Kepler

Kepler has run out of fuel.  Its mission is over.

During that mission, it found well over 2,000 confirmed exoplsmets, with another 2,000 yet to be confirmed.

WAR OF THE WORLDS

Eighty years ago tonight, Orson Welles' radio version of WAR OF THE WORLDS, as this world was slipping into real war, rattled the nation, reportedly resulting in a few suicides.

Since then, space aliens have become a regular element of American, and world, pop culture.

Old Glenn

John Glenn returned to space this day in 1997.

He was 77.

Mars Cloud

A bright white cloud has been present in the atmosphere of Mars for weeks.

Scientists say it's an ice cloud, made of water vapor.

Perspective

Amazon is reporting quarterly revenues of about $56 billion.

That's nearly three times NASA's annual budget.

Soyuz

The next crewed Soyuz launch is slated for December.

Three unmanned launches are scheduled before that.

Europan Pumes?

Scientists have thought they spotted plumes rising from Jupiter's moon Europa, but research using Galileo data has found no hotspots to power such plumes.

The results are not conclusive, but they are interesting.

Martian Oxygen

A new study suggests that salty underground water on Mars has enough oxygen to support microbial life-- and maybe even simple animal forms.  Such life could even be alive today.

Of course, extant life on Mars would complicate the question of whether humans should colonize the planet.

BepiColumbo

The BepiColumbo mission is on its way to Mercury.

The mission is a joint project of Europe and Japan.

Moon Race

There's a new private Moon rave, joined by ESA and the Mexican Space Agency as well as companies like Blue Origin.

The goal is a lunar landing by 2024.

More Venus

A group outside of NASA. which includes Randa Milliron, CEO of Interorbital Systems, is also looking at sending a manned mission to the high atmosphere of Venus, which in fact is likely the most Earth-like environment in the Solar System beyond Earth.

Milliron has also proposed establishing a floating city in the atmosphere of Venus.

Venus

NASA is looking at a plan to send humans to Venus.  They would not land, but rather float in airships high in the atmosphere.

The technology to fly the mission exists now, but NASA views it as a long range possibility.

Planet Puzzle

Astronomers have found a star only 2 million years old that has four gas giant planets.

How that has happened is unclear.

Paul Allen

Paul Allen, financial muscle behind The SETI Institute's Hat Creek radio telescope array and Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne, has died of cancer.

He was 65.

Cassini

On this day in 1997, Cassini launched to Saturn.

The probe performed brilliantly for years, giving us an entirely new view of the Saturnian system.

Project Blue Book

A dramatic series about Project Blue Book, the U. S. Air Force's UFO investigation, will run on The History Channel.

It's scheduled to debut in January.

Apollo 7

Fifty years ago, Apollo 7, the first Apollo mission, was orbiting Earth.

It was also 476 years after Christopher Columbus discovered his New World.

Soyuz Failure

A Soyiz launch to ISS failed this morning, forcing an emergency landing.

Both men aboard are safe.

Rick Seafross

Astronaut Rick Seafross, veteran of three shuttle flights, has died.

He was 62.

Earthrise

Two lunar craters visible in the iconic EARTHRISE photo taken by Bill Anders on Apollo 8 have been named to honor the mission.  They are "Anders' Earthrise" and "8 Homeward."

This is the 50th anniversary year of Apollo 8.

SpaceX

SpaceX successfully launched a rocket from California and softly landed the booster.

It's a West Coast first.

Rockets

The United Launch Alliance is buying the engine for its next booster from Blue Origin.

It's a major step for the upstart New Space companies.

Lockheed's Lunar Lander

Lockheed Martin is proposing a huge, reusable lunar lander for a future return to the Moon.  The lander would carry up to four astronauts, be based at a space station in lunar orbit, and could serve as a base for up to two weeks.

The lunar lander would be a precursor to the company's proposed Mars lander.

Possible Exomoon

Astronomers may have found the first exomoon, a Neptune-sized body orbiting a Jupiter-sized exoplanet 8,000 light years away.

The pair seems to orbit within the habitable zone of a sunlike star.

Ryigu

A third small rover, this one from Germany, has joined two from Japan on the asteroid Ryugu.

All three hop to rove, and all three are doing fine.

Planet Nine

Astronomers have found objects far out in the Solar System that orbit the Sun in ways that suggest the gravity of a massive, unknown planet is tugging on them.

Such a world so far out would be inconsistent with the current theory of planetary formation.

Dimensions

A new study suggests the universe operates in only three dimensions, supporting Einstein's general relativity.

If there are more dimensions, they are tiny.