SPARROW

JPL is looking at sending flocks of tiny probes to explore icy moons and powering them using steam.

The project, still only in the concept stage, is called SPARROW.

Flashimg Black Holes

Astronomers observing the collision of two black holes last year also saw a flash of light.

They're not sure of the explanation.

Space Adventures

Space Adventurres has purchased two seat aboard a Soyuz to fly tourists to ISS in 2023.

The package includes one spacewalk. a first.

VG

Virgin Galactic has completed its second gliding test flight over New Mexico.

VG plans to start commercial flights soon.

UFO

TUCKER CARLSON reports a U. S. Senate committee is pushing the Pentagon to release all its data on UFOs.

We'll see what happens.

Artemis 3

On Artemis 3, the mission to land astronauts on the Moon in 2024, the crew will have to walk wherever it goes on the surface.

Sophisticated rovers will be used later in the program.

Astronaut Training

Virgin Galactic is teaming with NASA to train private astronauts for orbital spaceflight.

VG, of course, is not offering orbital spaceflight.

Pluto

New research suggests Pluto may have had an underground water ocean from the start.

With water and an energy source, life way out there is a possibility.

HOP 383

Astronomers have observed X-ray bursts from HOP 383, a young star similar to our Sun.

Studying HOP 383 could tell us something about the earliest period of our Solar System.

Airburst

New research suggests an airburst explosion of a comet fragment destroyed a human settlement 13,000 years ago.

The fragment was likely one of several to hit Earth that day.

Trident

NASA is considering sending a probe to Neptune's moon, Triton.

Trident would launch in 2025 and arrive in 2038.

Starshiip

Elon Musk tweeted recently his Mars colonization flights might launch from offshore platforms.

The huge Starship booster that will launch the Mars ships could be operational next year.

Titan

Scientists think they have found dry lake beds on Titan.

That would show Titan's climate changes over time.

Standard Model

New research calls into question the standard model of the universe.

The research got a different value for the Hubble Constant, which would require a rethinking of cosmology.

Switching Services

More than 8,500 U. S. Air Force personnel have applied to switch to the new U. S. Space Force.

Army and Navy personnel will be eligible to apply in 2022-23.

Dust

A new study suggests dusty planets might be more likely homes of life.

Dust in an atmosphere tends to moderate temperatures.

Quantum Stuff

Scientists have created Bose-Einstein condensates on ISS.

That will allow study of the quantum realm under microgravity conditions.

Titan

New research indicates Titan is moving away from Saturn at a rate of 4.3 inches a year.

That's 100 times faster than thought.

Particle Collider

Putting a particle collider on the Moon is being proposed.

Such a collider would take advantage of lunar assets like the cold and the vacuum.

Life

A new paper using Bayesian analysis suggests life may emerge quickly if we replayed Earth history, but intelligence might not emerge at all.

The paper focuses strictly on Earth.  It says nothing about other planets.

Gateway

NASA has awarded the contract to design the habitat module of Gateway, its Moon-orbiting space station, to Northrup Grumman.

NASA sees Gateway as key to human exploration of both the Moon and Mars.

Blast

Astronomers using Hubble have found evidence of a titanic blast in the middle of our galaxy 3.5 million years ago.

The explosion was so powerful it would have lit up gas clouds in neighboring galaxies.

Falcon 9

The Falcon 9 rocket first flew to orbit ten years ago today.

It has become the workhorse of the SpaceX fleet.

Mars

New research suggests Mars' moons go through cycles-- breaking up to form rings around Mars, reforming into moons,and breaking up again.

It's quite a theory.

Dinosaurs

New research using computer models suggests the rock that ended the dinosaurs' reign hit at the worst possible angle for life.

Seventy-five percent of all life on Earth was destroyed.

Demo-2

The Demo-2 Crew Dragon has successfully docked at ISS.

So far, it's a remarkable achievement.