M Thomas Apple

Originally designed to operate for just one year around Mars, MAVEN’s mission was repeatedly extended, enabling the most extensive research into the workings of the Martian atmosphere ever attempted.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-declares-end-mars-orbiter-maven-mission Thanks to MAVEN, we know how the Mars atmosphere has been eroded by solar wind over billions of years. Designed to work for a…

Li Jiaying, a 43-year-old police officer and mother of three, serves as the payload scientist in the three-member crew who made their way to China’s Tiangong space station on Sunday night. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn7p87r56mgo Congratulations to her! But is it really important that she is a “mother of three”? I never see anything about male astronauts being a “father of…

“Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;But then begins a journey in my head,To work my mind, when body’s work’s expired…” I dearly wish I had though of this. Then again, I don’t know Patrick Stewart… https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/patrick-stewart-ai-schooled-shakespeare-rcna344945

May thy Ninth?

Artist’s impression. Probably doesn’t have that many track lights behind it. Just 300 miles or so across, this mini Pluto is thought to be the solar system’s smallest object yet with a clearly detected global atmosphere bound by gravity, said lead researcher Ko Arimatsu of the National Astronomical Observatory of…

Astronomers have discovered 27 new potential planets that orbit two stars, like the fictional desert planet Tatooine from the Star Wars universe… https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/04/scientists-discover-27-potential-new-planets And now you know what a “Circumbinary planet” means. Happy Star Wars Day!

“The moon really is its own unique body in the universe. When we have that perspective and we compare it to our home of the Earth, it just reminds us how much we have in common. Everything we need, the Earth provides, and that, in and of itself, is somewhat of a miracle.” https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/10/artemis-ii-landing-return-moon-mission?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Should have…

If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why? If I could, I’d be Columbo. But if TV shows are out, then I’d be the Grandfather from The Princess Bride. I pretty much already act like both anyway 😆

“It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the moon right now,” Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen radioed ahead of the flyby. “It is just unbelievable.” https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/06/artemis-ii-astronauts-record-moon-earth-distance?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Just like Apollo 8 in 1968. History does not repeat, but it sure does rhyme.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/live/2026/apr/01/artemis-ii-launch-nasa-orion-moon-trip-live-updates?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Live up dates of the Artemis II mission to “cislunar space” (it will not actually land on the Moon but will take four astronauts farther away from Earth than anyone else so far).

Just four days after a meteor streaked through skies above Cleveland, another one broke apart above Houston. My favorite quote from the woman whose house was targeted by a meteorite: “It looked just like a rock, and ain’t no rocks got no business falling out of the sky.” Um. Yeah. Ain’t no blogger got no business complaining about grammar what don’t make no sense, boy. My favorite thing about the…

“A palentir is a dangerous tool, Saruman,” Gandalf said. “We do not know who may be watching.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/22/palantir-extends-reach-into-british-state-as-it-gets-access-to-sensitive-fca-data?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Rocky objects traveling through space are known as meteoroids, but when they enter Earth’s atmosphere and create fireballs, they are called meteors. Any fragments that fall to Earth’s surface are meteorites. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/meteor-boom-ohio-pennsylvania-rcna263876 The Earth is bombarded on a daily basis from outer space. Just not usually over urban areas during…

“As a science fiction author, I’ve always loved hearing from fans of my fiction,” [US based author Jason Sanford] tells the Guardian. “But now when someone emails saying they loved one of my stories, my first thought is that this is yet another scammer setting me up for the…

No problem: it’s just a 1,300 pound satellite falling down from the sky and disintegrating into random pieces everywhere all at once… “For the average person, it will be a nice light in the sky if you get lucky and, otherwise, don’t worry about it,” Dr. McDowell said. “We have much more scary re-entries that happen. Occasionally, there is a 20-ton Chinese rocket stage that comes down. Those are…