Sep 17, 2021 | Daily Space, Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Sky Watching, Venus
Research into the Toba caldera and its super-eruption 75,000 years ago shows that magma continued to flow out of the volcano for thousands of years after the main eruption event. Plus, magma and volcanoes throughout our solar system as well as our weekly What’s Up segment.
Sep 16, 2021 | Daily Space, Random Space Fact, Rockets, ROSCOSMOS, Soyuz, Space China, Space History, Spacecraft, SpaceX, Starlink
The Rocket Roundup this week features two Chinese launches, including one we couldn’t cover last week, a Russian military satellite launch, and some more Starlink and OneWeb internet satellites. Plus, this week in rocket history, we discuss a groundbreaking mission that sent humans farther from Earth than ever before: Gemini 11.
Sep 10, 2021 | Asteroids, Daily Space, Dark Matter, Galaxies, Mercury, Sky Watching, White Dwarfs
Using a simple model based on granular physics, like those used for modeling sand or sugar deposits, scientists have recreated the diamond shape of asteroids Ryugu and Bennu in computer simulations. Plus, the origins of loner dwarf galaxies and this week’s What’s Up.
Sep 9, 2021 | Blue Origin, Daily Space, Random Space Fact, Rockets, Soyuz, Space China, Space History, Spacecraft, SpaceX
Our Rocket Roundup is a launch bonanza, with launches from Arianespace, China, Blue Origin, Astra, SpaceX, and Firefly. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the Luna 16 mission, which included the first successful robotic sample return from the Moon.
Sep 8, 2021 | Asteroids, Astrobiology, Climate Change, Daily Space, Earth, Exoplanets, Galaxies, Mars, Neutron Stars / Pulsars, Our Solar System, Perseverance, Supermassive Black Holes, Supernovae, Very Large Array
Hycean worlds have hydrogen-rich atmospheres and are covered in oceans, making them prime candidates for the search for life outside our own solar system. These worlds are also more numerous and easier to find than Earth-like exoplanets. Plus, an update on the search for Planet 9 and how volcanoes may provide a climate safety valve.
Aug 24, 2021 | Comets, Curiosity, Daily Space, Earth, Mars, Perseverance, Review
New research has pinpointed small, violent faults caused by the breakup of an ancient supercontinent as the potential cause of a major loss in the rock record of the Grand Canyon, known as the Great Unconformity. Plus, using sky mapping tools to find earthly tombs and a review of Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary.”