Musk

Elon Musk says his Starship could be flying to orbit in 6 months.

He also repeated the ultimate goal of building Starship is to establish a self-sustaining city on Mars.

South Pole-Aitken

The largest crater on the Moon,  the South Pole-Aitken basin, was thought to be the result of a collision with a huge, fast object.  A direct hit.

A new study, however, casts doubt on that scenario.  Scientists are searching for an alternative.

Starship

Elon Musk is scheduled to unveil the latest prototype of his Starship rocket tomorrow.

It could be flying commercially in 2021.

Technostructures

Astronomers are looking for technosignatures-- evidence of technological civilizations-- among the stars.

These could range from radio signals to the chemical composition of atmospheres to lasers to megastructures.

Spacesuit

NASA is on track to test its new lunar surface spacesuit on ISS in 2023.

The next lunar landing is scheduled for late 2024.

Contract

Lockheed Martin has secured a $4.6 billion contract from NASA to build moonships.

The target year for the next crewed lunar landing is 2024.

Area 51

Thousands were supposed to storm Area 51 this past weekend.

Only about 200 showed up, and there was no storming.

Kaku

Michio Kaku says the U. S. Navy's admission that some UFOs are real flips the burden from people having to prove UFOs are real to the government having to prove they're not.

He says we have reached a tipping point.

Lunar Find

China's lunar rover has come across an odd substance on the far side of the Moon.

Exactly what it is remains open.

Asteroid Dust

New research suggests dust from an asteroid collision could have helped ignite the explosion of life on Earth that occurred 466 million years ago.

That explosion led to life colonizing the land.

UFOs

According to Tucker Carlson, the US Navy has confirmed to senators that its UFO videos are real.

The USN says it doesn't know what the objects are.

Timetable

NASA aims to land astronauts on the Moon in the second half of 2024.

Given the work that needs to be done before any landing, meeting that target will be a challenge.

Interstellarr Comet

Scientists likely have found their first interstellar comet cutting through this solar system.

They'll be able to study it for more than a year.

Expandable Module

NASA is ground testing Bigelow Aerospace's giant expandable space station module.

BA is targeting the module for NASA's proposed lunar gateway, for starters.

Flashing Black Hole

Astronomers have found a black hole in a distant galaxy that flashes 100 times brighter every nine hours.

They don't know how.

Io

Researchers suggest Io might not have a subsurface magma after all.

They say Io's atmosphere's interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere could account for the moon's volcannsm.

K2 18b

Scientists have found a world about 110 light years away, K2 18b, that has water vapor, and possibly even water rain, in its atmosphere.

It's also in the habitable zone of its red dwarf.

Asteroids

Three asteroids whipped past Earth yesterday.

None came closer than the Moon.

Strange Pattern

Astronomers have found a strange pattern in X-ray bursts coming from a neutron star.

The best explanation is that the neutron star is in a binary system, and its partner is tugging on it, creating a regular wobble.

India

India's first attempt to land on the Moon has apparently failed.

There was a loss of signal, which likely resulted from a crash.

Dorian

NASA reports no damage to the Kennedy Space Center from Hurricane Dorian.

Dorian is now bedeviling North Carolina.

2000 QW7

A huge asteroid, 2000 QW7,  will come within 3 million miles of Earth next week.

Were it to hit Earth,  it would cause a major catastrophe.

Tiny Explorers

Researchers are building insect-sized robots that could explore other worlds in swarms.

They could jump or fly, depending on the world.

Hurricane Dorian

NASA is shutting down the Kennedy Space Center until Hurricane Dorian passes.

The famed VAB is being used to shelter important equipment.