Dyson

Freeman Dyson, physicist, thinker, and developer of the Dyson sphere, has died.

He was 96.

Blast

Astronomers have found evidence for the biggest explosion yet discovered.

It seems to have blasted an area as big as 15 Milky Way galaxies.

New Era

On Tuesday, a servicing satellite docked with a satellite in need of fuel.

It was a first for private industry, and opens a new era of lower cost space operations, longer lasting satellites, and dealing with space junk.

SPCE

Virgin Galactic reported a $73 million loss in its first quarter as an publicly traded company.

VG, ticker symbol SPCE, plans to start commercial flights this year.

Life

While NASA, ESA, and Russia focus on Mars in a search for life, some scientists are looking beyond the Sun's habitable zone.

Both Europa and Enceladus are good bets to support life in their subsurface oceans of water.

Marsquakes

NASA's Mars InSight lander has recorded marsquakes.

Mars is seismically active.

Sovereignty

Empires and nations have always been concerned with land-- claiming it and defending it.  With the advent of cannon on naval ships, the legal concept of territorial waters was developed.  The development of military air power brought the countering legal concept of airspace.  In the Space Age, Earth orbit has been declared open to everyone.  In essence, national sovereignty ends with the atmosphere.

So, if nations attempt to lead humanity into space, by what magic will national sovereignty reassert itself on another world?

Pence

Vice President Pence, in a speech this week, urged NASA to pursue returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024 "by any means necessary," including relying heavily on the private sector.

Congress has yet to fully fund the effort.

Financials

According to financial markets, Virgin Galactic is worth about $7 billion.

SpaceX is worth roughly $30 billion.

Perspective

Walmart recently announced quarterly revenues of almost $142 billion.

That's roughly 7 times NASA's annual budget and likely enough too put humans on Mars.

Pluto

Ninety years ago today, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto.

Since then, Pluto has been demoted to dwarf planet status, but it remains a fascinating little world.

SpaceX

SpaceX successfully launched 60 more Starlink satellites this morning.

The rocket's first stage, however, failed to land on the target ship.

Borisov

According to a SETI scan, Comet Borisov, an interstellar visitor to our neck of the woods, is radio quiet.

That doesn't clinch the case for it being a natural body, but it helps.

Shadow Life

A new study finds microenvironments capable of supporting life for short periods may exist seasonally in the shadows of certain boulders on Mars.

On Earth, some microbes hibernate for years waiting for an environment in which they can flourish.

2020 BX12

Astronomers watched a newly discovered asteroid, 2020 BX12. zip by Earth recently and found it has a moon.

About a third of near-Earth asteroids seem to have moons.

Solar Superstorms

A new study suggests solar superstorms may be more common than we thought.

Such an event could down electric grids and render satellites inoperative.

Russia

According to the new US Space Force, two Russian satellites are closely tracking a US spy satellite.

It comes in the context of Russian planes and ships closely approaching their American counterparts.

Iran

Iran's space program lost another satellite Sunday.

The U.S. argues Iran's space program is a cover for the development of ICBMs.

Software

Boeing is having software problems.  A review of its recent failed Starliner mission to ISS shows one software glitch failed to put the craft in the proper orbit, and another could have resulted in a collision in space.

Software issues, of course, have also led to the grounding of the 737 Max after two fatal crashes.

Flammable Ice

Flammable ice, or methane hydrate, has tiny bubbles that can contain life, scientists have found.

It may be another possible home of alien life.

Golf

This date in 1971, Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the Moon.

It went six times farther than it would have on Earth.

State of the Union

President Trump urged Congress to fully fund the Artemis lunar program during his State of the Union address last night.

He also said the first humans on Mars will be Americans.

STAR TREK

Yet another STAR TREK series is being developed.

The franchise is fast approaching sixty years old.

Star Formation

Astronomers have observed a burst of energy they think heralds the formation of a new star.

It might help astrophysicists understand one complete chain of star formation.

Mars In Utah

The Mars Society runs simulated Mars missions at a site in southern Utah.

Currently, it is testing two separate possible habitats.