• Pic of the Week: 3D Map of the Universe

    This week’s image is from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which had a 5-year goal to map millions of galaxies and quasars, and thereby create the largest high-resolution 3D map of the Universe ever made.The image above shows the results of this work (completed in less than 5 years) containing more than 47 million…

  • Dune: Odd Advertising

    I can understand that actors and actresses want to make some extra money on the side with advertising gigs, but sometimes the result is more comical than convincing. For example, actress Zendaya is now featured in Rolex watch advertisements with images of her as Dune’s Chani. It even has the slogan “Reach for the crown.”…

  • A Day in Astronomy: Apollo 13 Sets a Distance Record

    On this day in 1970, the Apollo capsule traveled to the farthest point from Earth of any Apollo mission. It was an unbroken record until last week, with the Artemis II mission exceeded this distance by 4,105 miles. Of course, that was a great achievement in an otherwise troubled Apollo mission. The Apollo 13 crew,…

  • Space Quote: Key Senator Pushes Against White House NASA Cuts

    “I’m going to try to lead the subcommittee and the whole committee to put us in a position where we are funding NASA, NOAA and our other agencies in a way that is pretty similar to what we did last year.” –Statement last Sunday by Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), who serves at the chair of the…

  • Space Stories: Cygnus XL Cargo Craft Arrives at ISS, China Further Along Than US with Moon Lander, and a Martian Hopper Mission

    Here are some recent space-related stories. —NASA: “Canadarm2 Reaches Out and Captures Cygnus XL Cargo Craft“ At 1:20 p.m. EDT, NASA astronaut Chris Williams, with assistance from NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway, captured Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft using the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm…NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 mission launched at 7:41 a.m.…

  • Time to Advocate for NASA on the Hill

    There is no rest for the weary when it comes to reminding Congress about the importance of NASA. Even with last week’s successful Artemis II mission, it will be another uphill battle for supporters of NASA pushing against proposed White House cuts to NASA’s programs in Fiscal Year 2027. Fortunately, the Planetary Society is making…

  • Movie: The Mandalorian and Grogu

    On May 22, The Mandalorian will go from our TV screens to the movie screens with the premiere of The Mandorian and Grogu. Overall, this is the story in the film (and this trailer helps to visualize it all): The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling…

  • Artemis II Was a Success

    We are now one step closer to putting astronauts on the Moon, again. The Artemis II crew safely landed off the coast of California earlier today after a 10-day, 694,481 mile trip around the Moon. Now NASA needs to spend some time reviewing the results, including the 7,000 images taken of the Moon and surroundings. NASA…

  • Pic of the Week: Earthset from Orion

    This week’s image was captured by the Orion spacecraft Integrity during its Moon flyby on April 6, 2026. It puts a lot of today’s politics into perspective. As the Earth was setting, NASA pilot Victor Glover stated: And to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you, from the Moon.…

  • Martian Helicopters Give NASA More Options

    With NASA’s announcement the other week about its plan to use helicopters again on Mars, at least we know we will have something to augment the two remaining rovers. The Mars rovers continue to do a bang-up job on the Martian surface, but the bangs are also taking a toll on the tires of at…