There is now so much happening in Space from the establishment of the ISS to a planned human mission to Mars. That a dedicated page is being set aside just for this.
A new type of engine is being developed, which will allow man to utilise space as never before. Many new aircraft spaceships will be developed and built in this century, which will change aviation as we know it.
People living on Mars will also be achieved this century, while a manned mission with robot craft will be attempted to other moon, asteroids and planets in the solar system.
Saturday 7th September 2024.
Saturday 24th August 2024.
Commercialism is killing Space!
Both Boeing and NASA are in a feud over their trapped space crew that they cannot get back, the U.S. is again proving to be too proud to ask Russia for help, while engineers have refused to repair the Boeing vehicle, but rather not do anything?
It is a strange place to be in after seventy years into the space-race, we are squabbling over equipment failures rather than trying to fix and have a priority to rescue the crews!
If this is to be the future of space travel, trapped on the Moon and Mars, does not give us much hope for exploration to other moons of the gas giants and out to Pluto, unless we stay the course with robotic A.I. Probes?
Saturday 10th August 2024.
Still stuck in Space?
Why oh why cannot the U.S. Administration just ask the Russians to help instead of trying to start world-war III, because lame duck Joe wants to be a historical figure at the cost of millions of lives!
Boeing again has failed and no one seems to know why, no one has even bothered to investigate what is the issue so the International Space station now has a new unwanted module and the mental health of the crew is to be tested?
Saturday 27th July 2024.
Echoes of Viking-1/2.
With the recent discoveries made on Mars, of sulpher, one would think this is a serious breakthrough, but it was already known with the first two Martian lander's back in the 1970's and the rejection of claims by a NASA scientists that he had found microbial fossilized life on the planet!
Now we are repeating our selves in the hope that if Trump is re-elected he will continue to finance the exploration of the planet and the money for more robots fitted with helicopters?
Trump is keen on working with Elon Musk to put people on the Moon, planets and build a inter-stellar spaceship!
Saturday 13th July 2024.
Stuck in Space?
Another problem for Boeing their Star-link cannot unlock from the International Space station and the U.S. President Biden refuses Russia to evacuate them!
Some of the crew may be suffering mental issues at this time and sleepy Joe, seems himself not to be with the who concept of scientific cooperation, with his obsession over the Ukraine and everything Russian?
Saturday 29th June 2024.
Strange compound found in return Samples
An element that could be left by space debris, but if it is not then the whole current world accepted theory of the creation of our Moon will go down the scientific drain?
This may be a momentary deflection as to the true nature of water being found and the U.S. failure to understand that China and Russia are leading the space race!
Saturday 15th June 2024.
France working with China!
After China got to the south pole of the Moon and has returned water samples, the door for the space race is now underway for our Solar System!
In the next hundred years we will see bases on our Moon, Mars and others Moons of the gas giants and also the Asteroid belt, with missions to other places perhaps being launched from Mars to Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, if not further a field?
Water is an essential for life in Space, for making hydrogen and others much needed things, Russia and China will lead the way with the U.S. and Europe following behind!
Saturday 1st June 2024.
A busy week for Space?
The cancellation of Space X again, Solar flares causing Internet and communications disruption and China landing a Robotic probe on the dark side of the Moon to search for water Ice and return samples!
Boeing and Space X have constant safety issues with the launch vehicle, while their reputation for quality is fast disappearing and the U.S. despite all the politics over the Ukraine still has to rely on Russia for connecting to the International Space Station?
Meanwhile Solar activity may bring the Northern lights to many, its interference on Earth was kept quiet for two weeks in fear of hacking and other activity that could start a world war!
China has landed were many recent missions have failed and we look forward to see what they discover and if they can return to Earth with soil and ice samples?
Saturday 18th May 2024.
Observing Neptune.
Using the Hubble telescope is a cheaper way for now to observe Neptune's weather and its dark spot and in recent years much has been seen to this more than thought dynamic cold gas giant world that the James Webb has also taken over at times to get a clearer image of the activity!
For now the telescope's are cheaper that sending a robotic mission, but it is believes that work is underway to put a robot craft on Triton one of the gas giants largest Moons?
And billionaire Elon Musk is keen to study the Moons of Uranus, while also piggybacking a mission on to Neptune!
Sunday 3rd March 2024.
First mission in 52 years to the Moon was a flop!
The lander crashed onto its side and lost transmission for a while, but it was a bit of hit and miss with it and now I believe it has been abandoned?
With recent International missions, it seems despite modern technology it is very hard to land on the Moon and one has to wonder how NASA did back in the 1960's!
Saturday 1st October 2022.
Saturday 10th February 2024.
Voyager 1 is lost in interstellar Space?
This may be one of the most prolific discoveries that Space travel could be limited by interstellar space, where a space probe or ship cannot get a bearing to where it is in the void of travel!
The future may involve a sophisticated navigation system for our solar system that will give a bearing to robots leaving the Helios sphere and moving into this void?
Saturday 6th January 2024,
Better images of Uranus and its 13 Rings!
The James Webb telescope has shown us new images of Uranus never seen before and an update on the real colors of Neptune being about the same as Uranus, for what we thought were true blue was hyped up for definition?
It was a bit disappointing but that is astronomy for you and hopefully in the near future a Musk mission to Uranus will reveal more to us about its Moons and the planet itself!
Sunday 24th December 2023.
NASA has a new Space Shuttle?
With the onset of this new Space shuttle, the Dragon-X and other Musk ventures have been cancelled, but one does not know if this is a temporary move or final!
With China now launching for the third time its own Space shuttle, more nations will be following making trajectory space crowded for the regulars and changing the whole field in to a free for all?
Saturday 22nd July 2023.
Off to investigate the S-Pole of the Moon.
The concept of a new Moon base is growing by the day, but the area has to be investigated on the Lunar surface to see what is really there and where would it be suitable to build a base?
Russia and China alas will be occupying the same area and so there is great competition to who will be first to get there.
The surface from Space photography is great, but being on the surface is another matter and, to build and supply is another thing altogether, so we first will see the new International Space station built, followed by one on the Moons South-Pole?
Saturday 8th July 2023.
Another Ice Neptune in the Ort Cloud?
Another Ice Neptune in the Ort Cloud?
It is interesting that our two current space telescopes have failed to measure some of the distant objects or minor planets that exist far beyond the orbit of Pluto!
One is too old, while the others has had dust damage to its mirrors and may have problems focusing on nearer objects, while the latter is now watching Neptune for unusual activity in its clouds, spots and other.
What lays beyond Pluto is mysterious and Horizon is not able anymore to send images, but it may have detected a large object that is hurtling towards.
Elon Musk is hoping to send a mission to search out the ever-increasing discovery of Moons around the orbit of Uranus, that is hinting water and heat and the more chances of finding some form of life.
Saturday 1st October 2022.
Neptune's Secrets.
James Webb and the Hubble telescopes are revealing some of the new secrets of this strange cold ice giant at the edge of our Solar system!
Infra-red filters are revealing its faint rings and another new planet, while some strange temperature's have been picked up from the surface?
We know very little about this world, but as we move on in space observation and travel much more will be discovered that may knock us more about our own neighbourhood than the stars beside us?
Saturday 24th September 2022.
Saturday 27th August 2022.
Saturday 13th August 2022.
Artemis 1. Failed twice?
This month we should have been talking about the return to the Moon, with a planned human mission, but on the launch date there were two failures and a crack was found in one of the fuel tanks, scuppering the whole event!
One has to wonder if NASA is really serious in beating China to the Moon or is it more of the Biden anti-everything programme and, 'I'm doing a great job' rhetoric?
The mission is still on, but when it goes no one really knows and with other technical issues with probes and robotic issues, it looks like were are in for another bad period, Mars, Jupitar and New Horizons?
Saturday 27th August 2022.
Artemis 1.
A new vision to return to the Moon, after fifty years is to begin soon with the launch of this new mission!
NASA and the U.S. administration are desperate to be ahead of Russia and China in their joint mission to build a base on the Moon, they have gone as far as publishing unseen footage from 50 years ago to prove they have the means to do it again?
Russia and China are still ahead in the Moon race and after all the western showmanship they will have something substantial to press on with other essential science, when Russia pull out of ISS and has declined to be part of the Gateway Moon station!
Saturday 13th August 2022.
James Web Struck?
Everything has gone right for the launch and initial operation with bated breath for the new telescope and the imagery so far to the strike has been fantastically impressive, but now it has a damaged mirror and testing on it to point a Jupiter and other gas giants will give more amazing filming?
What has been gathered and learned is amazing that artificial LED lighting has been detected on a exoplanet of the star Proxima-B, meaning there has to be intelligent life there!
This may be the first target for a long thirty year mission by a robotic explorer to visit this red giant and discover new life this century?
Saturday 30th July 2022.
Russia to pull out of ISS in later 2023!
The Ukraine war as it is termed by the west, but a security operation by Russia that started in February of this year, has lead to a blocking of the Internet and many sanctions being placed on Russia, while the lies of Kiev is being pushed as truth?
The 2023 pull-out will see an end to over thirty years of collaboration and many cures for various medical diseases and the recent COVID-19 virus which has lead to a pandemic!
Not all is to be lost with Russia as they have signed a deal with China to build a Moon base, while Moscow has also decided to pull out of the Gateway Space Moon orbiter project?
Saturday 25th July 2021.
Saturday 10th August 2019,
New Discoveries!
This year has seen many in the field of Space from a Photograph of a Black hole to the discovery of a very early galaxy formation and something from the other side of possibly a black hole?
Juno has revealed new features and colour changes as it takes a long fifty-three day orbit around this gas giant! Meanwhile the Oris-X has made its own discoveries and Mars has detected a quake?
We also have marked the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings and the Artemis programme to return with a Gateway station and a new Moon Base!
Thursday 28th February 2019.
New Horizons Fly-By?
For some this is a bit of a disappointment looking at two rocks wedged together and yet some say the claims of the origin of the Solar System make it more interesting?
Now New Horizons is still working and heading on to its next target, which might prove to be another planet like Pluto, but we will have to wait some years for that and there is still much date to be analysed from Ultima Thule?
Thursday 14th February 2019.
China second attempt for the back of the Moon!
This time the Chinese have had more success with their two stage process of a relay satellite and a Rover that will investigate a different surface from the one that we see?
It would seem that there are more pit like features on this side, what is termed the dark side! But it is not clear what has caused them and further investigation by a possible third probe will solve that mystery!
Thursday 31st January 2019.
Virgin Galactic makes Space Flight!
This is the long awaited breakthrough that was needed to get this low level Space experience off the ground, but it will be some time yet until paying passengers will be going up?
It is not reported what teething problems still remain and a second flight is needed to make sure that the first data is correct, but the days are counting down now to the first commercial flights!
Thursday 17th January 2019.
Martian Rover Kaput.
The last dust storm must have caused some really serious damage, that was perhaps waiting somewhere to come?
But despite this loss, it survived far beyond its date of work and covered over 28 miles of differing types of terrain on the Martian surface revealing much new data about this environment and wonderful pictures to go with it!
Curiosity and the new probe will carry on the work to see if there is any seismic activity and what is going on in the core of Mars, which tectonically is far different from Earth?
Thursday 3rd January 2019.
Ultima Thule!
The long awaited revelation of what this is, has turned out to be a rose coloured Snow man or two what appear to be globes fused together with scattered white patches!
For some it is a bit of a disappointment and for others fascinating, more date from New Horizons will become available as it comes through despite the shut down over U.S. President Trumps wall?
Thursday 26th July 2018.
Italian Bologna team discover water on Mars?
Working with the European Space Agency data collected by a radar probe has discovered a twelve mile wide by 20 mile water lake 1.6 Km or 900 years below the south-pole ice field.
Similar lakes exist in both Antarctica and Greenland's ice sheets here on Earth! It is believed that this one on Mars is made up of brine waters and has a coastline of salty mud the extent which is not known at this time?
NASA as yet cannot verify this information, but with the recent successes in the Dragon programme it is hoped to send a manned mission to the red planet within the next six years?
Thursday 12th July 2018.
Jovian Problems!
Juno is to be re-routed because of a fuel pipe problem that is not worth chancing with the probe to do what was intended, so a new plan is to be instigated to keep doing what it is and collecting more data!
The current fifty-three day orbit is a problem, but many mysteries about this gas giant have been solved and it is now believed that there may be a crust that is thin but could be 1900 miles below the clouds?
This was seen from the remnants of the shoemaker comets that have left a scar on the planet! It is not clear if this crust is solid or is a moving mixtures of heavy metals another discovery is that of high altitude clouds similar to Earth?
Thursday 28th June 2018.
Electric Propulsion coming to the Fore?
It is not known how long it will take for us to see the first electric powered rockets and spaceships?
Norway has claimed it has the worlds first electric powered aircraft and that in the near future many civil aviation aircraft will be powered just by electric engines over that of aviation fuel?
Some of this technology may be part of the planned helicopter proposed for a near future Mars mission and it is not clear at this time if these near Earth Space flights will be powered by electric engines?
Thursday 14th June 2018.
Unproved or avoided science on Mars!
Thursday 31st May 2018.
Exoplanets-All Quite?
Thursday 17th May 2018.
Plasma Oceans!
It is now believed that free falling space that exits between the gravitational fields of stars may be filled by oceans of plasma?
These oceans of energy created by the stars may not be limited to these zones, but also exist in our own solar system beyond that of Earth!
This might explain why astronauts travelling back and forth to the Moon experienced flashing lights within their space capsules?
Thursday 3rd May 2018.
Moving on from Mars?
NASA now believe that the Moons of Saturn and Jupiter may yield more chances of finding primitive bacterial life than that of Mars?
The more that is being learned about the spread of microbe material on several planets in the Solar System is encouraging more investigation and Robotic missions!
Ice and volcanism are the likely candidates in combination for water, heat and life to exist? If this is the case it will open the possibility that planets orbiting outside the 'Goldie Locks' zones could be potential targets in any Exoplanet visitation?
Thursday 19th April 2018.
Exoplanets!
Humanities hunt for another Earth is continuing with a new telescope in space, but the distances of travel still remain a key factor in ever getting there?
The other problems is as yet we do not really know how fast space is expanding and when this is discovered perhaps humanity will find that they are really only limited to our own Solar System and a neighbouring star?
Thursday 5th April 2018.
War with Russia could end ISS co-operation?
There is a lot riding at the moment in relation to wither the U.S is going to go to war with Syria and Russia over a fake bleach attack and jealousy?
Russia will probably end U.S. flights to the station and it is not clear as yet if Dragon X is able to carry astronauts safely into Space?
If the International Space station is shutdown, Russia will possibly help China develop a joint improved MIR, while the U.S. focuses on it desired U.S. Presidential Moon base!
Thursday 15th March 2018.
Space Junk.
Thursday 1st March 2018.
After ISS a link up with China?
Thursday 1st February 2018.
Race to the Moon?
The U.S. President Trump wants a Moon base by 2030 and the abandonment of the ISS by then to pay for it? But many believe this is an unwise move, since the station could act as an emergency stepping stone!
We can gain a picture of the man who know wants to outdo the Kennedy legacy, by showing where he is in relation to understanding space?
A Moon base will stretch resources, as seen in recent weeks that travel to space is costly with the loss of resources and life? The U.S. is afraid that China will beat them to the Moon, but the truth is co-operation at this time rather than competition?
Russia and China may end up owning the ISS with others and the U.S. end up on its own in relation to reaching back to the Moon?
Thursday 4th January 2018.
Aliens amongst Us?
Thursday 2nd November 2017.
China's Space Agency!
Thursday 22nd June 2017.
Commercial value of Satellites?
We live in a world today of even faster communications, the Internet, instant news and social media? Currently satellites provide us with certain types of transmissions and the weather, but the main use today is the GPS Global positioning System!
GPS has produced shipping lanes in the high seas and aircraft highways around the skies of the world, without it we would be slowed down and have chaos?
There is also big business in the launching of military spying and other types of short term satellites, these provide good intelligence because they are higher up and cannot be detected or shot down by missiles or aircraft!
Thursday 15th June 2017.
The Virgin Vision of Inner Space.
Thursday 8th June 2017.
Space-X Dragon.
Thursday 1st June 2017.
Off to our Sun.
Thursday 4th May 2017.
Another Asteroid belt object Identified.
Thursday 20th April 2017.
New Horizons is now more than half-way between Pluto and its next objective!
Meanwhile a Space telescope has discovered that one of the three objects to be visited by the probe has its own Moon, which is similar to Charon being close to Pluto!
Thursday 19th January 2017.
Plans for Venus and Neptune, Uranus?
It is at this time so hard to know if the new U.S. Administration will support the efforts and work of the ageing NASA or replace it with something new.
I do not think that all the research gathered will be lost, just moved on the various companies that already provide the essential systems for the various programmes?
Space within our Solar System still offers so much new things to learn for humanity, the search for life is one thing another Earth is also desired? But there is a wealth of unknowns to be still explored, even going back to Venus and Mercury with landers are viable projects?
Thursday 5th January 2017.
A new year for the end of Cassini?
One has to wonder why the European Space Agency has to waste so much money, when the programme could continue collecting much more data as it has?
My concern is that Philae was crashed for the failed mars mission, when it could have continued to give us much more data as the comet moved out beyond Jupiter?
Thursday 22nd December 2016.
Donald J Trump promises to promote Space?
2017 May see a revolution is Space and co-operation with Russia and many other nations to reach many objects in our Solar System in the next eight to thirty years? A Moon base, half way post to Mars and many more robotic missions to the outer gas giants and newly discovered objects?
A lander mission to Pluto would be a plus to learn more about what is really going on this little world? Missions to Venus and the search for planet X, plus space construction and mission to our nearest stars may also be on the cards?
Thursday 8th December 2016.
Fifty-four day orbit.
Juno currently takes 54-days to make one complete orbit of the gas giant Jupiter, so that perhaps explains the silence from NASA? But the pipe-line problem still remains and a fix has been cancelled until the next time it comes back around to face the Earth?
The imagery from this gas giants is tremendous in relation to spotting some of the Pearl clouds, but it is not clear why more information is not being released including magnetic data and the composition of the gasses that make up this giant?
Thursday 10th November 2016.
Rocket Research.
There is a whole world full of clubs that do weekly research into rocketry, many connected with weather but some want to develop the flight performance of the rocket.
Roscom and NASA along with ESA have worked on the new fuel compounds with some success in developing newer fuels.
The more their is going on around the world with armatures and scientists the more can be discovered and developed for the future?
Thursday 27th October 2016.
New Kids on the Block?
China, N-Korea, India and Brazil are some of the new and up coming nations that are going into space, with some success and they have plans to go further?
Taking away the threat of the delivery of nuclear weapons systems is the scary other side that will trouble the U.S, NATO and others in the long term?
Thursday 13th October 2016.
What is up on the silence of JUNO?
It has been quite a while now since Juno got into the orbit of Jupiter and we were promised data from mid-September, but so far NASA has been very quite?
Perhaps the belts of radiation have knocked out this probe or the data is the same as was gathered in the past.
Photographic images of the two poles are interesting in the change of activity that covers the rest of this gas giant? One would be amazed to find that what we though was not and that there was a solid world of some kind under all that cloud?
Thursday 15th September 2016.
Plans for a mission to Neptune.
There is much excitement in a mission to this last planet in our Solar System a cold gas giant with one large Moon.
Much speculation has arisen, after the discovery of a 125 mile mini world known as Niku travelling backwards compared to all the other planets in our solar system and on a 110 degree plane between Neptune and Pluto.
This world is of interest because it is also blue in colour and may be also spinning opposite too to all the other normal worlds?
Thursday 28th July 2016
Philai switched off, Juno at Jupiter.
A new chapter is opening in Space flight with many new developments on the International Space Station and the arrival of Juno.
Juno will tell us more about the mystery of this Gas giant, that will help us with further exploration out to Uranus and Neptune in the decades to come.
Space-X is slowly progressing with its new pods and recovery-delivery systems. But for the moment the best way up and down comes via Russia.
Meanwhile the study of Earth on a more closer inspection is needed because of the rise in ocean temperatures, which may be connected to the burning of fossil fuels or not?
Thursday 7th July 2016.
New Horizons, Mars Curiosity get their respective extended missions and Juno makes it to Orbit a Giant.
This 4th July was a success for Juno to get into place around Jupiter, after another long trip across our Solar System. Data is not expected until October for the public says NASA.
Next up Both the New Horizons and Mars Curiosity get extended missions, this is perhaps to cut down the costs of another new mission or to just wear them out and ride the economic storms down here?
Mars Curiosity and Express Explorer continue to prove valuable in finding new things that are leading scientists to find a link to micro bacterial life! New Horizons is working itself out to visit newly discovered planet sized Pluto, possibly with at least two moons.
This target is believed to be a better choice than the known existing three and it may even get a glimpse of plant nine if it really exists?
Thursday 23rd June 2016.
Juno on course for Jupiter 4th July.
NASA Says, 'That they have found a predicted orbit of the largest planet in our Solar System, that will save it from the planets radiation.'
Jupiter is believed by many scientists to be a failed Sun, because most star systems in the known universe are two or more binaries.
Perhaps that is why we have life on earth, because a second star would mess up the amount of radiation hitting our atmosphere?
Major discoveries are to be made in relation to this planet and some of its Moons, if it can survive the one year mission.
Understanding its make up, composition and the weather patterns will be the main tasks. One expects the pictures returned will be really spectacular?
Thursday 12th May 2016.
Mercury and Mars.
We now have the best map of the mysterious planet Mercury, while others are rushing to Mars to find that elusive water and SOPHIA discovering oxygen in the atmosphere. Everything we discover more about Mars will improve the chances of a manned mission and the viability for it to stay their for a longer period.
Juno is progressing towards Jupiter for the 4th July encounter, while Cassini has discovered another Moon around Saturn.
The other big breakthrough in the current Space race is the discovery that a Spaceship the size of ones palm could get to our nearest star neighbour in thirty-Years. In fact all that we need is claimed can now be fitted in this smaller probe, this will perhaps mean more packages being sent out to the gas giants of Uranus, Neptune.
Meanwhile this could mean having a permanent stationary companion to observe Pluto, if not other further out objects?
Thursday 28th April 2016.
SpaceX Adventures.
With one success it would seem that SpaceX are determined to make a venturous step of faith to Mars? One has to wonder are they really serious and do we already have enough junk up in Space anyway!
The Moon base planned for 2030 will be the test for humanity, wither they can ever breakaway from the umbilical cord that holds them to Earth. This southern polar base will be protected in a giant Creator from radiation waves from the Sun.
Meanwhile the latest space flight discovery shows us that an object the side of the human hand could reach our nearest neighbouring star within 30 years?
If this is so, perhaps smaller observation probes could visit Pluto for a stationary orbit, while also visiting Neptune and Uranus with something similar to the Cassini to Saturn!
Thursday 7th April 2016.
A submarine for Titan.
This is the latest offering from NASA and the European Space Agency, as more water is being found in our Solar System. Titan has seas of methane and this sub will have to reach the bottom to find out is there a possibility of any new life forms there.
Pluto is too revealing more water, perhaps a trapped ocean along with its largest Moon Charon. The Moons of Saturn also are believed tho have deep frozen over oceans and water has been detected on Mars.
Many probes are now on their way to check out all these new discoveries, but more of them will be needed in the years to come. This century may prove to be one of the greatest in our Solar system of exploration!
Thursday 17th March 2016.
The rush to Mars and Oceans on Ceres.
Two new events have got the astronomical and scientific world on a rush to get space programmes sped up, after earth type minerals, water and under ice flow has been observed on Mars.
The bright spots on Ceres now produce mist, so there could be an ocean under the frozen surface that may be warmer.
Methane is believed to be active on Mars now as it is on Pluto and also it is observed that parts of coast lands on Saturn Moon Titan have disappeared.
Thursday 11th February 2016.
JUNO nearing Jupiter.
This year hopefully we will have another close encounter with the largest planet in our solar system, the gas giant Jupiter. Last seen during the 1970 twin missions. Juno has now made its final burn for the July approach to this banded world, with its now decreasing red spot and and estimated 63 Moons.
Much more has been discovered about these swirling cloud bands and the darker gaps in them, perhaps on closer inspection we will see more wonderful things that where just not expected to bee seen. We will also learn more about some, if not all of the so far discovered sixty-three Moons and may find many more yet to be discover other smaller objects.
Perhaps with Juno operating out here, we might get a glimpse of this supposed Planet 9X or a few others of the larger objects in the Khyper belt well before New Horizons reaches its first target in 2019?
Thursday 28th January 2016.
Another Planet.
Scientists believe that they have found another planet beyond Neptune, that is ten times the size of Earth. The physics gives the impression and there is also speculation that this giant was originally near to Mars or Ceres.
With the arrival of the last Comet, it was noted that it seemed to burn a tail long before it entered our Solar System. Perhaps this new planet named 9 being 20 times further away than we are from the Sun is it.
But there remains so much doubt as there was over Pluto, and now with New Horizons passing by have not things changed. The Kyper belt will reveal more secrets about this outer region that might break a few more existing theories in relation to how we came to be or not?
Thursday 3rd December 2015.
Silence on Pluto Mission?
It would seem that there has been a sudden shutdown on further imagery related to Pluto on the New Horizons mission in July of this year!
There are many people who believe that NASA deliberately avoids investigating interesting features and this could also be applied to all of its missions past and at this time.
What secrets could Pluto and Charon and the other Moons hold that would scare scientists at the Space Agency. One is that there may be microbiological life on some planets and volcanism on Pluto with the early or late stages of some signs of life.
The New Horizons mission was quite short in its duration of visiting Pluto, before moving on to the Kyper Belt, which may have many more surprises to reveal in relation to the the theories about our Solar System is much more than meets the eye?
Thursday 29th October 2015.
Cassini to New Horizons.
These last few months have turned up and are turning up a number of surprises and these will continue with all the new missions that are underway or are being planned. Pluto is now a dwarf planet with a blue haze sky, moving ice flows and amazing features. Its moons five in number now are all different and Charon is the most interesting in the Solar System.
Today Cassini has made a close flyby that will reveal that we really need to take a closer look at everything in our system. Under ice oceans and southern heated spouts on a moon of Saturn.
Meanwhile we now know that Mars is very similar to earth in many ways and there is so much more to learn about its southern polar regions. perhaps this will the future to study all southern regions of every body floating out in Space.
Thursday 6th August 2015.
Past Pluto.
Pluto is back to be what it was a smaller planet with a atmosphere that rises in two stages of 50 and 80 miles high making comparable to other planets, despite it being small.
We know it has moving ice flows and despite shedding its atmosphere it has much more to reveal in relation to its red colour and that it may be volcanic.
This could be happening as its orbit gets closer to the Sun? While we await more data, it would be worthwhile sending another mission to be in a permanent orbit of Pluto and its Moon Charon.
Thursday 16th July 2015.
Charon and Pluto Plus.
Both these new worlds are far different from anything yet that has been seen in our Solar System. Charon is grey with a dark pole, while Pluto is a reddish brown and both lack cratering that is so common in the system.
Both have mountain ranges rising to 3,500 metres and Methane gas has been detected. Meanwhile the other moons seen are operating in a chaotic way. But this is not the end of the New Horizons mission, it is moving on the the Kyper belt region on the outer fringes to check out earlier detections of even smaller worlds than Pluto.
Thursday 25th June 2015.
Philai has woken up.
Great news for the European Space Agency that their little probe is now calling home and perhaps will be full of more surprises. Meanwhile Curiosity is not sending as much data as was hoped or perhaps NASA is not releasing any further information at this time.
Other space probes are progressing in their continued discoveries, our solar system has much more than was expected with many new mysteries. But then this was something that was expected and there will be many more wonderful things to see. One day when probes get to Neptune and Uranus more strange things will also be discovered.
New Horizons is getting ever nearer to Pluto and much is to be revealed about this strange system, 5 new Moon's and strange features both on Charon and Pluto.
Thursday 21st May 2015.
Ever nearer to Pluto.
Not long now to the first fly by of tiny Pluto?
The space craft heading that was has allowed NASA to observe that Pluto has an ice cap and three new moons have also been discovered. I wonder will we get a real surprise about Pluto that was not expected, perhaps even volcanoes or some form of internal heating to give it a slight temperature flux.
Mid July will reveal all and more about its one large and four smaller Moons, perhaps other outer objects will also be seen or registered more accurately for the first time?
Thursday 12th March 2015.
Dawn has arrived at Ceres.
The long awaited event of seeing this small plant has arrived, the first images shoe two very bright objects on Ceres, which is baffling scientists. So far only monochrome images have been released and this world looks a bit like our Moon.
New Horizons is nearing Pluto and its three Moons.
July14th is the date for the Pluto arrival, but already we are getting good images of the three moons one large and two small. It will be interesting to see what Pluto really looks like?
Thursday 22nd January 2015.
Three New Events.
One.
The U.S. programme to build a reusable rocket supply vehicle has now run into some difficulties, proving that with space travel one cannot take things for granted. This lack of co-operation with Russia is a dramatic set back more so for the U.S. It is also sad that after so much good work over the years since the fall of the Soviet Union that it looks like the Americans will loose ISS as they lost their Space Shuttle with no alternative?
Two.
There are plans a foot for another deep space voyager type mission to study the gas giants of Uranus and Neptune and their moons, this would certainly be an interesting project to do. We have learned and discovered so much about Saturn and Jupiter this would be so worthwhile.
Three.
The ISS had to be evacuated into the Russian section, after an Ammonia leak. This proves that space travel is still a very dangerous business and that International co-operation is needed in the established bases.
Thursday 1st January 2015.
The search is On.
Now that Rosetta has been established the search for water and heat combined is believed to be the source of life and that it may well be within our solar system. 2015 Promises to be the year of other life discovery on other planets and much nearer too.
Much of this still remains speculation, because as with Philai that ice was not the kind to support any kind of life. There remains the big play for life, there must be life?
But the reality may be that we are the only life in the whole universe? I wonder what is the probability to that calculation?
By the way nothing more has been heard in relation to the Indian Mission to Mars!
Thursday 18th December 2014.
Philai. Ice water not the same.
Another major theory has been broken into relation to Comets being the bases for bringing water to start life on the Earth. This theory has now been transferred to Meteors!
The comet does contain water ice, but it is different and would not be able in its make up to sustain life. Data is still coming from this little probe and it will be interesting to see what is the composition of the rocks and minerals that it is made of.
Thursday 13th November 2014.
Rosetta.
An ESA(European Space Agency) first, and it should not be doubted as nothing special because it is. This comet is travelling at 34,000 miles per hour, and rotating.
Japan carried out a similar mission two years ago with what they claimed was contamination. Perhaps this time similar results will be found?
Does this missions and others like it, past and future really find out about our Solar System? Is this rock part of a theory or could it have come from out side our system, they are all very interesting questions worth looking at.
Thursday 25th September 2014.
MOM. India First.
Congratulations to India's success in getting a satellite to Mars and working on the first attempt. What a breakthrough and may they have many more in any of their other space exploration missions. India has worked with the Soviet Union and Russian space programmes, they also make big money launching satellites for many other nations and consortium's.
But this will be the first of more interesting missions and success has come with keeping it simple, perhaps a lesson for everyone involved in the space industry. There are many other countries around the world who are planning or will soon follow, such as Nigeria, Brazil, and Iran.
Thursday 18th September 2014.
Rover Exploration.
Through the space age it has been the ROBOT Rover probes that have made the majority of progress in exploration by both the U,S, and Russia. With visits to the Moon and Venus, Mars.
These large run-around vehicles saved the risk factor of putting humans there first, this is true in relation to Venus. It is now the Mars rovers that are the highlight of present day adventures.
But with nearly every space mission Robotic craft of varying improved degrees are used apart from the faithful Rovers.
Thursday 14th August 2014.
'Oh, Ooh. We have a problem.'
With relations now between Russia and the U.S. at breaking point over the Ukraine and western sanctions starting to be a tit for tat, Russia may block the launch of U,S, spy satellites and the Progress re-supply to the International Space Station?
The U.S. administration felt they could save quite a bit of money cancelling the very reliable Space Shuttle and work with Russia, what a grave error of judgement.
Now it is hoped the situation on the ground does not further escalate?
The Americans are in some ways acting like a headless chicken in the abattoir.
Thursday 31st July 2014.
'Back to Venus, When?
We hear much about Cassini and missions to Mars and Mercury, but there has never been a robotic rover mission to the Polar regions of Venus. When one looks at Venus in a good telescope it is some times noticed that the polar regions of the planet is not in a blanket of cloud.
We know that the atmosphere on most of the planet is thick and acidic and the last probe did not last very long. But with all the newer technology today might not another attempt be made?
Thursday 19th June 2014.
All set for Mars 2025 to 2035.
It looks like all systems are now on go for two definite missions to our nearest planet Mars.
One will be a commercial venture and ten years later NASA is planning their own mission. It looks like that both will be an eight month journey and that the commercial venture is a one way trip.
Many new designs and concepts for a Martian base are being drawn up and all these are being based around a cell group of four.
My opinion about all of this, is that we still have very little information from all the Robotic craft sent. It is the blue soft areas that worry me, because as yet we do not know what they are made up of?
Thursday 29th May 2014.
China on the Moon?
With the worsening political situation in the Ukraine and U.S./European Union sanctions on Russia, new windows of economic and military co-operation are opening. China says 'it will have a man on the Moon in the next 20 years.'
Meanwhile America and Europe are working to get to Mars. These are tremendous human achievements, but they have immediate connotations of military exploitation of space.
A permanent Moon base by China and Russia would split the ISS space programme in a big way.
Thursday 27th February 2014.
The Kepler Telescope.
Telescopes are fantastic and amazing things to view with, there are many projects in Space searching for different objects and wave-lengths. The Kepler telescope is imaging stars and tracking planets that orbit around them.
It would seem that there are many planets in our near by Galaxy, but most of these are one hundred times larger than Jupiter and are probably gas giants.
Our gas giant Jupiter is 100X the size of Earth, so live chances as we know it, may be far reduced. But as more observations continue, perhaps planets like our own will be discovered? Getting to them is another story, but as science moves on so does new technologies and a map of the stars one day shall perhaps be an invaluable tool!
Thursday 20th February 2014.
Moon Rover working.
Good news say 'the Chinese, they have got their Moon rover Jade Rabbit working again.' We will have to wait and see what or how harsh the real conditions on the Moon are.
Perhaps the problems with a 300 day flight to the planet Mars, might be overcome by first establishing a Moon base. Being further from Earth could help Space people get more familiar with coping mechanisms away from our home plant?
Thursday 30th January 2014.
Chinese Moon Rover Stuck.
China has admitted now that their successful Moon rover has got stuck, because its location has limited light exposure to the sun. I expect this will for the future be an invaluable lesson as to where you land your spaceship on another planet, if it requires solar power.
Being stuck is not good, but perhaps as time goes on China will develop a support vehicle to get this one up and running. A sort of battery dock would come in handy for missions to Mars and other planets, since it would be producing power and storing it for the rovers.
What have we learned so far from this new mission to the Moon, that it is more hostile than we first thought it was. It is definitely not as flat, as was thought.
For older Posts please see below.
Thursday 13th June 2013.
'Wow life on Mars.'
At last they have admitted that life of some form may have existed on the red planet. Yet this does not explain the current situation of heat and water flow seen by the rovers, that are currently working away on the planet.
It would seem that there is much about space exploration that is being held back. Titan being another example, as well as Venus. The scientific claims do not match the photography in the case of Venus. Volcanic surface, yet snow capped poles.
Titan has mountain structures similar if not the same as on Earth, yet the probe that made it down showed a surface that looked like Mars?
Thursday 10th October 2013.
A Manned Mission to Mars...
It would now seem that a manned mission to Mars will happen for definite within the next thirty years.
'Hurrah' At last it would seem that they have committed to sending us humans to another planet. This will be the real stepping stone to probably visiting Titan and the other near earth sized moons of both the gas giants of Jupiter and Saturn.
We will just have to wait and see what the probes on Mars discover in the years building up to the launch of that human mission?
Thursday 7th November 2013.
India to Mars.
It would seem that both China and India are vying to see who will be the leader in Asian space industries. At the moment it would have to be Kazakstan-Russia, with China following.
But now India has launched a mission to Mars, to measure the atmosphere and wind speeds. A very advisable move, before humans get there. We will have to wait until September 2014 to see if this probe will work, but I am sure it is the beginning of more launches and something different.
Thursday 19th December. 2013.
India, China and Iran.
The space race is on for 2014, with India sending a probe to Mars, to measure wind and other atmospheric data.
Meanwhile China has placed a robotic rover on the Moon, the first for forty-years and Iran has sent a monkey into space to test out the development of their new inter-Continental ballistic missile?
Maybe the reality is that these countries are now growing at such a tremendous rate, that they too can have a piece of the 15 nation dominant ISS space cake.
The Moon meanwhile has many resources that are rare on earth and the possibility of robotic mining ships, is perhaps a more realistic future than a manned Moon base.
Space Tourism?
Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos have opened the door this week to space tourism for the rich and a debate has opened as to where does space begin in relation to the Earths gravity field?
Many great discoveries have been made about the possibility of life in the clouds of Venus and that a probe on the way to study the sun discovered in the night sky of this supposed over heated world cloud breaks that showed none volcanic areas on the higher planes!
Meanwhile the new mission to Mars is working and so is the first helicopter now deployed on its seventh flight, but the Peoples republic of China and the U.A.E. have also successfully made it to the red planet with their rovers and probes and China now have their own space station that has normal gravity and ordinary food, being much more spacious than the ISS.
Russia cannot be left out with more robotic self thinking machines on the space station to carry our dangerous work when needs be and Elon Musk is going ahead with blocking the night sky with his array of over two thousand satilites that will cover the planet with GPS.
Saturday 10th August 2019,
New Discoveries!
This year has seen many in the field of Space from a Photograph of a Black hole to the discovery of a very early galaxy formation and something from the other side of possibly a black hole?
Juno has revealed new features and colour changes as it takes a long fifty-three day orbit around this gas giant! Meanwhile the Oris-X has made its own discoveries and Mars has detected a quake?
We also have marked the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings and the Artemis programme to return with a Gateway station and a new Moon Base!
Thursday 28th February 2019.
New Horizons Fly-By?
For some this is a bit of a disappointment looking at two rocks wedged together and yet some say the claims of the origin of the Solar System make it more interesting?
Now New Horizons is still working and heading on to its next target, which might prove to be another planet like Pluto, but we will have to wait some years for that and there is still much date to be analysed from Ultima Thule?
Thursday 14th February 2019.
China second attempt for the back of the Moon!
This time the Chinese have had more success with their two stage process of a relay satellite and a Rover that will investigate a different surface from the one that we see?
It would seem that there are more pit like features on this side, what is termed the dark side! But it is not clear what has caused them and further investigation by a possible third probe will solve that mystery!
Thursday 31st January 2019.
Virgin Galactic makes Space Flight!
This is the long awaited breakthrough that was needed to get this low level Space experience off the ground, but it will be some time yet until paying passengers will be going up?
It is not reported what teething problems still remain and a second flight is needed to make sure that the first data is correct, but the days are counting down now to the first commercial flights!
Thursday 17th January 2019.
Martian Rover Kaput.
The last dust storm must have caused some really serious damage, that was perhaps waiting somewhere to come?
But despite this loss, it survived far beyond its date of work and covered over 28 miles of differing types of terrain on the Martian surface revealing much new data about this environment and wonderful pictures to go with it!
Curiosity and the new probe will carry on the work to see if there is any seismic activity and what is going on in the core of Mars, which tectonically is far different from Earth?
Thursday 3rd January 2019.
Ultima Thule!
The long awaited revelation of what this is, has turned out to be a rose coloured Snow man or two what appear to be globes fused together with scattered white patches!
For some it is a bit of a disappointment and for others fascinating, more date from New Horizons will become available as it comes through despite the shut down over U.S. President Trumps wall?
Thursday 26th July 2018.
Italian Bologna team discover water on Mars?
Working with the European Space Agency data collected by a radar probe has discovered a twelve mile wide by 20 mile water lake 1.6 Km or 900 years below the south-pole ice field.
Similar lakes exist in both Antarctica and Greenland's ice sheets here on Earth! It is believed that this one on Mars is made up of brine waters and has a coastline of salty mud the extent which is not known at this time?
NASA as yet cannot verify this information, but with the recent successes in the Dragon programme it is hoped to send a manned mission to the red planet within the next six years?
Thursday 12th July 2018.
Jovian Problems!
Juno is to be re-routed because of a fuel pipe problem that is not worth chancing with the probe to do what was intended, so a new plan is to be instigated to keep doing what it is and collecting more data!
The current fifty-three day orbit is a problem, but many mysteries about this gas giant have been solved and it is now believed that there may be a crust that is thin but could be 1900 miles below the clouds?
This was seen from the remnants of the shoemaker comets that have left a scar on the planet! It is not clear if this crust is solid or is a moving mixtures of heavy metals another discovery is that of high altitude clouds similar to Earth?
Thursday 28th June 2018.
Electric Propulsion coming to the Fore?
It is not known how long it will take for us to see the first electric powered rockets and spaceships?
Norway has claimed it has the worlds first electric powered aircraft and that in the near future many civil aviation aircraft will be powered just by electric engines over that of aviation fuel?
Some of this technology may be part of the planned helicopter proposed for a near future Mars mission and it is not clear at this time if these near Earth Space flights will be powered by electric engines?
Thursday 14th June 2018.
Unproved or avoided science on Mars!
There is much going on, on Mars that is being sidelined by NASA and other Space agencies, because at this time perhaps the obvious is being refused to be recognised?
Two areas of observation are to be noted, one what looks like bone fragments have been spotted after the large dust storms and the second triangular shaped rocks!
These are only two of a vast array of filming and pictures that are withdrawn during each operation! Much of this is excused by claims of the weather and technical problems?
It is believed that earlier robots and rovers were shut down, because scientists did not want the public to speculate on what they might think they were seeing?
Thursday 31st May 2018.
Exoplanets-All Quite?
With the recent launch of new space craft to find these planets, nothing so far has been heard in relation to it working and sending back data?
It is well known that the current U.S. Administration has some funny ideas about space exploration, some of it harking back to 1960's concepts or not well through planning on what they want to see in the near future?
Wither we will ever be able to really know if there is another Earth is full of speculation! The science may look good and fit the theory, but to be certain has more to do with the condition of the star as much as being in the Goldie locks zone?
Thursday 17th May 2018.
Plasma Oceans!
It is now believed that free falling space that exits between the gravitational fields of stars may be filled by oceans of plasma?
These oceans of energy created by the stars may not be limited to these zones, but also exist in our own solar system beyond that of Earth!
This might explain why astronauts travelling back and forth to the Moon experienced flashing lights within their space capsules?
Thursday 3rd May 2018.
Moving on from Mars?
NASA now believe that the Moons of Saturn and Jupiter may yield more chances of finding primitive bacterial life than that of Mars?
The more that is being learned about the spread of microbe material on several planets in the Solar System is encouraging more investigation and Robotic missions!
Ice and volcanism are the likely candidates in combination for water, heat and life to exist? If this is the case it will open the possibility that planets orbiting outside the 'Goldie Locks' zones could be potential targets in any Exoplanet visitation?
Thursday 19th April 2018.
Exoplanets!
Humanities hunt for another Earth is continuing with a new telescope in space, but the distances of travel still remain a key factor in ever getting there?
The other problems is as yet we do not really know how fast space is expanding and when this is discovered perhaps humanity will find that they are really only limited to our own Solar System and a neighbouring star?
Thursday 5th April 2018.
War with Russia could end ISS co-operation?
There is a lot riding at the moment in relation to wither the U.S is going to go to war with Syria and Russia over a fake bleach attack and jealousy?
Russia will probably end U.S. flights to the station and it is not clear as yet if Dragon X is able to carry astronauts safely into Space?
If the International Space station is shutdown, Russia will possibly help China develop a joint improved MIR, while the U.S. focuses on it desired U.S. Presidential Moon base!
Space Junk.
The world currently has a serious problem with plastics, but it has as much a problem with Space junk and unwise people are now sending their products, such as a car into space?
What we know about our solar system is that it is full of debris the Kyper belt and the ort cloud remain speculative until the New Horizons probe reaches its next target at the end of this year we may have a better picture of what is really out there?
Humanity dumping within our own gravitational field may be a problem for later missions, but adding to what is already out there may mean we might never be able to leave our own system with any manned missions?
Thursday 1st March 2018.
After ISS a link up with China?
Russia owns half of the ISS and it is believed if the U.S. goes ahead with its plans to scrap it for the Moon, Russia will take their half and join the Peoples republic of China and India to continue their well established Space industry and science?
Today China has only been capable of creating a two man Soyuz type capsule, but plans are afoot for something much larger, if not bases on the Moon and Mars within the next thirty years!
It was always assumed that both Russia and China wanted the Red planet for themselves, but co-operation and big business would perhaps be a better alternative in the long run?
But one has to wonder about the recent launch of a car into space as is that really what this is all about, tomfoolery?
Thursday 1st February 2018.
Race to the Moon?
The U.S. President Trump wants a Moon base by 2030 and the abandonment of the ISS by then to pay for it? But many believe this is an unwise move, since the station could act as an emergency stepping stone!
We can gain a picture of the man who know wants to outdo the Kennedy legacy, by showing where he is in relation to understanding space?
A Moon base will stretch resources, as seen in recent weeks that travel to space is costly with the loss of resources and life? The U.S. is afraid that China will beat them to the Moon, but the truth is co-operation at this time rather than competition?
Russia and China may end up owning the ISS with others and the U.S. end up on its own in relation to reaching back to the Moon?
Thursday 18th January 2018.
Beyond Pluto!
New Horizons at the end of this year is hoping to reveal the secrets of its next target as a minor planet with a Moon or perhaps its just a large space rock?
There are several targets for this probe to study over the next ten years in this region and we may be in as we were with Pluto for some serious surprises!
Volcanoes and other activity, including atmospheres may exits even this far out along with multiple Moons and rings if not gas globes? This is part of the unknown and more will be found out in future visits to Pluto and the other planets such as Neptune and Uranus!
Thursday 4th January 2018.
Aliens amongst Us?
Now that the truth is out, that we are not alone everyone had suddenly gone all quite? The problem is what is the U.S. talking about and where is the evidence or truth to this truth?
Something is happening and one believes things are building up to reveal these Aliens or first contact for the world? It may not go well, but it will be interesting to see who or what they are and do they actually help us in anyway!
China's Space Agency!
We do not hear to much about the massive progress that the Peoples Republic of China has made in space since 1997?
The last twenty years has seen the development of five new rocket systems, five robotic rovers to the Moon and the construction and development of its own Space Station!
Apart from the unknown amount of military launches, there is also a large commercial ventures and the joint cooperation with Venezuela! What is next is a proposed manned mission to Mars, to beat the U.S. by 2050?
China has also many operational satellites working in space to measure and study many space and Earth phenomena!
Thursday 22nd June 2017.
Commercial value of Satellites?
We live in a world today of even faster communications, the Internet, instant news and social media? Currently satellites provide us with certain types of transmissions and the weather, but the main use today is the GPS Global positioning System!
GPS has produced shipping lanes in the high seas and aircraft highways around the skies of the world, without it we would be slowed down and have chaos?
There is also big business in the launching of military spying and other types of short term satellites, these provide good intelligence because they are higher up and cannot be detected or shot down by missiles or aircraft!
Thursday 15th June 2017.
The Virgin Vision of Inner Space.
Sir. Richard Branson may be one of a few entrepreneurs who will make inner space flight a commercial success, if his new aircraft the largest in the world by area span ever gets off the ground?
There are enough rich people to continue sponsoring this dream, but it is safety that will be the main concern to be guaranteed before any aircraft come space ship gets going?
As technology progresses, new materials become available the possibility of a few minutes in space will be a commercial success to whoever will be the first one to do so?
Thursday 8th June 2017.
Space-X Dragon.
The U.S. Have done it and this new system of reusable rockets are now working on a regular basis to supply the International Space station with both cargo and Astronauts!
This means that there are now two systems in operation for both Russia and the U.S? Joining the Space-X programme is the first deployment of Both satellite results that they work just fine.
Meanwhile the Russians say that they have improved their current Proton launch platform, after some hick ups?
Thursday 1st June 2017.
Off to our Sun.
This is the latest venture for earth astronomy and comes after four stars in our own Galaxy have found to be acting in a strange manner, which at this time is not know wither their dimming is related to an internal failure or there are intelligent civilisations using light beams to communicate with us?
One famous system 'Tabby's Star is troubling, if not baffling scientists in its none patterned dimming sequences? Alien third-level technology may be at work, but another factor is that three others stars dimmed at the same time across the 70,000 light year distance!
Thursday 18th May 2017.
15th September Cassini collides with Saturn!
The fuel has run out for the Cassini joint European and U.S project and the craft has entered a 1500 mile zone between the rings and the upper atmosphere of this second largest gas giant in our Solar system.
New discoveries have been made in relation to the Polar activities and the clouds, which are much different from those of Jupiter? Eight fly passes will get Cassini to its final position, but it is hoped that much more information will be gathered from the planet and the hunt for planet X?
Thursday 4th May 2017.
Another Asteroid belt object Identified.
NASA is planning a new mission back to the Asteroid belt to study and object that they believe may be the metal core of a destroyed planet?
This object they believe is solid metal, rather than rock of any form? Many of the UFO fanatics will either think this is a alien 'Death Star or something out of captain Archers Star Trek!
Thursday 20th April 2017.
New Horizons is now more than half-way between Pluto and its next objective!
Meanwhile a Space telescope has discovered that one of the three objects to be visited by the probe has its own Moon, which is similar to Charon being close to Pluto!
Another discovery is that more than three other objects have been identified in the Kuiper Belt, but it is not yet known what they are and one is not sure if the New Horizons will be able to visit them?
Thursday 6th April 2017.
Space X successful Re-entry and reusable.
Space-X has achieved success in their quick programme to be the new replacement for the retired Space Shuttle! Meanwhile the U.S. has been able to launch several new models for testing on the International Space station, with great success?
Space-X will not replace manned Russian launches or the new progress robotic craft, they will continue until it is decided if a new shuttle programme will be funded and placed into production?
Thursday 23rd March 2017.
Weather Monitoring.
In the last year much more has been learned by the various weather satellites in Earths orbit, from Global warming, effects of pollution and how the Sun flashes off the Earths upper atmosphere?
Many tropical storms have been tracked from origins to their break-up, while improved forecasting on Tsunamis is promised.
A breakthrough has been achieved with the smaller bot satellites launched on mass and now sending back multiple data on various subjects? These trials will lead in the future to them being deployed perhaps to every planet in the known Solar System?
Thursday 19th January 2017.
Plans for Venus and Neptune, Uranus?
It is at this time so hard to know if the new U.S. Administration will support the efforts and work of the ageing NASA or replace it with something new.
I do not think that all the research gathered will be lost, just moved on the various companies that already provide the essential systems for the various programmes?
Space within our Solar System still offers so much new things to learn for humanity, the search for life is one thing another Earth is also desired? But there is a wealth of unknowns to be still explored, even going back to Venus and Mercury with landers are viable projects?
Thursday 5th January 2017.
A new year for the end of Cassini?
One has to wonder why the European Space Agency has to waste so much money, when the programme could continue collecting much more data as it has?
My concern is that Philae was crashed for the failed mars mission, when it could have continued to give us much more data as the comet moved out beyond Jupiter?
Thursday 22nd December 2016.
Donald J Trump promises to promote Space?
2017 May see a revolution is Space and co-operation with Russia and many other nations to reach many objects in our Solar System in the next eight to thirty years? A Moon base, half way post to Mars and many more robotic missions to the outer gas giants and newly discovered objects?
A lander mission to Pluto would be a plus to learn more about what is really going on this little world? Missions to Venus and the search for planet X, plus space construction and mission to our nearest stars may also be on the cards?
Thursday 8th December 2016.
Fifty-four day orbit.
Juno currently takes 54-days to make one complete orbit of the gas giant Jupiter, so that perhaps explains the silence from NASA? But the pipe-line problem still remains and a fix has been cancelled until the next time it comes back around to face the Earth?
The imagery from this gas giants is tremendous in relation to spotting some of the Pearl clouds, but it is not clear why more information is not being released including magnetic data and the composition of the gasses that make up this giant?
Thursday 10th November 2016.
Rocket Research.
There is a whole world full of clubs that do weekly research into rocketry, many connected with weather but some want to develop the flight performance of the rocket.
Roscom and NASA along with ESA have worked on the new fuel compounds with some success in developing newer fuels.
The more their is going on around the world with armatures and scientists the more can be discovered and developed for the future?
Thursday 27th October 2016.
New Kids on the Block?
China, N-Korea, India and Brazil are some of the new and up coming nations that are going into space, with some success and they have plans to go further?
Taking away the threat of the delivery of nuclear weapons systems is the scary other side that will trouble the U.S, NATO and others in the long term?
Thursday 13th October 2016.
What is up on the silence of JUNO?
It has been quite a while now since Juno got into the orbit of Jupiter and we were promised data from mid-September, but so far NASA has been very quite?
Perhaps the belts of radiation have knocked out this probe or the data is the same as was gathered in the past.
Photographic images of the two poles are interesting in the change of activity that covers the rest of this gas giant? One would be amazed to find that what we though was not and that there was a solid world of some kind under all that cloud?
Thursday 15th September 2016.
Plans for a mission to Neptune.
There is much excitement in a mission to this last planet in our Solar System a cold gas giant with one large Moon.
Much speculation has arisen, after the discovery of a 125 mile mini world known as Niku travelling backwards compared to all the other planets in our solar system and on a 110 degree plane between Neptune and Pluto.
This world is of interest because it is also blue in colour and may be also spinning opposite too to all the other normal worlds?
Thursday 28th July 2016
Philai switched off, Juno at Jupiter.
A new chapter is opening in Space flight with many new developments on the International Space Station and the arrival of Juno.
Juno will tell us more about the mystery of this Gas giant, that will help us with further exploration out to Uranus and Neptune in the decades to come.
Space-X is slowly progressing with its new pods and recovery-delivery systems. But for the moment the best way up and down comes via Russia.
Meanwhile the study of Earth on a more closer inspection is needed because of the rise in ocean temperatures, which may be connected to the burning of fossil fuels or not?
Thursday 7th July 2016.
New Horizons, Mars Curiosity get their respective extended missions and Juno makes it to Orbit a Giant.
This 4th July was a success for Juno to get into place around Jupiter, after another long trip across our Solar System. Data is not expected until October for the public says NASA.
Next up Both the New Horizons and Mars Curiosity get extended missions, this is perhaps to cut down the costs of another new mission or to just wear them out and ride the economic storms down here?
Mars Curiosity and Express Explorer continue to prove valuable in finding new things that are leading scientists to find a link to micro bacterial life! New Horizons is working itself out to visit newly discovered planet sized Pluto, possibly with at least two moons.
This target is believed to be a better choice than the known existing three and it may even get a glimpse of plant nine if it really exists?
Thursday 23rd June 2016.
Juno on course for Jupiter 4th July.
NASA Says, 'That they have found a predicted orbit of the largest planet in our Solar System, that will save it from the planets radiation.'
Jupiter is believed by many scientists to be a failed Sun, because most star systems in the known universe are two or more binaries.
Perhaps that is why we have life on earth, because a second star would mess up the amount of radiation hitting our atmosphere?
Major discoveries are to be made in relation to this planet and some of its Moons, if it can survive the one year mission.
Understanding its make up, composition and the weather patterns will be the main tasks. One expects the pictures returned will be really spectacular?
Thursday 12th May 2016.
Mercury and Mars.
We now have the best map of the mysterious planet Mercury, while others are rushing to Mars to find that elusive water and SOPHIA discovering oxygen in the atmosphere. Everything we discover more about Mars will improve the chances of a manned mission and the viability for it to stay their for a longer period.
Juno is progressing towards Jupiter for the 4th July encounter, while Cassini has discovered another Moon around Saturn.
The other big breakthrough in the current Space race is the discovery that a Spaceship the size of ones palm could get to our nearest star neighbour in thirty-Years. In fact all that we need is claimed can now be fitted in this smaller probe, this will perhaps mean more packages being sent out to the gas giants of Uranus, Neptune.
Meanwhile this could mean having a permanent stationary companion to observe Pluto, if not other further out objects?
Thursday 28th April 2016.
SpaceX Adventures.
With one success it would seem that SpaceX are determined to make a venturous step of faith to Mars? One has to wonder are they really serious and do we already have enough junk up in Space anyway!
The Moon base planned for 2030 will be the test for humanity, wither they can ever breakaway from the umbilical cord that holds them to Earth. This southern polar base will be protected in a giant Creator from radiation waves from the Sun.
Meanwhile the latest space flight discovery shows us that an object the side of the human hand could reach our nearest neighbouring star within 30 years?
If this is so, perhaps smaller observation probes could visit Pluto for a stationary orbit, while also visiting Neptune and Uranus with something similar to the Cassini to Saturn!
Thursday 7th April 2016.
A submarine for Titan.
This is the latest offering from NASA and the European Space Agency, as more water is being found in our Solar System. Titan has seas of methane and this sub will have to reach the bottom to find out is there a possibility of any new life forms there.
Pluto is too revealing more water, perhaps a trapped ocean along with its largest Moon Charon. The Moons of Saturn also are believed tho have deep frozen over oceans and water has been detected on Mars.
Many probes are now on their way to check out all these new discoveries, but more of them will be needed in the years to come. This century may prove to be one of the greatest in our Solar system of exploration!
Thursday 17th March 2016.
The rush to Mars and Oceans on Ceres.
Two new events have got the astronomical and scientific world on a rush to get space programmes sped up, after earth type minerals, water and under ice flow has been observed on Mars.
The bright spots on Ceres now produce mist, so there could be an ocean under the frozen surface that may be warmer.
Methane is believed to be active on Mars now as it is on Pluto and also it is observed that parts of coast lands on Saturn Moon Titan have disappeared.
Thursday 11th February 2016.
JUNO nearing Jupiter.
This year hopefully we will have another close encounter with the largest planet in our solar system, the gas giant Jupiter. Last seen during the 1970 twin missions. Juno has now made its final burn for the July approach to this banded world, with its now decreasing red spot and and estimated 63 Moons.
Much more has been discovered about these swirling cloud bands and the darker gaps in them, perhaps on closer inspection we will see more wonderful things that where just not expected to bee seen. We will also learn more about some, if not all of the so far discovered sixty-three Moons and may find many more yet to be discover other smaller objects.
Perhaps with Juno operating out here, we might get a glimpse of this supposed Planet 9X or a few others of the larger objects in the Khyper belt well before New Horizons reaches its first target in 2019?
Thursday 28th January 2016.
Another Planet.
Scientists believe that they have found another planet beyond Neptune, that is ten times the size of Earth. The physics gives the impression and there is also speculation that this giant was originally near to Mars or Ceres.
With the arrival of the last Comet, it was noted that it seemed to burn a tail long before it entered our Solar System. Perhaps this new planet named 9 being 20 times further away than we are from the Sun is it.
But there remains so much doubt as there was over Pluto, and now with New Horizons passing by have not things changed. The Kyper belt will reveal more secrets about this outer region that might break a few more existing theories in relation to how we came to be or not?
Thursday 3rd December 2015.
Silence on Pluto Mission?
It would seem that there has been a sudden shutdown on further imagery related to Pluto on the New Horizons mission in July of this year!
There are many people who believe that NASA deliberately avoids investigating interesting features and this could also be applied to all of its missions past and at this time.
What secrets could Pluto and Charon and the other Moons hold that would scare scientists at the Space Agency. One is that there may be microbiological life on some planets and volcanism on Pluto with the early or late stages of some signs of life.
The New Horizons mission was quite short in its duration of visiting Pluto, before moving on to the Kyper Belt, which may have many more surprises to reveal in relation to the the theories about our Solar System is much more than meets the eye?
Thursday 29th October 2015.
Cassini to New Horizons.
These last few months have turned up and are turning up a number of surprises and these will continue with all the new missions that are underway or are being planned. Pluto is now a dwarf planet with a blue haze sky, moving ice flows and amazing features. Its moons five in number now are all different and Charon is the most interesting in the Solar System.
Today Cassini has made a close flyby that will reveal that we really need to take a closer look at everything in our system. Under ice oceans and southern heated spouts on a moon of Saturn.
Meanwhile we now know that Mars is very similar to earth in many ways and there is so much more to learn about its southern polar regions. perhaps this will the future to study all southern regions of every body floating out in Space.
Thursday 6th August 2015.
Past Pluto.
Pluto is back to be what it was a smaller planet with a atmosphere that rises in two stages of 50 and 80 miles high making comparable to other planets, despite it being small.
We know it has moving ice flows and despite shedding its atmosphere it has much more to reveal in relation to its red colour and that it may be volcanic.
This could be happening as its orbit gets closer to the Sun? While we await more data, it would be worthwhile sending another mission to be in a permanent orbit of Pluto and its Moon Charon.
Thursday 16th July 2015.
Charon and Pluto Plus.
Both these new worlds are far different from anything yet that has been seen in our Solar System. Charon is grey with a dark pole, while Pluto is a reddish brown and both lack cratering that is so common in the system.
Both have mountain ranges rising to 3,500 metres and Methane gas has been detected. Meanwhile the other moons seen are operating in a chaotic way. But this is not the end of the New Horizons mission, it is moving on the the Kyper belt region on the outer fringes to check out earlier detections of even smaller worlds than Pluto.
Thursday 25th June 2015.
Philai has woken up.
Great news for the European Space Agency that their little probe is now calling home and perhaps will be full of more surprises. Meanwhile Curiosity is not sending as much data as was hoped or perhaps NASA is not releasing any further information at this time.
Other space probes are progressing in their continued discoveries, our solar system has much more than was expected with many new mysteries. But then this was something that was expected and there will be many more wonderful things to see. One day when probes get to Neptune and Uranus more strange things will also be discovered.
New Horizons is getting ever nearer to Pluto and much is to be revealed about this strange system, 5 new Moon's and strange features both on Charon and Pluto.
Thursday 21st May 2015.
Ever nearer to Pluto.
Not long now to the first fly by of tiny Pluto?
The space craft heading that was has allowed NASA to observe that Pluto has an ice cap and three new moons have also been discovered. I wonder will we get a real surprise about Pluto that was not expected, perhaps even volcanoes or some form of internal heating to give it a slight temperature flux.
Mid July will reveal all and more about its one large and four smaller Moons, perhaps other outer objects will also be seen or registered more accurately for the first time?
Thursday 12th March 2015.
Dawn has arrived at Ceres.
The long awaited event of seeing this small plant has arrived, the first images shoe two very bright objects on Ceres, which is baffling scientists. So far only monochrome images have been released and this world looks a bit like our Moon.
New Horizons is nearing Pluto and its three Moons.
July14th is the date for the Pluto arrival, but already we are getting good images of the three moons one large and two small. It will be interesting to see what Pluto really looks like?
Thursday 22nd January 2015.
Three New Events.
One.
The U.S. programme to build a reusable rocket supply vehicle has now run into some difficulties, proving that with space travel one cannot take things for granted. This lack of co-operation with Russia is a dramatic set back more so for the U.S. It is also sad that after so much good work over the years since the fall of the Soviet Union that it looks like the Americans will loose ISS as they lost their Space Shuttle with no alternative?
Two.
There are plans a foot for another deep space voyager type mission to study the gas giants of Uranus and Neptune and their moons, this would certainly be an interesting project to do. We have learned and discovered so much about Saturn and Jupiter this would be so worthwhile.
Three.
The ISS had to be evacuated into the Russian section, after an Ammonia leak. This proves that space travel is still a very dangerous business and that International co-operation is needed in the established bases.
Thursday 1st January 2015.
The search is On.
Now that Rosetta has been established the search for water and heat combined is believed to be the source of life and that it may well be within our solar system. 2015 Promises to be the year of other life discovery on other planets and much nearer too.
Much of this still remains speculation, because as with Philai that ice was not the kind to support any kind of life. There remains the big play for life, there must be life?
But the reality may be that we are the only life in the whole universe? I wonder what is the probability to that calculation?
By the way nothing more has been heard in relation to the Indian Mission to Mars!
Thursday 18th December 2014.
Philai. Ice water not the same.
Another major theory has been broken into relation to Comets being the bases for bringing water to start life on the Earth. This theory has now been transferred to Meteors!
The comet does contain water ice, but it is different and would not be able in its make up to sustain life. Data is still coming from this little probe and it will be interesting to see what is the composition of the rocks and minerals that it is made of.
Thursday 13th November 2014.
Rosetta.
An ESA(European Space Agency) first, and it should not be doubted as nothing special because it is. This comet is travelling at 34,000 miles per hour, and rotating.
Japan carried out a similar mission two years ago with what they claimed was contamination. Perhaps this time similar results will be found?
Does this missions and others like it, past and future really find out about our Solar System? Is this rock part of a theory or could it have come from out side our system, they are all very interesting questions worth looking at.
Thursday 25th September 2014.
MOM. India First.
Congratulations to India's success in getting a satellite to Mars and working on the first attempt. What a breakthrough and may they have many more in any of their other space exploration missions. India has worked with the Soviet Union and Russian space programmes, they also make big money launching satellites for many other nations and consortium's.
But this will be the first of more interesting missions and success has come with keeping it simple, perhaps a lesson for everyone involved in the space industry. There are many other countries around the world who are planning or will soon follow, such as Nigeria, Brazil, and Iran.
Thursday 18th September 2014.
Rover Exploration.
Through the space age it has been the ROBOT Rover probes that have made the majority of progress in exploration by both the U,S, and Russia. With visits to the Moon and Venus, Mars.
These large run-around vehicles saved the risk factor of putting humans there first, this is true in relation to Venus. It is now the Mars rovers that are the highlight of present day adventures.
But with nearly every space mission Robotic craft of varying improved degrees are used apart from the faithful Rovers.
Thursday 14th August 2014.
'Oh, Ooh. We have a problem.'
With relations now between Russia and the U.S. at breaking point over the Ukraine and western sanctions starting to be a tit for tat, Russia may block the launch of U,S, spy satellites and the Progress re-supply to the International Space Station?
The U.S. administration felt they could save quite a bit of money cancelling the very reliable Space Shuttle and work with Russia, what a grave error of judgement.
Now it is hoped the situation on the ground does not further escalate?
The Americans are in some ways acting like a headless chicken in the abattoir.
Thursday 31st July 2014.
'Back to Venus, When?
We hear much about Cassini and missions to Mars and Mercury, but there has never been a robotic rover mission to the Polar regions of Venus. When one looks at Venus in a good telescope it is some times noticed that the polar regions of the planet is not in a blanket of cloud.
We know that the atmosphere on most of the planet is thick and acidic and the last probe did not last very long. But with all the newer technology today might not another attempt be made?
Thursday 19th June 2014.
All set for Mars 2025 to 2035.
It looks like all systems are now on go for two definite missions to our nearest planet Mars.
One will be a commercial venture and ten years later NASA is planning their own mission. It looks like that both will be an eight month journey and that the commercial venture is a one way trip.
Many new designs and concepts for a Martian base are being drawn up and all these are being based around a cell group of four.
My opinion about all of this, is that we still have very little information from all the Robotic craft sent. It is the blue soft areas that worry me, because as yet we do not know what they are made up of?
Thursday 29th May 2014.
China on the Moon?
With the worsening political situation in the Ukraine and U.S./European Union sanctions on Russia, new windows of economic and military co-operation are opening. China says 'it will have a man on the Moon in the next 20 years.'
Meanwhile America and Europe are working to get to Mars. These are tremendous human achievements, but they have immediate connotations of military exploitation of space.
A permanent Moon base by China and Russia would split the ISS space programme in a big way.
Thursday 27th February 2014.
The Kepler Telescope.
Telescopes are fantastic and amazing things to view with, there are many projects in Space searching for different objects and wave-lengths. The Kepler telescope is imaging stars and tracking planets that orbit around them.
It would seem that there are many planets in our near by Galaxy, but most of these are one hundred times larger than Jupiter and are probably gas giants.
Our gas giant Jupiter is 100X the size of Earth, so live chances as we know it, may be far reduced. But as more observations continue, perhaps planets like our own will be discovered? Getting to them is another story, but as science moves on so does new technologies and a map of the stars one day shall perhaps be an invaluable tool!
Thursday 20th February 2014.
Moon Rover working.
Good news say 'the Chinese, they have got their Moon rover Jade Rabbit working again.' We will have to wait and see what or how harsh the real conditions on the Moon are.
Perhaps the problems with a 300 day flight to the planet Mars, might be overcome by first establishing a Moon base. Being further from Earth could help Space people get more familiar with coping mechanisms away from our home plant?
Thursday 30th January 2014.
Chinese Moon Rover Stuck.
China has admitted now that their successful Moon rover has got stuck, because its location has limited light exposure to the sun. I expect this will for the future be an invaluable lesson as to where you land your spaceship on another planet, if it requires solar power.
Being stuck is not good, but perhaps as time goes on China will develop a support vehicle to get this one up and running. A sort of battery dock would come in handy for missions to Mars and other planets, since it would be producing power and storing it for the rovers.
What have we learned so far from this new mission to the Moon, that it is more hostile than we first thought it was. It is definitely not as flat, as was thought.
For older Posts please see below.
Thursday 13th June 2013.
'Wow life on Mars.'
At last they have admitted that life of some form may have existed on the red planet. Yet this does not explain the current situation of heat and water flow seen by the rovers, that are currently working away on the planet.
It would seem that there is much about space exploration that is being held back. Titan being another example, as well as Venus. The scientific claims do not match the photography in the case of Venus. Volcanic surface, yet snow capped poles.
Titan has mountain structures similar if not the same as on Earth, yet the probe that made it down showed a surface that looked like Mars?
Thursday 10th October 2013.
A Manned Mission to Mars...
It would now seem that a manned mission to Mars will happen for definite within the next thirty years.
'Hurrah' At last it would seem that they have committed to sending us humans to another planet. This will be the real stepping stone to probably visiting Titan and the other near earth sized moons of both the gas giants of Jupiter and Saturn.
We will just have to wait and see what the probes on Mars discover in the years building up to the launch of that human mission?
Thursday 7th November 2013.
India to Mars.
It would seem that both China and India are vying to see who will be the leader in Asian space industries. At the moment it would have to be Kazakstan-Russia, with China following.
But now India has launched a mission to Mars, to measure the atmosphere and wind speeds. A very advisable move, before humans get there. We will have to wait until September 2014 to see if this probe will work, but I am sure it is the beginning of more launches and something different.
Thursday 19th December. 2013.
India, China and Iran.
The space race is on for 2014, with India sending a probe to Mars, to measure wind and other atmospheric data.
Meanwhile China has placed a robotic rover on the Moon, the first for forty-years and Iran has sent a monkey into space to test out the development of their new inter-Continental ballistic missile?
Maybe the reality is that these countries are now growing at such a tremendous rate, that they too can have a piece of the 15 nation dominant ISS space cake.
The Moon meanwhile has many resources that are rare on earth and the possibility of robotic mining ships, is perhaps a more realistic future than a manned Moon base.
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