I had tears in my eyes as I watched the Artemis rocket lift off the pad on April 1st. To leverage the sum of all human knowledge and leave the only place we have evolved to live – it gets me every time. Then, to not only leave the planet, but propel our way to …
I had the best intentions of doing a wrap-up post of 2024 highlights before the end of the year, but the holiday lethargy/turkey coma set in and I didn’t feel particularly inspired to spend more time on the computer. Instead, I squirrelled into books, went on outdoor adventures, played guitar, and spent time with the …
On April 8, 2024, parts of North America will be plunged into darkness for the longest total solar eclipse to hit our continent in around 100 years. A total eclipse itself is only possible by sheer cosmic coincidence – with the Sun’s diameter being 400 times larger than the Moon’s and the Sun being almost …
Almost three years ago, I wrote about “The Little Helicopter That Could” – Ingenuity – the first rotocopter to fly on another planet. The mission would have been considered a success if it just got off the ground (and more ideally performed 5 experimental test flights following), and instead it lasted for nearly 3 years …
Look West about thirty minutes after sunset on March 27 to see a “parade of planets”. Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Mars, and the Moon will be aligned in arc in the evening sky – although you’ll only be able to see Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and the Moon with the naked eye. Grab some binoculars or a …
You don’t need to be a nautical navigator to know what you’re looking at in the night’s sky. Although, looking at the North Star aka Polaris can be helpful according to every survival movie I have ever seen. While many folks can readily recognize constellations like The Big Dipper, Orion’s Belt, and the Southern Cross, there’s …
Seven planets are now aligning in the night sky in a rare conjunction event; Mercury, Venus, Uranus, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, and the Moon, which hasn’t occurred since 2004 and won’t happen again until 2040. And, they are visible in the order they are from the Sun! The five brightest planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, …
The James Webb Telescope’s instruments are now fully aligned and focused! And, according to NASA, the “optical performance of the telescope continues to be better than the engineering team’s most optimistic predictions.” After nearly 25 years of development and a million mile do-or-die unfolding process in space this is music to my ears. To check …
In 8 days time, I will be – by name at least – an alien. That’s when the latest rover lands on Mars, and with it, a microchip containing over 10 million names from Earth. NASA’s Perseverance Rover, which took off in July of last year, is scheduled to touch down on February 18th at …
Here’s a round-up of some cool stuff I enjoyed this week in music, scenery, and space! SCENE STEALERS The stunning images from the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition are well worth a scroll through. I especially love the photo below of Space X exhaust plume above Sierra Nevada (taken by Brandon Yoshizawa.) Do yourself …