March 20th, 2018
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China’s plan to rocket to the Moon the Chang’E-4 mission this year is progressing. If successful, the mission will be the first exploration of the Moon’s far side – touching down at the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin. One overall plan by China is to preliminarily emplace a research station (a set of probe platforms) on […]
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Now available as the third installment of Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist, Jack Schmitt’s Apollo 17: Diary of the 12th Man. The new addition is Chapter 9, “The 12th Man”, with other chapters to follow. This chapter chronicles the moments after touchdown in December 1972 of the Challenger Lunar Module in the Valley […]
Planetary defense specialists have taken a hard look at deflecting Earth-bound asteroids and scoping out the prospects to nudge a massive asteroid. The effort is part of a national planetary defense collaboration between NASA, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which includes LLNL and Los Alamos National Laboratory. […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover has just begun Sol 1995 operations on the Red Planet. In a new report from Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland: “The science team gave Curiosity a workout in this plan, using just about every watt of power available to carry out a full slate of […]
The European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office in Darmstadt, Germany has issued a new update on the expected reentry of China’s Tiangong-1 space lab. In a March 15 issued forecast, the current estimated window is roughly March 30 to roughly April 6, noting that the prediction of the 8.5 ton spacecraft’s fall is highly […]
A new film focused on the Apollo 8 mission in 1968 is set to arrive on Earth Day 2018. The world premier of Earthrise tells the story of the first image captured of the Earth from space in 1968. Told solely by the Apollo 8 astronauts – Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 1994 science tasks. Reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist for Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland: “As we drive east across the top of Vera Rubin Ridge – backwards no less! – we encountered another nice patch of bedrock in Curiosity’s workspace.” That encounter motivated multiple observations […]
NASA is pressing forward on a Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a human-tended facility positioned near Earth’s moon. Several hundred scientists in Denver February 27-March 1, taking part in a Deep Space Gateway Concept Science Workshop, proposing how best to utilize a strategic presence in cislunar space. Making use of a suite of instruments housed within […]
Space Warfighting Readiness: Policies, Authorities, and Capabilities is a March 14 hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee. In opening remarks, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee noted: “First, space is a domain of warfare, not just an enabler. Second, we are falling behind where we should be when […]
A new Start-Up Space report has been issued by Bryce Space Tech of Alexandria, Virginia. This update on commercial space ventures in 2018 examines space investment in the 21st century and analyzes investment trends, focusing on investors in new companies that have acquired private financing. A few highlights: $2.5 billion in 2017: historic number […]
