• China Returns to the Far Side of the Moon

    Last Friday, China launched the Chang’e-6 lunar probe towards the moon with the goal of returning the first lunar soil sample from the far side of the Moon. An earlier mission in 2020, Chang’e-5, successfully returned lunar soil samples from the near side of the Moon for the first time in 44 years. Before that,…

  • May the 4th be With You

    I will try to watch my two favorites, The Empire Strikes Back and Rogue One.

  • Audit Report: Is NASA Ready for Artemis II?

    The NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit report earlier this week, NASA’s Readiness for the Artemis II Crewed Mission to Lunar Orbit, that expressed concerns about problems with the Artemis I test flight mission in late 2022. For example, the report noted: …the Artemis I test flight revealed critical issues that need…

  • Pic of the Week: Close-up of the Horsehead Nebula

    This week’s image comes from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It shows a close-up of the well known Horsehead Nebula, which is about 1,375 light years from Earth. The clarity of the many galaxies in the distance makes this an even more amazing image. Here is more about the image from the Webb Space…

  • Space Stories: New Observatory in Chile, Why Exoplanets Spiral Towards their Sun, and Citizens Help Find an Exoplanet

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —University of Tokyo: “New Observatory in Chile—the Highest in the World—Aims to Reveal Origins of Planets, Galaxies and More“ At an altitude of 5,640 meters, the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO), built on the summit of a desert mountain in northern Chile, is the highest astronomical observatory in…

  • Podcast: Crash Course Pods – The Universe

    If you are looking for another podcast on astronomy with some deep ideas, then you will want to tune into Crash Course Pods: The Universe. It’s a discussion between author John Green (Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars) and Dr. Katie Mack, a theoretical astrophysicist and author of The End of Everything (Astrophysically…

  • Original U.S.S. Enterprise Reappears

    You may have thought the original USS Enterprise from the Star Trek series was at the Smithsonian Museum, and you are right. Mostly. In 1974, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum became the proud owner of the 11-foot long USS Enterprise model used in the television series. However, there was another model that was…

  • Where is This? April 28, 2024 Quiz

    Take a look at the image above. Can you determine where this image originated? Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Where is This? The Answer Sheet” page.

  • Space Quote: Preparing for the Boeing Starliner’s Crewed Mission

    “Today was a was a huge day for our Commercial Crew Program…All the (international) partners and then our whole team polled ‘go’ to proceed to the launch on May 6. Not only that, but we (signed) what we call an interim human rating for Starliner for this crewed flight test. … It was a was…

  • NASA Experiences Early Success with its Solar Sail

    On Tuesday, NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System was launched from New Zealand aboard a Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The successful launch was followed shortly thereafter by the deployment of an 80 square meter experimental solar sail. In describing the mission, NASA noted: Like a sailboat turning to capture the wind, the solar sail can…