 probe landed at the lunar South Pole, the first spacecraft to land in that region. Chandrayaan-2 had crashed on the Moon’s surface back in 2019, whereas Chandrayaan-1 was…

  • WiCOR Discovers a Mega-Earth

    The Wisconsin Center for Origins Research (WiCOR) at the University of Wisconsin has two questions as part of its mission: And now, the center has discovered its first exoplanet that brings up an unexpected question – Why is the newly discovered exoplanet GJ 523b a Mega-Earth rather than a gas giant like Saturn or Jupiter?…

  • Study Findings: Potential Survivable Niches for Microbial Life on the Lunar South Pole

    Science Advances abstract of study findings: Most lunar surface conditions are incredibly harsh for microbial survival. High ultraviolet radiation, temperatures, and energetic particle radiation limit survival over most unprotected lunar surfaces, particularly in equatorial regions where all previous crewed exploration occurred. However, whether these harsh conditions are widespread at lunar poles has not been examined considering topographical effects.…

  • Pic of the Week: SpaceX Rocket Part Creates Crater on Moon

    Earlier this week, NASA released the image above showing the crater created by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage. The upper stage was part of an earlier SpaceX mission from January 2025 that launched the Firefly Blue Ghost 1 mission. This lunar image was captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter between August 11 and…

  • Space Quote: Swift Will Be a Shooting Star Later This Year

    “This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting. The team moved with extraordinary speed to give Swift a chance to carry out more science while advancing capabilities America will need for satellite servicing in the future. We are going to learn everything we…

  • Podcast: Jupiters Around Other Suns

    NASA’s Curious Universe podcast has a special series on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Titled “Roman Series: Jupiters Around Other Suns,” it is the second episode in the podcast’s 13th season. The first episode in this series is titled “Roman Series: NASA’s New View of the Dark Universe.” This second episode discusses the Roman…

  • Space Stories: Martian Spiders, Space Constipation, and an Exploding Chinese Rocket

    Here are some recent space-related stories of interest. —ZME Science: “NASA Finally Figured Out What’s Up With Those “Mars Spiders”“ For years, satellites around Mars kept finding mysterious, spider-like geological structures. Mars spiders, scientifically known as araneiform terrain, are unique geological formations predominantly found in the southern hemisphere of Mars. They appear as branching, spider-like channels…

  • Astronomy Question: Your Weight on the Lunar Surface

    Multiple Choice: If you weight 150 pounds on Earth, how much would you weigh on the Moon’s surface? A. About 200 poundsB. About 85 poundsC. About 40 poundsD. About 25 pounds Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Astronomy Question Answer Sheet” page.

  • Space Quote: India Invited to the Moon

    “The 9th meeting of the India-U.S. Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG) was hosted by India on 5-6 August 2026 at the headquarters of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru…NASA invited ISRO to join its Moon Base program, building on the two countries’ partnership under the Artemis Accords.  The two sides also agreed to advance discussions for…

  • Audit Report: DOGE Produced Unreliable Savings Figures

    We finally have more information on what the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), being run by Elon Musk and friends, was doing (or not doing) while it was laying waste to the federal government last year. We have learned from a recent US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that the savings figures claimed by DOGE…