• Some Science Fiction Beach Books

    After going through Amazon’s list of top science fiction books, I pulled the top five involving interplanetary travel that may be of interest to readers. I am not endorsing these (nor would I in some clear cases), but rather pointing them out if you left for the beach and forgot to bring a book or…

  • Space Stories: Mars Ascent Vehicle, Dark Matter Stars, and a New Russian Space Station

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —NASA/JPJ.com : “NASA Mars Ascent Vehicle Continues Progress Toward Mars Sample Return“ NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) recently reached some major milestones in support of the Mars Sample Return program. The Mars Ascent Vehicle would be the first launch of a rocket from the surface of another planet. The team developing MAV…

  • DRACO: A New Approach for Traveling to Mars

    When you hear the word DRACO, you may think of the Harry Potter series or even severe Athenians, but NASA wants you to think of speedy travel to Mars. DRACO, or Demonstration for Rocket to Agile Cislunar Operations, is NASA’s plan to develop a nuclear thermal rocket engine with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency…

  • Video: Flyby of Jupiter’s Moon Io

    Last week, NASA released this video showing the Juno spacecraft’s view of Jupiter and its moon Io as it flew by on May 16, 2023. The clip includes music by Vangelis. It is short but stunning video. Juno was launched back in 2011 and first started orbiting Jupiter in 2016. Sent to study Jupiter, the…

  • What Do Frozen Worms Say About Space Travel?

    Earlier this week we learned about worms taken from Siberian permafrost that have been revived after being frozen for 46,000 years. In the Scientific American, the co-author of the study with these finding, cell biologist Teymuras Kurzchalia, stated, “The radiocarbon dating is absolutely precise, and we now know that they really survived 46,000 years.” So…

  • Space Quote: Alien Crash Retrieval and Reverse Engineering?

    “In 2019, the UAPTF director tasked me to identify all Special Access Programs & Controlled Access Programs (SAPs/CAPs) we needed to satisfy our congressionally mandated mission. At the time, due to my extensive executive-level intelligence support duties, I was cleared to literally all relevant compartments and in a position of extreme trust in both my…

  • Pic of the Week: Fire in the Canary Islands

    This week’s image is from NASA’s Earth Observatory showing the recent fires in the Canary Islands. The image below provides great detail regarding what you are seeing. Here is the story from NASA: In the early hours of July 15, 2023, a wildfire broke out on La Palma, the most northwesterly of the Canary Islands….The bright areas…

  • In Case You Missed It/Video: Missed Opportunity on Exomoons

    A few months back, Assistant Professor of Astronomy David Kipping shared a short video regarding his organization’s failure to secure James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) time to search for exomoons that he knows are there. His organization, Cool Worlds Lab, has done some amazing work studying and publicizing issues related to astronomy. You should visit…

  • Space Stories: Rogue Exoplanets, ISS Power Problems, and Eco-Friendly Airlines

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Space.com : “400 Earth-size Rogue Planets could be Wandering the Milky Way“ New predictions suggest an upcoming NASA space telescope could spot over 400 Earth-mass worlds hidden throughout the Milky Way that have “gone rogue” and therefore wander our galaxy alone.  Such orphan worlds are thought to start their lives…

  • Future Guests on the ISS and Tiangong Space Station

    The CEO of the South African National Space Agency announced plans to send two female astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). It is something that the space agency hopes to accomplish in the next two years. This latest announcement appears to be based on Russian efforts to parlay better relations with African nations. The…