Topic: In-depth
Closer Look: Commercial Lunar Payload Services

Closer Look: Commercial Lunar Payload Services

The shadow of Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander on the Moon. Space exploration is at a weird point in its development. Some tasks, like launching small and medium-sized satellites to low earth orbit are now as routine as overnight shipping. At the same time, landing things on the Moon somehow seems to be harder than it was in the 1960s, as mission after mission doesn’t quite nail their landing. In this kind of a moment in time, you might expect lanches to be just another contracted activity, while significant research and development money is invested into the innovations necessary to...

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When Asteroids (Don’t) Attack

When Asteroids (Don’t) Attack

Artist's concept of the Hera mission gliding past Didymos to Dimorphos. Image credit: ESA For a hot second back in 2004, it looked like there was a couple percent chance the asteroid 99942 Apophis just might crash into the planet Earth on April 13, 2029. And even if...

Closer Look: Mars is the Future

Closer Look: Mars is the Future

Since Mars Spirit and Opportunity first set down on Mars in 2004, there has been a continuous robotic presence on the Red Planet. The Phoenix and Insight Landers have answered specific questions about Mars composition and interior, while a small herd of rovers have...

Closer Look: Humanity’s Return to the Moon

Closer Look: Humanity’s Return to the Moon

I am a post-Apollo baby. Throughout my entire career, I’ve listened to the stories from senior researchers about how they watched men walk on the moon and thus became astronomers or planetary scientists. Me… I watched science fiction and decided if I wasn’t going to...

Closer Look: The 2024 Carrington Event

Closer Look: The 2024 Carrington Event

On Wednesday, May 8, community member ThirdRock Astronomy brought to my attention a massive sunspot that was growing to resemble the Sunspot that produced the 1859 Carrington Event, which lit the skies with aurora and powered the telegraph grid with induced current. ...