• Space Quote: Lunar Trailblazer Mission May be Over Before it Started

    “The Lunar Trailblazer team has been working around the clock to re-establish communications with the spacecraft…NASA sends up high-risk, high-reward missions like Lunar Trailblazer to do incredible science at a lower cost, and the team truly encapsulates the NASA innovative spirit — if anyone can bring Lunar Trailblazer back, it is them.” -Statement by Nicky…

  • Space Stories: Upcoming ESA Exoplanet Mission, Evidence of Early Water in the Universe, and a New Nearby Dwarf Galaxy

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —German Aerospace Center: “PLATO Mission to Launch in Late 2026 Onboard Ariane 6“ On 29 January 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Director of Science, Carole Mundell; ESA’s Director of Space Transportation, Toni Tolker-Nielsen; and Arianespace’s Chief Commercial Officer, Steven Rutgers, signed the launch contract for the ESA PLATO…

  • SPHEREx and PUNCH Missions Delayed

    While NASA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) and Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) missions were expected to launch last weekend, they have been delayed until Thursday, March 6th. The launch will take place from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SPHEREx will…

  • Blue Ghost Lands on Lunar Surface

    Above is the first image shared by the Blue Ghost lunar lander as it touched down on the Moon. Being the first attempt by Firefly Aerospace to land on the Moon, it is an impressive feat. The lunar lander will spend the next 14 days conducting planned experiments on the Moon using the various NASA…

  • Anti-Government Rhetoric Diminishes NASA Employees

    It is a sad day when false slurs from the White House could subject federal employees to harassment from the public. ProPublica writes that NASA employees have been warned to be careful when out in public and not raise any attention to the fact that they work for the federal government. Dr. James Polk, NASA’s…

  • Russian Cargo Heads to the ISS

    While things are still unstable with the Russians here on Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions continue. Yesterday saw the launch of the Progress MS-30 cargo spacecraft from Kazakhstan. The supplies should be at the ISS by late tomorrow. Whatever is happening between the US and Russia with regards to Ukrainian negotiations, it…

  • Athena is On Her Way to the Moon

    Yesterday’s launch of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission carrying the Athena lander was a success. The private sector mission, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, is heading to the Moon to look for water at the lunar South Pole. The launch follows the less successful IM-1 mission from last year with the Odysseus lander.…

  • Pic of the Week: The Far Side of the Moon

    The image above is part of a video taken last week showing the far side of the Moon by Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost spacecraft. The spacecraft is about 120 kilometers above the lunar surface. You can see the video here. Regarding the video, the company noted: In this orbit, the team will experience planned rolling…

  • A Day in Astronomy: Galileo Warned Away from Heliocentrism

    On this day in 1616, on behalf of Pope Paul V, Cardinal Bellarmine ordered Galileo Galilei to abandon his position on the Earth moving around the Sun. The same year saw the banning of Nicholas Copernicus’ book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, which also theorized a heliocentric system. All of this was still…

  • Space Stories: Distant Metalic Mining, Mapping Water on the Moon, and Lunar Cell Phone Service

    Here are some recent stories of interest related to the upcoming Intuitive Machines’ launch to the Moon. —CNN: “A Tiny Spacecraft is Poised to Launch on an Unprecedented Deep-space Mission. The CEO Behind it is ‘Terrified’“ His venture may seem far out, but asteroid mining CEO Matt Gialich has no illusions. The engineer cofounded the bold…