• SpaceX Rockets: The Good and Bad News

    First the good news. SpaceX is able to launch its Falcon 9 rockets following a booster issue last week. That led to the immediate launch yesterday of two back-to-back launches of Starlink satellites. Now the bad news. Russian scientists have reported that SpaceX’s second launch of its Starship rocket last November created a hole in…

  • Space Quote: Elon Musk’s Spat Jeopardizes Starlink Operations in Brazil

    “He can’t go around insulting presidents, insulting deputies, insulting the Senate, insulting the Chamber, insulting the Supreme Court. Who does he think he is?…That guy has to accept the rules of this country, and if this country made a decision through the Supreme Court, he has to comply. If it applies to me, it applies…

  • Movie: Slingshot

    Just in time for the Labor Day weekend, we are offered a new space film that seemed to have had little publicity until it popped onto the scene. The new film Slingshot, starting today and starring Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne, takes us on a trip to Saturn’s moon Titan, or that is the plan.…

  • Pic of the Week: Supermoon Beyond the Temple of Poseidon

    This week’s image comes from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day site. This beautiful photo taken by photographer Alexandros Maragos shows the recent blue supermoon in all its glory with the Temple of Poseidon in Greece in the foreground.

  • SpaceX Grounded Before Start of the Polaris Dawn Mission

    For the second time in two months, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch has had problems, leading to a temporary grounding of the rocket by the Federal Aviation Administration. In the latest case, a rocket booster crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after a successful launch of Starlink satellites. As a result of the malfunction, the…

  • Space Stories: The Search for Super Civilization, Students Sought for Lunar Mission, and Kilonova Seekers

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —SETI Institute: “SETI Institute Starts First Low Frequency Search for Alien Technology in Distant Galaxies“ The SETI Institute, the Berkeley SETI Research Center and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research announced a groundbreaking study using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Western Australia. Led by Dr. Chenoa Tremblay…

  • Where Is This? August 26, 2024 Quiz

    Take a look at the image above. Can you determine where this image originated? Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Where is This? The Answer Sheet” page.

  • Summer Positions at the Vatican Observatory

    Does a summer studying astronomy in Rome sound interesting? If so, you might want to consider applying to be part of an astronomy program at the Vatican Observatory. The 440-year-old institution will be accepting 25 new applicants for the summer 2025 program. Next summer’s program is titled “Exploring the Universe with JWST.” Here is a…

  • Space Quote: NASA’s North Star Means Boeing Astronauts to Return to Earth on SpaceX Capsule

    “Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star…I’m grateful to…

  • Pic of the Week: Sparkling Candy Floss

    This week’s image is from the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows a cluster of stars that are about 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud that orbits our Milky Way. Here is the full story from NASA: A bubbling region of stars both old and new lies some 160,000 light-years away in the constellation…