• Is the U.S. Running Low on Astronauts?

    Does NASA need more astronauts than it has for upcoming missions? The Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) office believes NASA may have a problem. In a January 11, 2022 OIG report, NASA’s Management of its Astronaut Corps, the auditors found: The processes NASA uses to size, train, and assign astronauts to specific missions are primarily…

  • Television: The End of “The Expanse”

    This week Amazon Prime released the final episode of the The Expanse, a brilliant space drama that has been running for six seasons, first on Syfy and later on Amazon Prime. Based on a series of books written by James S. A. Corey (a two-person team), it tells the story of a settled solar system…

  • Pic of the Week: Perseverance and Ingenuity

    This week’s photo is from the Planetary Society’s Year in Pictures collection. The photo shows NASA’s latest Mars rover, Perseverance, as well as the helicopter Ingenuity in the background (hard to see at first). A better image of the helicopter is provided below. The rover landed on Mars in February 2021 at the Jezero Crater…

  • Videos: The Golden Record on the Voyager Spacecraft

    Years ago, two spacecraft exited our solar system at about 35,000 miles per hour with a message to anyone who finds them detailing our location in the galaxy, the beauty of the Earth, and our culture in terms of warm wishes, music, and natural sounds. Crafted by Carl Sagan and others, the golden discs or…

  • 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…