• Pic of the Week: Ice Chemistry

    This week’s image is from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It shows Chamaeleon I dark molecular cloud where both stars and planets are born. Here is more about the image from NASA: A Webb image of the central region of the Chamaeleon I dark molecular cloud, which resides 630 light-years away. This image primarily…

  • Starship: Date of Second Launch Still Unclear

    We know that the April 20th Starship launch did a fair amount of damage to the Boca Chica, Texas launch site, so no one expected a second attempt in 30 days. Now SpaceX is proposing a second launch as early as June 15, but asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a 6-month window just…

  • Space Stories: End of a Lunar Mission, Ancient Rivers on Mars, and the Second TROPICS Launch

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Engadget: “NASA Ends its Lunar Flashlight Mission“ NASA has pulled the plug on its Lunar Flashlight project, which was designed to look for sources of ice on our nearest neighbor. The agency spent the last few months trying, and failing, to get the craft to generate the necessary amount…

  • Space Quote: New Horizons Can Do Much More

    “New Horizons can still do great science for the rest of its time in the Kuiper belt. But stopping it next year is both premature scientifically and unwise from the standpoint of fiscal policy. I am very concerned about this, and it is fair to say that I am in good company.” -Statement by Alan…

  • Saturn is Winning the Moon Contest

    So Saturn now has 145 moons due to the discovery of 62 new moons, which is 50 more than the next closest competitor, Jupiter, with 95 moons. You can thank the University of British Columbia (UBC) for the new moon count. The new discoveries come from a process used by UBC astronomers called ‘shift and…

  • Movie: The Story of Carl Sagan

    Have you heard about the upcoming movie about Carl Sagan called Voyagers? Andrew Garfield of Spiderman fame will be playing Dr. Sagan. Daisy Edgar-Jones will play the part of Ann Druyan. The new film will be one of many shown at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, starting next week. Here is the basic outline of…

  • Podcast: Two Worlds Collide in This Episode

    If you are looking for a fun podcast this week, you cannot go wrong with Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Startalk podcast when it hosts Cool Worlds‘ creator David Kipping. The episode, Cosmic Queries – Cool Worlds with David Kipping, covers questions related to exoplanets, exomoons, and more. It is fun to hear the two scientists play…

  • Pic of the Week: Mysterious Spiral Over Alaska

    This week’s image was captured in the morning sky over Alaska on April 15. It was later determined to be related to a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch the prior day in California. As The New York Times reported, the spiral was attributed to “…the reflection of the excess fuel it released into the atmosphere.” Below…

  • Space Stories: A Private Space Station, Chinese Space Plane Returns, and Russia Doubts Moon Landing

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Digital Trends: “SpaceX and Vast Aim to be First to Deploy Private Space Station“ As the International Space Station nears the end of its life, SpaceX and Los Angeles-based startup Vast have unveiled a plan to launch the first commercial space station. SpaceX will use a Falcon 9…

  • TROPICS Starts its Mission

    On Sunday, the TROPICS mission was successfully launched after an earlier delay. The Rocket Lab Electron launch took place in New Zealand and involved two small CubeSats tasked with monitoring deadly storms. This is the first pair to be launched, with a total of four satellites planned to accomplish the TROPICS mission. And yes, TROPICS…