LATEST ON ULTIMA THULE

Hey Space Placers!





Here's the latest on Ultima Thule findings.

Sky Guy Headed Out To Sea

What Does the Milky Way Weigh?

Hey Space Placers!

I am sure you are getting your March Madness Brackets set up.

Check out the most accurate to date determination of how much our home galaxy "weighs", or more precisely, how much mass does it contain.

Center of Milky Way Galaxy
Taken Underway on Azamara Quest

Pretty amazing story and result.

Most of our galaxy's mass is in the form of dark matter - something we can detect by its gravitational influence but cannot see.

Sky Guy in VA

Cooking up Alien Atmospheres on Earth

Hey Space Placers!

Now that we have just gone over 4,000 KNOWN PLANETS BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM - known as Exoplanets - with many more to come, research is being done on what they may be like.

This artist's concept shows planet KELT-9b orbiting its host star, KELT-9. It is the hottest gas giant planet discovered so far.
Credit NASA JPL

Read the story on how alien atmospheres are being made and studied in the laboratory.

Pretty fascinating.

Sky Guy in VA

NASA MOON TO MARS

Hey Space Placers!

A follow up to my last blog - 3/11/19.

NASA has published a GREAT news website on their plan for Moon to Mars.



Make sure you check it out and sign for NASA's updates.

Sky Guy in VA

2019: DAWN OF A NEW U.S. SPACE AGE?

Hey Space Placers!


Here is my story on U.S. efforts to restore crewed spaceflight missions with U.S. hardware and an update on lunar missions.

Enjoy my pic of Discovery!

Sky Guy in VA

CREW DRAGON SAFELY SPLASHES DOWN

Hey Space Placers!

The SpaceX Demo-1 mission has concluded with the successful splashdown of the Crew Drago spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 8:45 a.m. EST.

NASA TV

This is a BIG step forward on returning astronauts to space using US built hardware launched from US soil.

I'll have much more tomorrow.

Sky Guy in VA

SKY GUY ALERT: CREW DRAGON RETURN 3/8/19 & ALL FEMALE SPACEWALK 3/29/19

Hey Space Placers!

Watch the return of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft tomorrow, March 8, at 2:00 a.m.  on NASA TV. 

Then, on Sunday, March 29th, watch the first ever all female spacewalk!

Both of these events will be historic firsts so tune in!

Sky Guy in VA

SPACEIL BERESHEET SPACECRAFT SELFIE

Hey Space Placers!

Here's something you don't see very often - a spacecraft headed to the Moon selfie!

I LOVE IT!

A picture taken by the camera of the Beresheet spacecraft 23,363 miles from Earth. Photograph: AFP/Getty 
via
UK THE GUARDIAN


SKY GUY IN VA

APOLLO 11 THE MOVIE & CREW DRAGON AT ISS

Hey Space Placers!

I am going to see "Apollo 11-The Movie" at Udvar Hazy IMAX and I can hardly wait. The trailer is a joy to see and hear.




How appropriate to share this movie with the successful docking earlier today of SpaceX Crew Dragon at the International Space Station!

NASA

Sky Guy in VA

ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO FOR SPACEX COMMERCIAL CREW DEMO-1 FLIGHT

Hey Space Placers!

On March 2, at 2:29 a.m. EST, SpaceX will try to launch its Crew Dragon spacecraft using a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A.

CREDIT: SpaceX

It will be uncrewed and launched to dock with the International Space Station on March 3rd. The mission, Demo-1, is a crucial test for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Live coverage will be provided by NASA starting at 2:00 a.m.

If Demo-1 proves successful the next mission should be with a NASA crew later this year.

The other Commercial Crew Partner, Boeing and its CST 100 Starliner, is also expected to conduct an uncrewed test flight in 2019.

If either is successful with a crewed launch it would mark the first time in EIGHT YEARS that NASA has launched a crew from Kennedy Space Center. No longer will the Russians have the only crew rated spacecraft in the world.

Let's light this candle!

Sky Guy in VA