When the Apollo astronauts landed on the moon between 1969 and 1972, they all landed fairly close to the lunar equator. The largest excursion north or south was that of the Apollo 15 mission. It landed 26 degrees north of…
Author: nealsumerlin
Perihelion Day
On January 4th, 2025 at 8:28 a.m. EST, Earth will reach perihelion, the point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun. Then why is it so cold, at least in the northern hemisphere? Winter—indeed all seasons—don’t depend…
Rocket Science: Simple and Not So Simple
Rocket science at its most basic is surprisingly simple. If you throw enough stuff fast enough out the back of your rocket, it will make the rocket go forward. The more stuff you throw out and the faster you throw…
Meteor Showers 2024
For most people, if they are aware of a meteor shower, it is the Perseid shower in August. It’s pretty reliable, and it takes place at a time of year when being outside in the wee hours of the morning…
Wow!
In August 1977, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University, and being used to support the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), detected a strong signal whose explanation has remained a mystery for nearly fifty years. Despite extensive searches, the…
Space Travel For Real
How difficult is interstellar travel? I’m a huge fan of space travel both real and imagined, and have followed the voyages of the Starship Enterprise since its earliest manifestations. But warp engines aren’t real, and cheating the universe’s speed limit…
Another Black Eye for Boeing
What is the problem with Starliner? Two problems showed up as the spacecraft approached the International Space Station (ISS) back in June. Five of the 28 thrusters used to maneuver in orbit malfunctioned. Four were eventually brought back to…
A Rare Event
There are a few astronomical events that, even though they recur, are once-in-a-lifetime occasions, separated by too much time for all but the luckiest to see twice. For me, Halley’s Comet in 1986 was such an occasion. I lifted my…
Mars Is Ready For Its Closeup
Why does something look big? Is it because it actually IS big, or is it because it is close to us? The closest celestial body to the Earth is our Moon. It’s an object that’s very easy to see without…
Where Is Earth 2.0?
When all you have is one example, it’s interesting to speculate but hard to draw conclusions. How Common Are Planets? For most of my lifetime, we only knew of one star hosting a planetary system: ours. Were the conditions that…
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