• Congressional Support for Chandra

    An earlier post discussed efforts to restore funding for the Chandra X-ray telescope, noting that the Save Chandra was established to push Congress to restore funding. Well, it appears some in Congress are listening. On June 6, nine members of Congress wrote to NASA opposing proposed budget cuts to the Chandra X-ray Observatory mission. In…

  • Pic of the Week: Frost on Olympus Mons

    This week’s image is from the European Space Agency (ESA) and shows Olympus Mons on Mars, the tallest volcano in the solar system. Captured by ESA’s Mars Express, it shows water frost close to the planet’s equator, which was unexpected. Colin Wilson, ESA project scientist for both ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Mars Express, stated:…

  • Space Stories: Truncated Artemis III Mission, Origins of a Local Galaxy, and Chandra X-ray Observatory Exoplanet Efforts

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Ars Technica: “As NASA Watches Starship Closely, Here’s What the Agency Wants to See Next“ NASA and SpaceX are planning for the possibility of modifying the Artemis III mission. Instead of landing on the Moon, a crew would launch in the Orion spacecraft and rendezvous with Starship in low-Earth…

  • Space Quote: Starliner a Money Pit for Boeing?

    “The Boeing Starliner is contracted to fly just six crewed missions to the International Space Station compared to 14 for the SpaceX Crew Dragon. If Boeing has any hope of earning back a return on its investment, it has to sell commercial flights of the Starliner, just as SpaceX has the Crew Dragon.” –Editorial by…

  • NASA Exploring Mars Sample Return Options

    With the pending budget cuts at NASA, the space agency is exploring new options for getting soil and rock samples back to Earth from MARs. To do this, NASA is setting it sights on 10 studies to identify new approaches to accomplish this mission, 7 of which come from private contractors and the other 3…

  • Video: Cool Worlds Labs Emphasizes the Need for Greater NASA Funding

    Even with a good space week in hand, we still need to keep an eye on NASA’s budget to maintain a robust set of programs to explore the cosmos. A recent Youtube video by Cool Worlds Labs, “NASA’s in Trouble,” highlights those budgetary issues and focuses on what individuals can do as well, such as…

  • RIP: Bill Anders, Apollo 8 Astronaut

    This week Apollo astronaut Bill Anders, age 90, passed away. He died during a plane crash in Washington state. He was part of an Apollo team that was the first humans to leave low Earth orbit in 1968. He was best known for his Christmas Eve photo of the Earth rising over the surface of…

  • Not Everyone Needs to be Part of the Space Age

    With the recent success of Boeing’s Spaceplan and SpaceX’s Starship, we need to remember that not every country needs to be part of the space age. Fortunately, less that two weeks ago we learned that lesson when North Korea flubbed it launch of a spy satellite that was sure to cause problems. The rocket did…

  • Pic of the Week: Forth Starship Test is a Success

    This week’s image shows the launch of the forth test of SpaceX’s Starship, which went further than any of the tests to date. In it’s summary of the flight, SpaceX noted: Flight 4 ended with Starship igniting its three center Raptor engines and executing the first flip maneuver and landing burn since our suborbital campaign,…

  • Successful Launch of the CST-100 Starliner

    Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner launched earlier today (June 5) on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are now safe in orbit on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). They will dock at the ISS tomorrow…