• Good Article: Looking Ahead in Astronomy

    Astronomy magazine has a good article titled “Predictions for the Next 50 Years of Astronomy.” Five astronomers provide their ideas about what we might experience in the field of astronomy in the 2070s. For instance, S. Alan Stern, a planetary scientist and member of the U.S. National Science Board, had this prediction: By the ’70s, I…

  • Television: Another Star Wars Series Comes to Disney+

    If you thought that Disney had run out of Star Wars series ideas, you are far from the mark. The past few series have pulled a variety of stories from the movies, be it The Mandalorian or The Book of Boba Fett. However, the new series Ahsoka comes from the animated The Clone Wars series…

  • Space Quote: What’s the Launch Date for Artemis III?

    “We really are trying to get in the details of that schedule because when we come up with a date, December of 2025, or whatever that date might be, we want to have confidence for our teams, that we all have a realistic path to get there.”  -Statement by Jim Free, NASA associate administrator of…

  • Virgin Galactic: Tourism has Started

    We knew the day was coming, and it took place this week. Virgin Galactic is now open for business for interested space tourists. Virgin Galactic’s “Galactic 02” mission brought six individuals into space on Thursday, which included three private passengers. Each of these passengers is believed to have paid between $250,000 to $450,000 per seat…

  • Russia Returns to the Moon

    Russia’s Luna-25 mission has begun with the successful lift-off of the Soyuz 2.1 rocket yesterday (2:11 a.m. on Friday Moscow time or Thursday at 7:10 pm EDT). After its planned arrival on August 21, Luna-25 will be searching for water at the lunar south pole. The mission was off and then on again over the years…

  • Pic of the Week: Glowing Galaxy NGC 6684

    This week’s image is from NASA/European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope. It shows the glowing galaxy NGC 6684, which is around 44 million light-years from Earth. This oddly shaped galaxy is explained on the ESA’s website: Lenticular galaxies like NGC 6684 (lenticular means lens-shaped) possess a large disc but lack the prominent spiral arms…

  • Space Stories: Fast-Spinning Martians, Artemis 3 Mission Issues, and an Ancient Star Cluster

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Space.com : “Mars is Spinning Faster and its Days are Getting Shorter. Scientists Aren’t Sure Why“ The length of Mars’ day is shortening by three-quarters of a millisecond each year as the planet’s rotation spins up, according to new results from NASA’s InSight lander…Planetary scientists are not entirely sure why this…

  • Television: Singing with Star Trek

    If you are following Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, then you may have already encountered episode 9 of the second season, titled “Subspace Rhapsody.” Should you have missed it, then you are in for a treat because this is the first Star Trek musical episode. And it is fun. For just a taste, check out…

  • Space Quote: NASA Funding May Not Be What You Think It Is

    “While NASA’s programs are very popular and highly visible, we really don’t spend much on our space agency. In 2022, the U.S. treasury took in revenues of $4.9 trillion and then charged up another $1.4 trillion so it could spend a whopping $6.3 trillion. Of that largesse NASA received an historically generous appropriation of $24…

  • Where is This? August 6, 2023 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.