• Space Quote: Maryland Delegation Wants NASA to Explain Canceling the OSAM-1 Mission

    “As members of the Maryland Delegation, we write to request information regarding NASA’s decision to cancel the On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) mission on September 4, 2024. OSAM-1 is a space technology mission developed to demonstrate NASA’s capabilities to extend the lifespans of government-owned satellites and other satellites that were not originally built…

  • Pic of the Week: Galactic Emoji

    This week’s image comes from the James Webb Space Telescope. It shows two colliding galaxies creating a unique image from the telescope’s viewpoint. Here is more information about the image from NASA: Smile for the camera! An interaction between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy, collectively known as Arp 107, seems to have given…

  • Television: Last Days of the Space Age

    If you are watching the list of fall shows, you might have noticed Hulu’s upcoming series Last Days of the Space Age. The new drama premieres on October 2, 2024. Here is the summary from Hulu: In 1979, a power strike threatens to plunge the region into darkness in Western Australia, while the city hosts…

  • Space Stories: Axiom Space Struggling Financially, Intuitive Machines Gets $4.8 billion NASA Contract, and Water and Hydroxyl Widespread on Moon

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —ARS Technica: “A Key NASA Commercial Partner Faces Severe Financial Challenges“ Axiom Space is facing significant financial headwinds as the company attempts to deliver on two key commercial programs for NASA—the development of a private space station in low-Earth orbit and spacesuits that could one day be worn by…

  • Study Finding: Gravitational Instability in a Planet-forming Disk

    Nature abstract of the study findings: The canonical theory for planet formation in circumstellar disks proposes that planets are grown from initially much smaller seeds. The long-considered alternative theory proposes that giant protoplanets can be formed directly from collapsing fragments of vast spiral arms induced by gravitational instability—if the disk is gravitationally unstable. For this to be…

  • Space Quote: NASA’s Space Expertise at Risk of Eroding

    “Extreme caution is needed to ensure that NASA’s critical relationships with commercial partners do not erode NASA’s own expertise, particularly in early-phase developmental efforts, and the agency should work to maintain a balance between benefiting from its partners’ capabilities and maintaining advanced internal skills. The report recommends that NASA drastically increase its investment in internal…

  • Do You Have Some Ideas for Lunar or Martian Art?

    Do you have some time on your hands? If so, you may want to toss in a submission to the Moon to Mars contest being held by NASA. Starting this week through October 31, you can submit your artistic interpretation of two topics: “Sustained Lunar Evolution” and “Humans to Mars.” The artist with the best…

  • While We Were Watching Polaris Dawn, Just Another Day for the ISS

    While all eyes were on the Polaris Dawn mission this week, the Russian Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 was busy bringing a crew of three cosmonauts and one US astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS). Crewed and uncrewed launches to the ISS have been pretty routine for years, which is a good thing. NASA reports that…

  • Pic of the Week: The First Commercial Spacewalk

    This week’s image shows the first commercial spacewalk as part of the Polaris Dawn mission launched into space earlier this week by SpaceX. All four crew members were exposed to space as part of the process earlier today, but only two exited the spacecraft. The spacecraft was between 118 to 435 miles above the Earth…

  • So Did NASA Make the Right Call with Starliner?

    So now that the Starliner capsule is back here on Earth, some may wonder if it was necessary to return it without a crew. Here is what Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, had to say during a post-landing press conference: If we’d have had a crew on board the spacecraft, we would…