• Space Stories: Dinosaur Dust, Missing Stars, and SETI Signals

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Royal Observatory of Belgium: “Dust Played a Major Role in Dinosaur Demise“ Fine dust from pulverized rock generated by the Chicxulub impact likely played a dominant role in global climate cooling and the disruption of photosynthesis following the event. This is suggested by a new study published in Nature…

  • Study Findings: A Planetary Collision Afterglow and Transit of the Resultant Debris Cloud

    Nature abstract of the study findings: Planets grow in rotating disks of dust and gas around forming stars, some of which can subsequently collide in giant impacts after the gas component is removed from the disk. Monitoring programmes with the warm Spitzer mission have recorded substantial and rapid changes in mid-infrared output for several stars,…

  • A Day in Astronomy: Flyby of Asteroid Gaspra

    On this day in 1991, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft conducted a flyby of asteroid Gaspra, an asteroid that orbits in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid is about 10.5 miles long. Gaspra was discovered in 1916 by Russian astronomer G. N. Neujmin, who named it after a famous Russian spa retreat in Crimea. The Galileo…

  • Source of ISS Leak Identified on Russian Module

    We know Mr. Putin wants to pursue his own space station, but how about fixing the one Russia is already part of? Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub conducted a spacewalk this week to investigate the third leak aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Luckily, the source of the leak was found – a 2010 radiator…

  • Space Quote: Russia Moves Past Moon Crash and Readies for a New Space Station

    “Mistakes are mistakes. It is a shame for all of us. This is space exploration and everyone understands that. It is experience that we can use in the future.” -Statement by Russia’s President Putin, as reported by Reuters, addressing the Luna-25 crash on the Moon in August. He added that the lunar missions will continue.…

  • Pic of the Week: Get Ready for Halloween!

    NASA has an image for all of us just in time for Halloween. The strange face you see above is a view of Jupiter taken on September 7, 2023 by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on its 54th close flyby of the planet. NASA explains what you are seeing in this northern region of Jupiter: The image…

  • Space Stories: Distant Spacecraft Updates, Lucy Gets Ready for a Flyby, and Lunar Near-Earth Asteroids

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Space.com: “NASA’s interstellar Voyager Probes Get Software Updates Beamed from 12 Billion Miles Away“ About 46 years after NASA’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 launched on an epic journey to explore space, the probes’ antique hardware continues to receive tweaks from afar. One update, a software fix, ought to…

  • Speaking of Soil Samples…

    In addition to the asteroid Bennu sample, a lunar sample from 1972 is also grabbing headlines. It appears that the lunar sample collected by the Apollo 17 crew indicates the Moon may be about 40 million years older than previously believed. In a study published in the journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters, titled “4.46 Ga Zircons…

  • Can Someone Give NASA a Hand with its Asteroid Canister?

    Remember when you had to run the pickle jar under the faucet before you could take off the lid? Well, this can even happen to scientists. In fact, it has happened with NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) sample canister. NASA has reported that it is still trying to get the…

  • Movie: Dune, Part Two Not Due Until Next Year

    I had been posting the planned November 3, 2023 date for the premiere of the film Dune, Part Two, but the movie has had some issues and it is not planned for March 15, 2024. Yes, I know, it’s a big disappointment. Many of you probably already know this. I guess I haven’t been watching…