A four-tonne upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is projected to collide with the Moon on August 5, 2026, according to calculations by astronomer Bill Gray of Project Pluto. While lunar impacts occur frequently, NASA scientists consider the chances of observing this specific, unplanned event from Earth to be extremely low. The Mechanics … Read more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved an application from Reflect Orbital to launch Eärendil-1, a satellite designed to reflect sunlight back to Earth. The satellite, roughly the size of a bedside table, will orbit 400 miles above the surface and use a 60-foot mirror to illuminate three-mile-wide patches of ground on demand, a move … Read more
NASA plans to conduct the first-ever combustion experiments on the lunar surface through the Flammability of Materials on the Moon (FM2) project. According to NASA, these tests aim to determine how fire behaves in the moon’s gravity—roughly 16.667% of Earth’s—to establish safety protocols for future Artemis missions and permanent lunar bases. Why Lunar Gravity Creates … Read more
July features several rare astronomical events, including a Mars-Uranus conjunction on July 4 and Earth reaching aphelion on July 6. Stargazers can also observe lunar conjunctions with Saturn, Mars, and Venus, followed by a full moon and Jupiter’s solar conjunction on July 29, according to astronomical data from NASA and the College of Southern Idaho. … Read more
A lunar occultation occurred on Wednesday, June 17, when the Moon passed directly between Earth and Venus, temporarily concealing the planet from view across much of North America. According to Rob Wright Images via Storyful, the event was visible in daylight across the contiguous United States, southern Canada, northern Mexico, and parts of the Caribbean … Read more
Artemis II Sets Course for Deep Space, Igniting the Human-Robot Space Race NASA’s Artemis II mission, set to launch from Kennedy Space Center, marks humanity’s first return to deep space since the Apollo era, according to a NASA statement. This crewed flight around the Moon will test technologies critical for future Mars exploration, as reported … Read more
Scientists have identified a massive, dense anomaly buried hundreds of miles beneath the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken basin, a discovery that suggests a violent origin for the lunar surface’s largest scar. According to research published in Geophysical Research Letters, the mass—weighing at least 2.18 × 10¹⁸ kilograms—likely consists of metallic debris from an ancient asteroid impact … Read more
SpaceX IPO: How the $2 Trillion Debut Reshapes the AI and Space Race SpaceX shares closed nearly 20 percent higher on their Nasdaq debut Friday, raising more than $75 billion and pushing the company’s market valuation above $2 trillion. This record-breaking initial public offering makes Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire and signals a potential … Read more
Planetary scientists have identified evidence of a massive asteroid impact on the Moon occurring 3.5 billion years ago, providing a vital timeline for the bombardment of the inner Solar System. By analyzing the lunar meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 12593, researchers led by Dr. Carolyn Crow at the University of Colorado, Boulder, linked this lunar event … Read more
From Footprints to Wheelprints: The Dawn of the Lunar Economy For decades, lunar exploration was defined by the “flags and footprints” era. The Apollo missions were spectacular, but they were essentially high-stakes sprints—short, intense bursts of human presence followed by total departure. Today, we are witnessing a fundamental paradigm shift. We are moving from a … Read more