• NASA’s Crew-9 Mission on its Way to the ISS

    Earlier today, NASA contractor SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-9 mission towards the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The two crew members should be aboard the station tomorrow to join the rest of the Expedition 72 crew, who arrived at the station as part of two earlier launches. While some are calling this…

  • Audit Report: Keeping the ISS Afloat is Getting Harder Every Day

    NASA’s Office of Inspect General (OIG) issued an audit report this week, NASA’s Management of Risks to Sustaining ISS Operations through 2030 (IG-24-020), that highlighted the ongoing issues NASA faces to keep the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit as well as plan its decommissioning. The OIG auditors specifically noted concerns regarding (1) repairing and…

  • Pic of the Week: Peeking into Perseus

    This week’s image of a distant nebula with new stars was captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The nebula, NGC 1333, is located in the Perseus molecular cloud, which is about 960 light-years away. Here is more information on the image from the European Space Agency: The centre of the image presents a…

  • Crew-9 Mission Grounded by Weather in Florida

    SpaceX was scheduled to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) tomorrow, but the approaching Hurricane Helene has delayed the launch until Saturday, September 28. The Crew-9 mission is down to two crew members – NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov – as a result of the two Boeing astronauts stuck on…

  • Space Stories: Mars MAVEN Hits 10 Years, a Martian Algorithm Helps Earth, and Enormous Black Hole Jets

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —NASA: “Celebrating 10 Years at Mars with NASA’s MAVEN Mission“ A decade ago, on Sept. 21, 2014, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmospheric and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, beginning its ongoing exploration of the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere. The mission has produced a wealth of data about how…

  • ISS Crew Safely Back from ISS via Russian Spacecraft

    Astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is now safely back on Earth thanks to the Russian Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft, which also returned cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. The no drama return from the International Space Station (ISS) was very different from the recent Boeing Starliner return. The press barely paid attention, which is a good thing.…

  • NASA is Looking for Help with its Upcoming Moon Mission

    With NASA planning to return to the Moon shortly as part of the Artemis mission, it is tying up loose end and figuring out what else it may need. It seems that one of the needed items is a better way to conduct its work at the lunar south pole. This comes down to two…

  • Video: An Argument Against Grabby Aliens

    Check out a recent video from the YouTube channel Cool Worlds titled “Do ‘Grabby Aliens’ Solve The Fermi Paradox?” for an interesting argument against a now popular idea. Grabby aliens, as defined by Google AI, are …a hypothetical type of “loud” alien civilization that are known for inhibiting the development of other technological civilizations in their area…

  • Space Quote: Maryland Delegation Wants NASA to Explain Canceling the OSAM-1 Mission

    “As members of the Maryland Delegation, we write to request information regarding NASA’s decision to cancel the On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) mission on September 4, 2024. OSAM-1 is a space technology mission developed to demonstrate NASA’s capabilities to extend the lifespans of government-owned satellites and other satellites that were not originally built…

  • Pic of the Week: Galactic Emoji

    This week’s image comes from the James Webb Space Telescope. It shows two colliding galaxies creating a unique image from the telescope’s viewpoint. Here is more information about the image from NASA: Smile for the camera! An interaction between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy, collectively known as Arp 107, seems to have given…