March 8th, 2026
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China’s Shenlong (“Divine Dragon”) space plane launched from the country’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on February 6 and continues on its fourth-ever orbital mission. What’s up with this mysterious winged craft, a vessel very similar to the U.S. Space Force X-37B robotic space plane, also now zipping around Earth on its […]
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That menacing meanie of a space rock — Asteroid 2024 YR4 — was identified last year as the most dangerous asteroid discovered in the last 20 years. An early and intense international observation campaign reduced the risk of this asteroid impacting the Earth as zero. However, a 4% impact probability remained that the object […]
The NASA Authorization Act of 2026 has been unanimously passed, legislation that authorizes a first permanent Moon base. The Act also rejects President Trump’s budget cuts of the space agency, and extends the International Space Station (ISS) while supporting future commercial space stations. On March 4, S. 933, the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025 […]
Back on blastoff day late last year, a Russian Soyuz rocket launched a three person crew toward the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. But there was more “blast” to the November 27, 2025 liftoff than intended. That takeoff impacted the pad at Baikonur — Russia’s only active send-off site to support crewed […]
Mars Guy investigates a new finding from the NASA Curiosity Mars rover – tiny parallel lines. Curiosity uses an autonomous targeting system to look for interesting features for its laser-powered Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument to shoot at. The rover recently targeted a spot that displays tiny parallel lines that don’t look natural. “Spoiler alert: […]
The China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) has released an official announcement regarding this year’s planned activities. In 2026, the country’s human space program will further advance two major missions: space station application and development, and manned lunar exploration. “Aiming to achieve China’s first lunar landing before 2030,” the CMSEO stated, “the development and construction […]
It was quite the day! How best to troubleshoot NASA’s Moonshot program? NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman revealed on February 27 a reconfigured plan for the Artemis program. In sweeping “wait-a-minute” style, Isaacman spelled out a new plan that increases the cadence of launches and adds a step-by-step initiative of an Earth-orbit test flight before […]
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter wildly exceeded every expectation for its performance. Initially intended to demonstrate whether an autonomous helicopter could fly on Mars, one of its navigation processors is now helping guide the NASA Perseverance Mars rover at Jezero Crater. “Ingenuity’s surprising success on Mars led to an unexpected application,” explains Mars Guy. “Its navigation […]
It has been billed as China’s first emergency operation in the country’s human spaceflight program. Crew members of the Shenzhou-20 mission recently detailed their reactions in finding cracks on their return capsule viewport. Chen Dong, commander of the Shenzhou-20 crew, first noticed the damage to the window while conducting final checks on the return […]
China’s first Mars mission, Tianwen-1, landed in southern Utopia Planitia. The mission’s lander deployed the Zhurong rover following a soft landing on the Red Planet on May 14, 2021. Zhurong was outfitted with a Mars Rover Penetrating Radar (RoPeR). Output from the ground penetrating gear indicates that a model incorporating dirty ice mixed with stones […]
