• Pic of the Week: Chinese Probe Captures Earth’s Quasi-Moon

    This week’s image comes from a Chinese probe called Tianwen-2. It shows the spinning asteroid 2016 HO3, or Kamo‘oalewa, which is labeled by some of a “quasi-moon” of Earth until it decides to move on. Unlike the actual Moon, this asteroid is simply joining the Earth as it circles the Sun. The asteroid is about…

  • Space Quote: Dealing with Off-Planet Real Estate

    “So, who should have the right to acquire property in space? My answer: those who have the financial means to get there, develop, and use the land. For instance, if SpaceX succeeds in reaching Mars and starts to build permanent settlements on the red planet, then the ownership of land should go to SpaceX first.…

  • A New Crew Arrives at the ISS

    Earlier today, NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina left Russia and arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS). With their arrival, Expedition 74 will come to a close by month’s end and Expedition 75 will begin. The Expedition 74 crew currently on the ISS includes NASA astronauts Jessica…

  • Space Stories: Too Much Satellite Sunlight, Sugar and Spice in Space, and Super Black Satellite Paint

    Here are some recent space-related stories of interest. —Universe Space Tech: “The Earendil-1 Satellite, Equipped with its Large Mirror, Has Caused Discontent Among Astronomers“ The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted approval to Reflect Orbital to proceed with testing its innovative Earendil-1 satellite. This spacecraft features a substantial mirror engineered to redirect sunlight towards…

  • Sci-Fi Stories: Dune & Duncan, The Sixth Nik, and Foundational Theories

    Here are a few sci-fi stories of interest. —Den of Geek: “Dune 3 Trailer Just Revealed the Most Important Character in the Franchise“ It’s not really about Paul Atreides. Paul may be Lisan al-Gaib, he may be the Kwisatz Haderach, but Paul is not actually the main character of the Dune franchise. Instead, that honor goes…

  • Study Findings: Accurate Distances of the Galactic Spiral Arms from Dust-scattered X-ray Emission of Gamma-ray Bursts

    Astronomy & Astrophysics abstract of study findings: The details of the spiral structure of the Milky Way are still debated due to the large uncertainties in the distance estimates obtained through the most common tracers. However, X-ray dust scattering rings produced by short extragalactic X-ray transients provide a direct method to measure the 3D distribution of interstellar clouds…

  • China Also Has a Reusable Rocket

    Earlier today China successfully recovered the first stage of its Long March 10b rocket (as shown above and also in a CNN video). The rocket was launched from Hainan island in southern China.  Up to this point, only SpaceX and Blue Origin have been able to accomplish this feat. This means China is joining the…

  • Pic of the Week: Beauty and the Beast

    This week’s image is from another finalist in the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s annual ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The photo is labeled “Cosmic Neighbours: Beauty and the Beast” by photographers Yijing Zhu and Xinghan Yang. It was taken in Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Here is a description of the photo from the…

  • The Smithsonian Museum’s New Exhibits

    If you are looking for something to do this summer inside an air-conditioned building, you may want to visit the Smithsonian Institute’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC to enjoy some of its new exhibits. On July 1st, a new exhibit called “Discovering Our Universe” opened to the public. It covers the tools…

  • Space Quote: The Taikonauts Are Coming!

    “Well, I would just say, first, it’s not arguably like there- we are very much in a space race right now, and the Chinese are moving at incredible speeds, and they are certainly capable of doing what the Soviets were not during the- the first space race. The Chinese will land their taikonauts on the…