• Podcast: Elon Musk on the Moon and More

    On this week’s podcast program Sway, you can re-listen to a September 2020 interview between host Kara Swisher and Elon Musk. This was long before all the Twitter nonsense, when Mr. Musk was still focused on cars and space (mostly). The discussion covers plenty of topics, including the need to settle Mars (Mr. Musk disagress…

  • One of the Artemis Rocket Launches

    While we are awaiting the launch of the uncrewed Artemis phase-one rocket later this summer to test the waters for a crewed mission, other related missions are ongoing. NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) was launched earlier in the week from New Zealand and will take about four months before…

  • Movie: Rubikon to the Rescue, Maybe

    With the fourth of July weekend upon us, we still lack a Hollywood blockbuster space adventure film. However, an Austrian space drama arrived this weekend – Rubikon. Here is the basic plot in the year 2056: Following a catastrophe on Earth, the planet is covered in a toxic fog. The crew in the space station,…

  • A Day in Astronomy: Cassini Orbits Saturn

    On this day 2004, the Cassini spacecraft entered the orbit of Saturn. A collaboration of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency, the mission containing NASA’s Cassini space probe and ESA’s Huygens probe was launched in October 15, 1997. Cassini remained in orbit around Saturn from 2004 to 2007. The Cassini spacecraft spent 20 years in…

  • Space Quote: Early View of the Cosmos

    “It’s really hard to not look at the universe in a new light and not just have a moment that is deeply personal…It’s an emotional moment when you see nature suddenly releasing some of its secrets, and I would like you to imagine and look forward to that.” -Statement by Thomas Zurbuchen, who leads NASA’s…

  • Pic of the Week: China’s Mars Rover

    This week’s image shows the China’s Zhurong Mars rover on the surface of the Red Planet. Part of the Tianwen-1 mission, the rover landed on Mars May 14, 2021. The photo, tweeted out by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) Watcher site, was taken by a disposable camera dropped by the rover.

  • Help Wanted to Sift Through Martian Clouds

    NASA is looking for assistance to answer a few questions about Martian clouds: What causes the atmosphere to get cold enough for carbon-dioxide to freeze out? How do clouds change from day to night, or during different seasons, or in some years more than others? What are the clouds made of? You can help by…

  • Television: The Earlier Moon Mission on PBS

    If you really want something interesting to watch regarding the Moon, catch these two PBS programs (stations and times may vary). Yes, they aired earlier, but as noted earlier, I would rather rewatch the good stuff than waste my time on some of the new stuff. American Experience: Chasing the Moon, July 2 at 7pm…

  • Television: Moonhaven is Coming in July

    While NASA is working on the first permanent base on the Moon, the AMC+ television series set 100 years in the future already has a Garden of Eden on the lunar surface. Here is the general story from AMC+ on the new series Moonhaven, which premieres on July 7th: Moonhaven focuses on Bella Sway (Emma…

  • New Double Crater on the Moon

    Remember all of the chatter earlier this year about whether a SpaceX or Chinese rocket booster was about read to hit the Moon? Well, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recently located the crater created by this object – a strange double crater. NASA reported it found an eastern crater (18-meter diameter, about 19.5 yards) superimposed on…