• Many Departures at NASA, No Clear Path Forward

    The problem with a poorly-planned downsizing of an organization is that you may lose too many people in key positions and the disarray demotivates those who remain. Hence, it should be no surprise that this is what we are seeing at NASA as well as other agencies. NASA is now looking at losing about 20…

  • Musk: Let Them Eat Burgers

    So, what is the next step for Elon Musk now that he decimated NASA and the federal government in general? A trip to the Moon? A trip to Mars? No, his next goal is serving burgers and fries. That’s right, Mr. Musk is now proudly selling diner food at his Tesla Diner in Hollywood where…

  • Television: A Second Season for Murderbot

    If you had a chance to watch Murderbot on Apple TV+, then you will not be surprised to learn that it has been green-lighted for a second season. If you missed it, then you should add it to your watch list. While I was a little nervous about the casting and ability to bring to…

  • Pic of the Week: The Veil Nebula

    This week’s image was captured by the NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope. The beautiful array of colors in the Veiled Nebula can be found about 2,400 light-years away. Here is more about the image from NASA: The remnant of a star roughly 20 times as massive as the Sun that exploded about 10,000…

  • TRACER Starts Its Mission to Study the Upper Atmosphere

    Earlier today, NASA’s Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACER) twin satellites were successfully launched from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California. The TRACER mission’s goal is to study magnetic reconnection and its effects in Earth’s atmosphere. Magnetic reconnection is the interplay between solar winds and the Earth’s magnetic field. The two satellites, each…

  • Space Quote: The NASA Voyager Declaration

    “We dissent to implementing indiscriminate cuts to NASA science and aeronautics research because this will leave the American people without the unique public good that NASA provides. Basic research in space science, aeronautics, and the stewardship of the Earth are inherently governmental functions that cannot and will not be taken up by the private sector.…

  • Space Stories: Watching a Newborn Planet, Investigating a Cosmic Fossil, and TRACERS to Study Magnetic Fields

    Here are some recent space-related stories of interest. —European Southern Observatory: “Astronomers Witness Newborn Planet Sculpting the Dust Around It“ Astronomers may have caught a still-forming planet in action, carving out an intricate pattern in the gas and dust that surrounds its young host star. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), they observed a planetary disc…

  • A Day in Astronomy: “The Eagle Has Landed”

    On this day in 1969, the statement “The Eagle has landed” changed the history of mankind as humans arrived on the surface of the Moon. Spoken by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the “Eagle” referred to the Lunar Module Eagle as it touched down on the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility. Four hours later, and almost…

  • Astronomy Question: Moon Size

    Multiple Choice: How many moons in our Solar System are larger than a planet in our Solar System? A. ZeroB. OneC. TwoD. Three Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Astronomy Question Answer Sheet” page.

  • Martian Rock Sells for Millions

    NASA may face problems getting Martian rocks back to Earth, but the rocks that already made it this far are being sold to the highest bidder. Earlier this week a rock from Mars sold for $5.3 million at a Sotheby’s New York auction. Officially named NWA 16788, the meteorite weighs 54 pounds. Located in the…