• Russia Resupplying the International Space Station

    The Russians successfully launched a cargo shipment of food, fuel, and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) earlier today. The Roscosmos Progress 94 spacecraft left the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket. Not everything was perfect, but there is no need to worry. An antenna issue may compromise the unmanned attaching to…

  • Another Take on NASA’s Ability to Maneuver an Asteroid

    While everyone is pretty excited about NASA’s ability to nudge a distant asteroid via its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, there is more than one way to look at this event. While many see this as a new tool to protect the Earth from approaching peril, Carl Sagan saw this it more as a…

  • Happy Spring Equinox!

    A Light Exists in Spring by Emily Dickenson A Light exists in SpringNot present on the YearAt any other period –When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroadOn Solitary FieldsThat Science cannot overtakeBut Human Nature feels. It waits upon the Lawn,It shows the furthest TreeUpon the furthest Slope you knowIt almost speaks to you.…

  • Pic of the Week: Exposed Cranium Nebula

    This week’s images come from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Each image shows a different view of the Cranium nebula depending on the JWST instrument being used. It is also called the “Exposed Cranium” Nebula because it looks like a brain in a see-through skull. Here is a little more from NASA on what…

  • In Case You Missed It: Modern Day Pharaohs Hit a Bump in the Saudi Sand

    While the Middle East is going through a tough time at the moment, to put it mildly, it may be worth remembering the hubris of the region over the years. For example, Saudi Arabia was planning to build a new city in the desert called Neom that would have included a $500 billion 100-mile horizontal…

  • Space Stories: Meteor Shakes Ohio, Executive Order Could Impact Pluto, and Musk May Muck Up Space Again

    Here are some recent space-related stories of interest. —Fox 8 News: “NASA Confirms Boom was 17,000-pound Meteor“ A loud “boom” was reported across Northeast Ohio just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday. People around Northeast Ohio flooded the FOX 8 newsroom with reports of what heard like a “large explosion” lasting several seconds and causing homes and…

  • A Day in Astronomy: First Liquid-Propellant Rocket

    On this day in 1926, Robert Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-propellant rocket in Worcester, Massachusetts. The rocket climbed to about 41 feet and traveled a distance of only 184 feet, but it was a success. After that, he kept the results under his hat for almost a decade. Although in fragile health as a…

  • AI is Impersonating Carl Sagan and Others

    AI can do a number of things well, including astronomy-related tasks, but it also has a tendency to step on toes and steal other peoples creations. This was certainly the case with the editing program Grammarly, which wanted to go beyond simple grammar-related corrections. Instead, it started bragging about how it could edit like various…

  • Space Quote: Possible Chinese Lunar Landing Spot

    “Rimae Bode is a high-priority ‘sweet spot…Think of it as a prime piece of lunar real estate: its location near the equator provides much flatter, safer terrain for landing, along with constant sunlight for power [during the lunar day] and a direct line of sight to Earth for easy communication.” -Statement by Jun Huang, a…

  • Artemis II Reset for April 1 Launch

    It’s a “go,” for now at least, per NASA’s Artemis II Flight Readiness Review. NASA has a small window in April to launch the Artemis II mission (see above), so the plan is for a launch on April 1. The next step is to get the Space Launch System and Orion capsule back onto the…