• A Day in Astronomy: Launch of the Spitzer Space Telescope

    On this day in 2003, NASA launched the Spitzer Space Telescope to conduct infrared astronomy. Spitzer continued to operate until January of 2020. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) noted some of the triumphs of the space telescope, including: An impressive list of accomplishments for any telescope. You can read more about Spitzer at this NASA mission website as…

  • Pic of the Week: Another View of the Far Side of the Moon

    This week’s image is an shot of the far side of the Moon captured by India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which landed on the Moon yesterday. This was part of a set of photos posted to Twitter by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The various images were used by the spacecraft as it attempted to find…

  • “India Is on the Moon”

    Now that is a clear message from S. Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on the lunar surface at  8:34 am ET today. India is now the fourth nation to land on the moon, not that other nations haven’t tried. This victory is all the sweeter following Russia’s…

  • We Await the Indian Moon Landing

    We are down to one spacecraft approaching the Moon’s south pole – India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, which is expected to land as early as tomorrow. This is India’s second try for a Moon landing after the loss of Chandrayaan-2, so fingers crossed. Chandrayaan-1 also sent a probe that impacted the Moon, but that was the plan. We…

  • Luna-25 Fails to Land (Properly) on the Moon

    The message from Roscosmos was pretty bland: During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the maneuver to be performed with the specified parameters. Translated into normal speech, we learned that Luna-25 crashed during its attempted landing on the lunar surface. This is a blow for Russia…

  • A Day in Astronomy: The Launch of Voyager 2

    On this day in 1977, NASA launched the Voyager 2 space probe from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida to study the solar system’s outer planets as well as interstellar space beyond the Sun’s heliosphere. The Voyager 2 space probe is still talking to us as it continues its journey beyond the planets with a special message…

  • Space Quote: If You Build It…Don’t Forget to Maintain It

    “On average we have a $250 to $260 million dollar annual maintenance gap…Unplanned failures can have mission impacts, and the last thing we want to do is affect Artemis or some other significant mission.” -Statement by NASA Facilities and Real Estate Division Director Eric Weiser regarding the maintenance of NASA’s infrastructure, as reported in The…

  • A New View of the Moon

    The first images from Russia’s Luna-25 mission have arrived. They show the far side of the Moon permanently hidden from those of us here on Earth. The spacecraft is now orbiting the Moon, which was last done by the Russians back in 1976. The lander is expected to be on the lunar surface this Monday…

  • Pic of the Week: Cape Byron Lighthouse Moonrise

    The winners of the Australia Geographic astronomy photography contest have been named, and the photo above is one that won honorable mention in the Nightscapes Category, “Cape Byron Lighthouse Moonrise” by Kevin Hennessey. Here is a little more about the impressive image: The full moon rises behind the Cape Byron Lighthouse at the most easterly…

  • Space Stories: The End of Arecibo, Early Black Holes, and Habitable Red Dwarf Exoplanets

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Scientific American : “Arecibo Observatory Shuts Down Its Science“ After weathering hurricanes, earthquakes, budget cuts and a pandemic-induced shutdown, the iconic Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico closed its doors on 14 August. After its main instrument collapsed two years ago, the site was supposed to shift from carrying out astronomy and other…