• Space Quote: NASA Condemns Russian Political Stunt

    “[NASA] strongly rebukes using the International Space Station for political purposes to support [the] war against Ukraine, which is fundamentally inconsistent with the station’s primary function among the 15 international participating countries to advance science and develop technology for peaceful purposes.” -NASA statement, as quoted in the Washington Post, regarding the picture of three Russian…

  • Where is This? July 8, 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?” page.

  • Pic of the Week: The Durable Hubble

    This week’s image is the Hubble Space Telescope, still going strong after more than 32 years. It left the Space Shuttle Discovery’s cargo bay on April 25, 1990. With all of the attention on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), it’s important to remember this dependable space telescope that brought us so many amazing images over…

  • Television: More Space Stories This Summer

    If you are looking for space series beyond the Moon, PBS has a few more shows for you. With the James Webb Space Telescope releasing the first photos next week, now is the time to brush up on the mission with a NOVA special. And check out the earlier NOVA piece on the planets as…

  • Space Quote: Not Meeting Russia’s Space Goals

    “Every penny should be spent for some purpose and some task…Therefore, we do not just check expenses, we also make sure that the results that were announced in state programs are achieved.” -Statement by Alexei Kudrin, chairman of Russia’s Accounts Chamber, to Russia’s President Putin regarding the substandard performance of Russia’s space program, as reported…

  • 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…