• Space Quote: Message in a Bottle to the Universe

    “This Voyager spacecraft was constructed by the United States of America. We are a community of 240 million human beings among the more than 4 billion who inhabit the planet Earth. We human beings are still divided into nation states, but these states are rapidly becoming a single global civilization. We cast this message into…

  • Is Blue Origin Ready to Challenge SpaceX?

    Sometime next week, Blue Origin is expected to launch its New Glenn rocket, which could put it back in the running as a true challenger to SpaceX for space launches. I know, we already heard this story about Boeing’s Starliner challenging Space’s Dragon capsule, but this may be different. Per the last posting on Blue…

  • Looking Back at What Did Not Work in 2024

    It is worthwhile reflecting on all of the space successes in 2024, though if we believe we learn from our mistakes then it would seem the mission shortcomings are worth highlighting as well. Fortunately, Live Science has prepared a list for our review. Its article “10 Times Space Missions Went Very Wrong in 2024” includes…

  • Pic of the Week: Spiral Galaxy NGC 2566

    This week’s image is from the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows the bright and colorful spiral galaxy NGC 2566, which is about 76 million light-years away. Here is a little more about the image from NASA: A prominent bar of stars stretches across the center of this galaxy, and spiral arms emerge from each end…

  • Space Stories: Support for the Near Space Network, Another Interesting Exoplanet, and Firefly Gets Fourth Lunar Contract

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Satnews: “NASA Selects Four Commercial Companies to Support Near Space Network“ NASA has selected multiple companies to expand the agency’s Near Space Network’s commercial, direct-to-Earth capabilities services, which is a mission-critical communication capability that allows spacecraft to transmit data directly to ground stations on Earth. The work will be…

  • Happy New Year!

  • 2024 Space Hightlights – Missions

    Another list worth highlighting at year-end covers all of the space missions from 2024. For example, this list from Freethink, “the top 10 space stories of 2024,” includes the launch of the Europa Clipper, China’s Chang’e 6 round-trip to the Moon, and a successful commercial launch to the Moon (Odysseus lunar lander). Here are some…

  • 2024 Space Hightlights – Images

    It’s that time of year to list some of the most interesting space-related events and images from 2024. To start the list, here are “the best space images of 2024” from Universe Space Tech, including the image shown above. If you want to see more amazing images, check out: EarthSky.org (see image below) Popular Science…

  • Astronomy Question: Marriage in Orbit

    Multiple Choice: The first person to be married while orbiting the Earth was of what nationality? And in what spacecraft where they when the marriage occurred? A. An American astronaut in an Apollo spacecraft.B. A Russian cosmonaut in the Mir space station.C. An American astronaut in the International Space Station.D. A Russian cosmonaut in the International…

  • Space Quote: The Workings of Our Sun

    “Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star…By studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the…