• Podcast: A Chat with Astronaut Chris Hadfield

    Alan Alda recently interviewed Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to discuss his space work, singing career, and recent book. You can catch all of it on Mr. Alda’s podcast Clear+Vivid. For instance, Mr. Hadfield notes that he used duct tape on the International Space Station (ISS) to cover over bullet-sized holes in the station’s exterior handrails…

  • Movies: Apollo 10 1/2

    Last week’s film was about young adults in space, but now we are hitting elementary school for the right stuff. This Nextflix film, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood, is a good weekend movie for the whole family if you are looking for something light. The basic story is that NASA flubbed its Apollo…

  • Strange Happenings on Mars

    Here is what the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) tweeted about this image: Wow! While travelling on the surface of Mars, the Perseverance rover found the place where all the missing socks from the dryer end up! Okay, it is from this time last year, but it’s still funny. Happy April Fools’ Day!

  • Pic of the Week: The Morning Star

    This week’s image is the most distant star ever detected. It is from light that traveled 12.9 billion years to get to us, representing a star that existed about 1 billion years after the formation of the universe. It has been named Earendel, or “morning star” in Old English. You can learn more about this…

  • Do We Need Pete Davidson in Space?

    Okay, I can understand shooting actor William Shatner into space on a Blue Origin rocket given his work with Star Trek and his interest in space itself, but Pete Davidson from SNL fame? Really? Luckily, his part in the mission was scrubbed. So who will go up into space tomorrow on Blue Origin’s New Shepard…

  • Starlink Assists with Ukrainian Battles

    SpaceX’s Starlink system, shared with Ukraine last month, is already proving to be a boost to Ukrainian fighters. While the focus of the new system was to keep Ukrainians connected to the Internet, it has also been used by drones attacking Russian military tanks and trucks. The NY Post quotes one Ukrainian source as stating,…

  • Moon Craters and the Russians

    So who owned the rocket stage that hit the Moon earlier this month? I had earlier noted the speculation pertaining to both SpaceX and then the Chinese rockets. Surprisingly, it is still is not clear who owned that rocket stage and maybe we will never know. That is not a good answer for the European…

  • Status of NASA’s Martian Mission

    Now that we have learned a little more about China’s Martian rover, maybe we should check on NASA’s Perseverance Rover. According to a recent press release from NASA, earlier this month Perseverance started its three-mile trip to the river delta on the rim of Jezero Crater after already exploring the Martian surface for about 13…

  • Chinese Martian Rover Images

    The China National Space Administration (CNSA) Watcher site posted the above before and after selfies taken by the Zhurong Mars Rover. The top shot was taken on May 19, 2021 and the bottom shot on January 22, 2022. You can see the dust that has accumulated in less than a year on the rover’s panels. The site notes…

  • Movies: A Romance Set on Mars

    On March 31st you can can watch another space-related movie, though this one has a misleading name. Called Moonshot, the setting is actually a space colony on Mars. You can watch a trailer of the HBO Max movie here. While its just a platform for a young adult romantic comedy, it will be fun to…