Updates about the exploration, economic development, and scientific investigation of the Solar System, Galaxy, and Universe beyond our planet
Listening to the Western news media, you would think the world is all chaos, no ordering principle whatsoever. However, stepping back and putting U.S. and European ‘current events’ in context of what’s occurring worldwide, it is easier to see what’s…
Jan. 27 -In 1971, the Apollo 15 crew left a retro-reflector on the Moon. It is a passive instrument, and just reflects laser pulses from Earth back to Earth. The time–very precisely measured–of he return pulse, indicates the distance between…
India’s Mission control center for the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) received confirmation that the spacecraft was in Mars orbit at 10:30 PM EDT yesterday, eliciting cheers from the scientists and engineers, and congratulations from Prime Minister Narenda Modi, who witnessed…
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t is difficult to gain a visceral sense of the immensity of energy involved in an asteroid or comet impact on Earth. Although asteroids and comets can range anywhere from meters to many kilometers in diameter[ref]All sizes of comets or…