• A Day in Astronomy: The Last Lunar Footprint

    On this day in 1972, Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan was the last human to be on the Moon. He was the eleventh human to ever step on the Moon. Here is the full crew of Apollo 17: Mr. Cernan, who passed away in 2017, was also part of the Apollo 10 mission that orbited…

  • Space Stories: Bezos on the Moon, Strange Oort Objects, and Europe Visits Venus

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Reuters: “Bezos’ Space Company Teams with Lockheed, Boeing for NASA Moon Lander Pitch“ Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is partnering with Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp to pitch a lunar lander to NASA as the agency seeks to send humans to the moon again, the companies announced on Tuesday.…

  • Where is This? December 12, 2022 Quiz

    Take a look at the image above. Can you determine where this image originated? Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the menu and selecting the “Where is This?” The Answer Sheet page.

  • Lunar Traffic Jam – Japan Heads to the Moon

    While the Orion spacecraft was heading back to Earth, the Japanese HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander was on its way to the Moon. The name HAKUTO refers to the white rabbit that lives on the moon in Japanese folklore. The Japanese private firm iSpace is behind the lunar mission, becoming the first private company to…

  • Orion Has Returned

    The Orion has landed, or splashed down to be more accurate. The Artemis I mission had a successful finish with the Orion capsule parachuting down into the Pacific at 12:40 p.m. EST today. At the time of this posting, the capsule was still afloat in the water while awaiting a review by engineers before being…

  • ChatGPT and Elon Musk

    You have probably heard of the new artificial intelligence program ChatGPT, which can compose stories and articles. So what happens when you ask it to do a simple task? I asked the program to compose a poem to cover the following scenario: Elon Musk has become frustrated with Twitter, so he takes a rocket to…

  • Orion Re-Entry: Don’t Miss It

    This Sunday, November 11th, will see the return of the Orion spacecraft. Tune into NASA to watch Orion’s re-entry and spashdown. Live splashdown coverage will begin at 11 a.m. EST. The splashdown itself is scheduled for 12:39 p.m. EST. You can watch all of the coverage live on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and the NASA app.

  • Pic of the Week: Orion Over the Moon

    This week’s image of the lunar surface comes from NASA’s Orion spacecraft as it orbited the Moon on December 5th. Orion is now on its way back and is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on December 11th. Regarding the return of the Orion crew module, NASA stated: Earth’s atmosphere initially will slow the spacecraft…

  • A Day in Astronomy: The Blue Marble

    On this day in 1972, the Apollo 17 crew on their way to the Moon took a photograph of the Earth that became known as “The Blue Marble” (shown above). You can see Africa, the Middle East, and Antarctica. It remains one of the most popular images of the Earth. The Orion spacecraft caught its…

  • Space Stories: Eruptions on Mars, World’s Largest Radio-Astronomy Observatory, and Saudi Space Hotels

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —University of Arizona: “Giant Mantle Plume Reveals Mars is More Active Than Previously Thought“ In a study published in Nature Astronomy, scientists from the University of Arizona challenge current views of Martian geodynamic evolution with a report on the discovery of an active mantle plume pushing the surface upward and causing earthquakes…