What's Up? The Space Place

 Hey, Space Placers! FLAME TREE AND HORSEHEAD NEBULAS IN ORION Greg Redfern As we wind down 2025, here is a nice article to preview what 2026 skies have in store for Earthlings. I also preview the first of the month on my blog what the sky has in store for us. May your New Year celebrations be safe and joyful. Sky Guy in VA

 Hey, Space Placers! My Fave 2025 pic - Shadow Selfie on the Highway to the Heavens Greg Redfern iPhone Here is my top story for 2025 .  It has been a banner year in some respects space-wise but also a terrible year with the grotesque DOGE fiasco, and current administration decimation of science funding, all types of science and medicine research curtailments and the onslaught of Dark Ages regression regarding vaccines. May we do better in 2026. Sky Guy in VA

 Hey, Space Placers! Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems integrate the SLS (Space Launch System) Moon rocket core stage with the solid rocket boosters onto mobile launcher 1 inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in March 2025. Artemis II is the first crewed test flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars. NASA/Frank Michaux NASA has announced the launch window for Artemis II as February 1 to April 30, 2026. The Artemis II stack - the Orion spacecraft and SLS -  are scheduled to roll out to the pad sometime in January. The EXCITING NEWS is that I will be there for the roll out and launch of Artemis II. I was selected by NASA to participate in the media events for these two evolutions.     Get the full story here about the stack. Sky Guy in VA

 Hey, Space Placers! Astronaut Chris Williams participates in spacewalk training at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas. (Robert Markowitz/NASA) Here is a feel good story for everyone to enjoy. Sky Guy in VA

 Hey, Space Placers! This Hubble Space Telescope image shows the largest planet-forming disk ever observed around a young star. It spans nearly 400 billion miles — 40 times the diameter of our solar system. Image: NASA, ESA, STScI, Kristina Monsch (CfA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) Get the whole story here. Sky Guy in VA

 HEY, SPACE PLACERS! Orion Nebula Flame Tree and Horsehead Nebulas Crab Nebula Flaming Star Nebula Hubble's Variable Nebula A wonderful time imaging last night - the longest of the year - in my own backyard...... Sky Guy in VA