August 26th, 2025
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Once again, the Philippine Space Agency has issued an advisory regarding the August 26th launch of China’s Long March 8A booster from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan. The Long March 8A hurled a new satellite group into space early Tuesday, the tenth of its kind that […]
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Launched a few months ago, NASA’s SPHEREx space-based observatory has focused in on that interstellar intruder, object 3I/ATLAS. The spacecraft has found strong water ice absorption and an extended carbon dioxide coma. SPHEREx is short-speak for, get ready and steady – Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer. Sent […]
That secretive U.S. Space Force X-37B space plane in Earth orbit is under surveillance by amateur satellite trackers. The Orbital Test Vehicle-8 (OTV-8), also labeled as USSF-36, was lofted on August 22 and has deployed in Earth orbit a payload dubbed Limasat, probably ejected from the space plane’s service module. That’s the take from sky […]
Nearly half a century has passed since the detection of what’s termed the “Wow! Signal” – a strong, unexplained radio burst captured by Ohio State University’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project in 1977, also known as the “Big Ear.” That Wow! of a cosmic outburst remains one of the most enticing but perplexing mysteries […]
China’s Chang’e-6 Moon sampling mission continues to provide key information on the formation of the Apollo Basin – a huge impact basin on the lunar far side. The new research could help explain the apparent early impact flux during the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB) period of the Moon and the solar system. It has […]
Russia’s Bion-M No. 2 – a unique biosatellite including 75 mice – rocketed skyward from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This “Noah’s Ark” of space also carries 1,000 fruit flies, cell cultures, microorganisms, plant seeds, and other items. Russia’s Soyuz 2.1a booster was used to propel the Bion-M No. 2 into a nearly circular orbit at an […]
I am pleased to report I have received the National Space Club Florida Committee’s 2025 Harry Kolcum News and Communications Award. About the Award: The National Space Club Florida Committee each year recognizes area representatives of the news media and communications professionals for excellence in telling the space story along Florida’s Space Coast and throughout the […]
Mars Guy notes that August 6 of this year marked the 13th anniversary of the NASA Curiosity rover landing on Mars. “It was designed to last at least one Mars year, about 687 Earth days,” Mars Guy explains, “so it’s obviously outperformed all expectations, despite its questionable wheel design.” Go to video at: https://youtu.be/MLE785oPsUw?si=LgtQXUJuB94ovj1C […]
Russia’s Bion-M No. 2 is ready for departure at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It is a “Noah’s Ark” of space, loaded with 75 mice, over 1,000 fruit flies, cell cultures, microorganisms, plant seeds, and other items. Departure time is August 20, at 1:13 AM U.S. Eastern Time aboard a Soyuz 2.1a booster. Zero gravity: as quickly […]
China has made significant progress in its humans-on-the-Moon project, the ability to land two Chinese astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030. On August 15, the first stage propulsion system of the Long March 10 (CZ-10) launch vehicle was successfully conducted at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province, China. A cluster of seven YF-100K […]
