Space Exploration
Help Wish Buzz Aldrin a Happy 80th Birthday
On January 20th, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin - who was the second man to walk on the Moon and has…
Mars 2016 Methane Orbiter: Searching for Signs of Life
[/caption] The new joint Mars exploration program of NASA and ESA is quickly pushing forward to implement an agreed upon…
Mini Nuclear Reactors Could Power Space Colonies
Growing up on Star Trek, I was always told that space was the final frontier. What they never told me…
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Spaceflight Safety
[/caption] The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Space & Aeronautics held a hearing yesterday on the issue of how…
Kaguya Discovers a Lava Tube on the Moon
[/caption] Future lunar astronauts may want to brush up on their spelunking skills: the first lava tube has been discovered…
Dawn Takes up Residence in Asteroid Belt
The Dawn spacecraft - which is on a course to study the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres - has…
Exploring With an Armada of Autonomous Robots
[/caption] JPL has a fun article on their website detailing what future robotic exploration might entail: an armada of robots…
Book Review: Magnificent Desolation, by Buzz Aldrin
[/caption] I very much enjoyed chatting with Buzz Aldrin a couple of weeks ago, for some stories leading up to…
8 Ridiculous Things Bigger Than NASA’s Budget
Why do we explore? In the days of Magellan, Columbus and da Gama, undoubtedly the average person thought it was…
Life Beyond Earth in 10 Years or Less?
[/caption] Illustration credit: Robert McCall Peter Smith feels pretty certain we'll be finding life on Mars within the next decade. …