• Podcast: Getting to Mars and Staying Alive

    If you are interested in the future of humanity on Mars, you may want to tune into Red Planet Radio from The Mars Society. A recent podcast, as well as an upcoming podcast, highlight some things to consider before you pack your bags. Back on June 15, in the podcast titled “Dr. Antonio Paris, Astrophysicist,…

  • A Day in Astronomy: The Tunguska Event

    It was on this day in 1908 that about 800 square miles of forest in Siberia were decimated in what was later attributed to an meteor exploding 3 to 6 miles above the Tunguska River area. As a result of the aerial explosion, no impact crater was created from what was called the Tunguska Event.…

  • Just in Time for Asteroid Day

    Tomorrow we recognize Asteroid Day around the world, but today we witnessed an asteroid coming so close to the Earth that it was within the Moon’s orbit. Asteroid 2024 MK flew past the Earth earlier today with no incident, but it was pretty close. Its closest approach was about 75 percent of the distance between…

  • Where is This? June 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.

  • Pic of the Week: The Dark Doodad Nebula

    This week’s image is from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day website. It shows a dark blur in the night sky caused by interstellar dust. Here is the full description from NASA: What is that strange brown ribbon on the sky? When observing the star cluster NGC 4372, observers frequently take note of an unusual dark…

  • Space Stories: Launch of GOES-U Satellite, Jupiter’s Surprising Atmosphere, and the Role of Black Holes in Dark Matter

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —America Space: “Falcon Heavy Launches, GOES-U Heads for Geostationary Orbit“ SpaceX successfully launched its first Falcon Heavy of the year on Wednesday evening, the triple-barreled booster lifting the 11,000-pound (5,000-kilogram) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-U) almost to Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric…

  • China Successfully Retrieves Moon Rocks

    It was a good day for China as it became the first nation to successfully retrieve a lunar sample from the far side of the Moon. The Chang’e-6 return capsule safely landed in China earlier today following the mission’s start back on May 3. The sample itself departed the Moon’s surface on June 4. Wang…

  • Television: PBS Documentary on Space Travel

    If you are looking for a television show on the hazards of space travel, PBS has created a worthwhile documentary titled Space: The Longest Goodbye. It is playing on your local PBS station as well as online. Here is a little more about the series: NASA’s goal to send astronauts to Mars would require a…

  • Movie: Alien: Romulus Colonizes Our Summer

    So far it has been a pretty boring summer in terms of space-related movies, but that will change in August with the release of next Alien film. That’s right, the Alien franchise is still alive and kicking. Alien: Romulus will be released on August 16th. It will be the seventh film in this series, and…

  • Space Quote: The Starliner Delayed Return Continues

    “We are strategically using the extra time to clear a path for some critical station activities while completing readiness for Butch and Suni’s return on Starliner, and gaining valuable insight into the system upgrades we will want to make for post-certification missions.” –Statement by Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, regarding delays in…