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With more moon missions on the horizon, avoiding crowding and collisions will be a growing challenge and other Lunar Exploration News

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 Hey, Space Placers! This is a VERY interesting story that indicates what space agencies returning to the Moon - to stay this time - need to start thinking about. Plans are being considered to develop and implement "Lunar Timekeeping" - giving the Moon its own time system, free from Earth. Houston was/is the time zone being used. NASA has moved Artemis III (first crewed moon landing) to 2028 because of SpaceX Starship delays. Sky Guy in VA

NASA, SpaceX Launch US-European Satellite to Monitor Earth’s Oceans

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Hey, Space Placers! Get all the details here...... MY BEST LEONID Sky Guy in VA 

LEONID METEOR SHOWER TONIGHT NOV. 16-17

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 Hey, Space Placers! LEONIDS RADIANT EARTHSKY.ORG LEONID GREG REDFERN Are you a night owl and/or an early riser who likes to look at the night sky?  Midnight tonight and tomorrow night into the hours before dawn is just the thing for you as the annual Leonid Meteor Shower  https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-leonid-meteor-shower/?mc_cid=bc82044c39&mc_eid=9aeb2a4318   is expected to peak during that time frame. And the moon will not interfere with the shower as it is a slender waning crescent moon. Our weather for DC looks to offer clear skies after midnight and towards dawn https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/WashingtonDCkey.html?1   . You can check the site for your own location. The Leonids were first seen in 902 A.D. and “storm” every 33 years producing 100’s to 1000’s of meteors an hour. The last Leonid storm was in 2001. This year a dark sky site should produce 10 to 15 Leonid meteors an hour. Each year at this time our pl...

INSPIRATIONAL ARTEMIS I VIDEO

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 Hey, Space Placers! Truly inspirational. Artemis II  is scheduled for a February 2026 liftoff for the moon. Sky Guy in VA

SIGN UP: Your NASA Virtual Invitation: Sentinel-6B Mission Launch

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Hey, Space Placers!   30 + Events | 1 Million + Registrations | Join Us!   You're invited!  J oin NASA as a virtual guest for the launch of  Sentinel-6B ,an  international mission that will deliver critical sea level and ocean data to protect coastal infrastructure, improve weather forecasting, and support commercial activities at sea. Sentinel-6B is the second of twin satellites in the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission. The first,  Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich , launched in November 2020. The mission continues a decades-long effort to monitor global sea level and ocean conditions using precise radar measurements from space. For more information about these missions visit:  https://science.nasa.gov/ mission/sentinel-6b/ NASA is targeting launch at 12:21 a.m. EST Monday, Nov. 17 (9:21 p.m. PST, Sunday Nov. 16) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Regist...

Have astronomers just found the first stars in the universe?

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 Hey, Space Placers! Artist’s impression of the early universe. Credit: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser. Here is an interesting news release  about the possible observation of Population III stars, or the very first stars to have formed in the Universe. The observations were made with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). One of the primary mission of JWST is to discover the very first stars and galaxies to have formed in our Universe. Sky Guy in VA

AURORA DAZZLE - POSSIBLE REPEAT TONIGHT

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 Hey, Space Placers! As you can see from my iPhone pics on Tuesday night into the early hours of Wednesday morning skywatchers were treated to dazzling and colorful Aurora throughout North America. Our area got to see the sky show starting after 8 p.m. EST and lasting for hours as numerous pictures and comments were sent to WTOP  https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2025/11/northern-lights-sightings-possible-next-few-nights-in-dc-region/ ; as mentioned in the story we may get Aurora again Wednesday night into Thursday morning.  Fueling the sky spectacle was a powerful Level G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation that lasted for hours. Two videos from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)  https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ explained what was occurring at the onset https://www.facebook.com/reel/1364665611995916 and later https://www.facebook.com/reel/1565388894620064   . N...