• Russia Assists Iranian Space Program

    While Americans are contemplating this week’s election, the Russians were up to more mischief this week. I am not talking about North Korean soldiers being used to attack Ukraine. I am referring to the Russians launching two Iranian satellites via a Soyuz rocket on Tuesday (yes, the same date as the US election). One of…

  • Space Quote: Mars is Humanity’s Dream and Destiny

    “The age-old dream of endowing human minds and hands access to the cosmos does not belong to Donald Trump, nor should it be considered the exclusive possession of any particular political party. It belongs to humanity. It is essential that we make that clear, because the fortunes of political war are always changing. Should the…

  • Pic of the Week: CRS-31 Capsule Approaches the ISS

    This week’s image from NASA shows the uncrewed Dragon capsule approaching the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, November 5th. Once connected with the station, the crew removed the cargo that included new scientific gear. You can read more about the ongoing operations on the ISS here.

  • Artemis and More Under a New Administration

    Will NASA be pulled in a new direction under a Trump administration? The Planetary Society does not think so, as noted in a recent article, “Space in the 2024 Elections: A Space Advocate’s Guide to the U.S. Presidential Election.“ The graphic above highlights the party platforms on space, showing a lot of similarity between the…

  • ISS Work Continues While Country Focuses on Election

    On Monday, another uncrewed capsule was launched towards the International Space Station (ISS) to keep its mission going. There was no time to pause , even with an election underway. A SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket launched the loaded Dragon capsule from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The Cargo Resupply Services (CRS)-31 mission successfully met up with the…

  • Space Stories: Water Found on Miranda, NASA Still Pondering VIPER Mission to Moon, and the ISS Has Been Leaking for Some Time

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory: “Uranus’ Moon Miranda May Have an Ocean Beneath Its Surface, New Study Finds“ A new study suggests Uranus’ moon Miranda may harbor a water ocean beneath its surface, a finding that would challenge many assumptions about the moon’s history and composition and could put…

  • Television: Season Three of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

    I am eager for the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds after season two ended back in August. In season two, we had a chance to meet Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, one more piece of the original Star Trek crew. For a taste of what is to come, take a look at this preview…

  • Weekend Reading: The Health Hazards of Space Travel: Novel Insights from Quantum Biology

    Yesterday’s post highlighted the dangers involved in low-Earth orbit travel, while another earlier posting mentioned a book by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith who wrote “A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?“ Well, the evidence continues to build on the difficulty of space travel…

  • Space Quote: Do Not Take Any “Normal” Operations for Granted

    “When you look at these recent incidents over the last handful of weeks, it does lead one say that it’s apparent that operating safely requires significant attention to detail as hardware ages and the pace of operations increases…Both NASA and SpaceX need to maintain focus on safe Crew Dragon operations and not take any ‘normal’…

  • Pic of the Week: Galaxies Passing in the Night

    This week’s image showing two galaxies – IC 2163 and NGC 2207 – comes from both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. Here is more about the image from Hubblesite.org: The gruesome palette of these galaxies is owed to a mix of mid-infrared light from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and…