• Russian Progress 93 Mission Underway to Resupply the ISS

    Even with the recent Russian drones invading Polish airspace, things are on schedule at the International Space Station (ISS). A Russian Soyuz rocket successfully launched the Progress 93 cargo spaceship into orbit yesterday to resupply the ISS on Saturday. A similar NASA resupply mission will take place on Sunday to resupply the Expedition 73 crew.…

  • Pic of the Week: The Martian Turtle

    While the Preservation rover on Mars has been busy looking for signs of life in Jezero Crater, it still had time to take a few fun photos as well, including the turtle image above (see the outline of the turtle below if you cannot find it). The rover captured the picture on August 31.

  • Space Quote: Potential Biosignature Found on Mars

    ““The discovery of a potential biosignature, or a feature or signature that could be consistent with biological processes, but that requires further work and study to confirm a biological origin is something that we’re sharing with you all today that grows from years of hard work, dedication and collaboration between over 1,000 scientists and engineers…

  • Study Findings: The Variety and Origin of Materials Accreted by Bennu’s Parent Asteroid

    Nature Astronomy abstract of the study findings: The first bodies to form in the Solar System acquired their materials from stars, the presolar molecular cloud and the protoplanetary disk. Asteroids that have not undergone planetary differentiation retain evidence of these primary accreted materials. However, geologic processes such as hydrothermal alteration can dramatically change their bulk mineralogy, isotopic…

  • Space Stories: Planning Commercial Space Stations, Sloppy Black Holes, and Happy Birthday Voyager I

    Here are some recent space-related stories of interest. —Space News: “NASA Releases Details on Revised Next Phase of Commercial Space Station Development“ NASA expects to spend up to $1.5 billion to support at least two companies to demonstrate crew-tended space stations as part of the agency’s revised approach to transition from the International Space Station. NASA…

  • Will NASA Lose its Acting Administrator?

    One might think that acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy’s job is now in question given a recent report from ProPublica that found three Trump administration officials have mortgage issues similar to Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. One of those officials is Sean Duffy. Pro Publica reported: …at least three of Trump’s Cabinet members call multiple…

  • More From the Senate Hearing on NASA

    The hearing earlier this week held by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation contained some clear warnings about the future of the US space program. In addition to comments by the Chairman and Ranking Member, we heard plenty from the witnesses about the importance of Artemis program in terms of political and economic…

  • Senate Committee Hearing Discusses the Race to the Moon

    If you heard about this week’s hearing by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, one memorable bit was the title of the hearing – There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise: Why Congress and NASA Must Thwart China in the Space Race. The play on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s song was clever, but the…

  • Pic of the Week: The Butterfly Star

    This week’s image comes from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It shows the beginning of exoplanets about 525 light-years away. Labeled the ever appealing name of IRAS 04302+2247, or better yet the Butterfly Star, the young star with its protoplanetary disc provides astronomers with plenty of information about the development of a protostar and…

  • The Future of AI and the Human Race, Part II

    Here is the next part of my conversation with ChatGPT, which builds on a from post a few weeks back (see The Future of AI and the Human Race). I had earlier asked ChatGPT about the possibility of AI becoming so powerful that it takes over the world. In my follow-up question, I asked “Is it…