March 7th, 2024
Author: 
A nearly 3-ton leftover tossed overboard from the International Space Station years ago is nearing its plunge toward Earth. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief, National Warning Center 1 in Bonn, Germany issued this information: “Between midday on March 8th and midday on March 9th, a larger space object is expected […]
Posted in 
There is residual fallout from the recent nosedive to Earth of the European Remote Sensing satellite, ERS-2. Following its launch in April 1995, ERS-2 ran for nearly 16 years of observing the Earth. On February 21, the uncontrollable 2.3 ton spacecraft plowed through the Earth’s atmosphere to its demise in ocean waters. Cruise ship diversion […]
In February, Uruguay became the 36th country to sign the Artemis Accords, a set of non-binding principles to spawn responsible actions on the Moon. The Accords were established in 2020, formulated by NASA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State. Since that time, there’s been a steady pace of countries inking the Artemis […]
Multiple nations are targeting the Moon as an off-Earth, snug and cozy camper spot for ever-longer stays of human visitors. For NASA, getting a literal “leg-up” on the lunar landscape once again via its Artemis program is highly touted as the way to tromp and train for marching on to Mars. Playing nice Antarctica is […]
The Shenzhou-17 crew members on China’s space station carried out a second spacewalking mission on Saturday. Crew members Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin collaborated with the ground team to complete all planned tasks and returned to the space station during the 8-hour extravehicular activities. Tang Shengjie remained inside the station’s core module. He […]
China is now in an “accelerated pace” to realize the goal of the country’s first crewed landing on the Moon by 2030. One aspect of that pedal to the metal mode for lunar exploration is China’s next robotic lunar lander – the Chang’e-6. Reportedly departing in May, the Chang’e-6 is headed for a landing in […]
“We can clearly say that the dawn of radio astronomy from the Moon has begun!” That’s the word from Jack Burns, a University of Colorado/Boulder astrophysicist. He is a co-investigator on the ROLSES instrument now on the Moon courtesy of the Intuitive Machines lunar lander, Odysseus. ROLSES stands for Radio wave Observation at the Lunar […]
The EagleCam was ejected from the Intuitive Machines (IM-1) Moon lander – but from its landing spot some 13 feet (4 meters) away, no images of the landed craft have been transmitted. Either in camera or in the Wi-Fi signal back to the lander, something might not be working correctly, explained Intuitive Machines […]
“Another day of exploration on the south pole region of the Moon.” Those are the upbeat words today from the Intuitive Machines flight controllers as they continue to communicate with their troubled Odysseus lunar lander. “This morning, Odysseus efficiently sent payload science data and imagery in furtherance of the Company’s mission objectives,” explains a posting […]
While Intuitive Machines continues to deal with its crippled Moon lander and technical hiccups, the private group is readying its next lunar lander for launch this year. Building off its Nova-C class lunar lander design, IM-2 is targeted for another shot at the Moon’s south pole – but this time, the spot of choice is […]
