• Podcast: A New Space Age?

    If you are looking for a new podcast, or just want to listen to an interesting conversation, I recommend BBC’s recent Inside Science episode about human travel to the Moon and Mars. Titled “A New Space Age?,” the December 30, 2021 episode discusses NASA’s Artemis lunar program, the timetable for travel to Mars, and whether…

  • What Else Can be Found at Lagrange 2?

    Now that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWSP) has deployed its 21-foot, gold-coated primary mirror, it is in good shape as it heads for the Sun-Earth’s second Lagrange point, known as L2, which is nearly 1 million miles from Earth. However, it will not be the first spacecraft to park in this spot to conduct a…

  • Plenty of Stuff in Orbit

    When you have a chance you should check out the volume of objects circling our planet on the stuffin.space webpage (shown above). The site provides a realtime 3D map these objects, with daily updates from the Space-Track.org. You can select a single piece of debris and read all about it. I selected one point and…

  • Nixon and the Space Shuttle

    Earlier his week NASA highlighted the 50 year anniversary of President Nixon’s decision to initiate a space shuttle program to follow the success of the Apollo Moon missions. The story states: In January 1972, he directed NASA to develop and build a reusable space transportation system, commonly known as the space shuttle. The reusability of…

  • Top 10 Astronomy Stories from 2021

    Before we get too far into 2022, it is worth considering some of the top astronomy stories from 2021. Space.com put together a nice list that I highlighted below. Discovery of Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein: “…It may be 10 times wider and 1,000 times more massive than a typical comet.” Amateur astronomer discovers a new moon around Jupiter: “The…

  • Pic of the Week: Paris and the Moon

    Each week the site will highlight an interesting image from the past 12 months showing a bit of this awesome universe. This week’s photo comes from a Reuters photographer. In the accompanying news story, this April 2021 view from Paris has the following label: The full moon, known as the Super Pink Moon” rises behind…

  • Rogue Planets?

    The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes recently reported on its discovery of more than 70 new planets without a parent star: Using observations and archival data from several telescopes around the world and in orbit, including the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT), astronomers have discovered at least 70 new free-floating planets (FFPs) — planets that wander…

  • Space Investments are No Guarantee

    The recent initial public offering for Virgin Orbit, a commercial space launch company that spun-off from Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, did not go as well as planned. IG International reported that Virgin Orbit had hoped to raise $483 million as part of the public offering, but only raised $228 million. Moreover, the stock is down about…

  • Meteor Watch: Time to Look Up

    Looking up may have been useless the other day in Pennsylvania because of the cloud cover, but shaking houses were evidence enough of a meteor exploding in the atmosphere. On New Year’s Day, the incoming meteor exploded over southwestern Pennsylvania with the force of 30 tons of TNT. The Facebook page for the National Weather…

  • Has Star Trek Gone Negative?

    If you are a Trekkie, you have probably gained inspiration from the multitude of Star Trek series spawned from the original 1966 show. Star Trek: The Next Generation continues to be my favorite, yet I have also enjoyed all of the other earlier series and made it through at least one season of the latest…