• Pic of the Week: Cosmic Wreath

    This week’s image from NASA showing a cosmic wreath is appropriate for the holiday season. It comes from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope. Here is the full description from NASA: The [image] depicts star cluster NGC 602 in vibrant and festive colors. The cluster includes a giant dust cloud ring,…

  • Space Stories: Solar Probe’s Close Flyby, Cosmic Tunnels, and More Complexities in Planet Formation

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Sky & Telescope: “Parker Solar Probe Swings By Sun in Closest Approach Yet“ NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is about to go where no spacecraft has gone before. A final flyby of Venus last month has sped up Parker for the mission’s next solar perihelion, set to occur on…

  • Christmas Message from the ISS

    The NASA crew from the International Space Station (ISS) wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas in this colorful video. Best wishes to everyone.

  • NASA Accomplishments in 2024

    NASA has plenty of good news to share from 2024, as highlighted in its NASA: Best of 2024 video and accompanying press release. Just a few of these accomplishments include: In February, the first Moon landing through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative brought NASA science to the lunar surface on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C…

  • Books for NASA Foodies

    If you are a foodie and still looking for a holiday gift or just a fun gift, you might want to check out these two space-related books. The first book by Vickie Kloeris, Space Bites: Reflections of a NASA Food Scientist, discusses the thinking that goes into the food prepared for NASA’s astronauts. In this…

  • Pretty Confusing Security Issues with Musk

    I am confused about the role of Mr. Musk at SpaceX. The news is reporting that Mr. Musk may have trouble accessing some of the SpaceX facilities because he lacks a security clearance due to his questionable behavior with drugs and foreign officials. And yet the same reports note that his upcoming job with the…

  • UFO Panic: Someone Needs a Stargazing Class

    The ongoing panic related to drones it getting pretty silly. I am just glad we are not shooting down small airplanes or trying to take out a star system. For example, Maryland’s former Governor Larry Hogan recently claimed to have “personally witnessed” drones outside his house. However, he was actually looking at Orion’s Belt. Maybe…

  • Pic of the Week: Quasar RX J1131-1231

    This week’s image is from the James Webb Space Telescope. It was highlighted in USAToday as one of the best images from 2024. It shows the gravitational lensing of RX J1131-1231, which is a quasar about 6 billion light-years from Earth. Here is more about the image: It is considered one of the best lensed…

  • Space Stories: Firefly Wins Another NASA Contract, Commercial Space Station Progress, and Another Starliner Delay

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Firefly Aerospace: “Firefly Awarded $179 Million NASA Contract for Moon Delivery to Gruithuisen Domes“ Firefly Aerospace, Inc., the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, was awarded an approximately $179.6 million NASA contract to deliver and operate six NASA instruments in the Gruithuisen Domes on the Moon’s near side in…

  • Space Quote: Drone Flights Over Military Locations Said to be Common

    “…there have been a limited number of visual sightings of drones over military facilities in New Jersey and elsewhere, including within restricted air space. Such sightings near or over Department of Defense installations are not new. The Department of Defense takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local…