Speeding Up NASA

In a report accompanying the recent spending bill, Congress directs NASA to speed up development of a deep space habitat module.

Such a module is key for missions to Mars, for example.

Europe To The Moon

Europe is building international momentum and relationships to support establishing a manned base on the Moon.

The plan calls for human missions in the early 2020s and a base in the 2030s.

Skylon

The British Skylon spaceplane, designed to take off and land like a conventional aircraft while still reaching low Earth orbit, is on track for unmanned test flights starting in 2025.

The project could revolutionize both space travel and long-distance air travel.

Billion Dollae Success

The new STAR WARS movie has taken in a billion dollars faster than any other film.

There's probably plenty more in the pot, too.  It opens in China January 6.

Finding More Earths

Astronomers have found a rocky world a few times more massive than Earth orbiting a low-mass star that has a low metals content-- a bit of a surprise.

It suggests Earth-like worlds may be more common than thought.

Star of Bethlehem

It's a Christmas tradition that some astronomer tries to explain what the Star of Bethlehem actually might have been.  That sort of misses the point.

The point of the story is that the Star heralded a special birth.  It was a supernatural, not a natural, object.  As such, it is outside the realm of astronomy.

Iffy InSight

The InSight mission to Mars, scheduled to launch next year, has been delayed and may be cancelled due to equipment failure.

NASA says the problem won't affect its overall Mars plans.