mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Mastermind of @cosmiclog@mastodon.online and Fiction Science podcast. Science journalist for GeekWire and Universe Today. Veteran of NBCNews.com. Author of "The Case for Pluto." Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/b0yle.bsky.social
NASA has started posting high-resolution pictures from the #Artemis2 lunar flyby, including a stunning #Earthset photo that rekindles the thrill surrounding the Apollo 8 #Earthrise photo from 1968. Check out images.nasa.gov ... #Space
Today's big data dump from the federal government's #UFO files includes a "bogey" seen by astronaut Frank Borman during the Gemini 7 mission in 1965. Actually, UFO sleuths explained that bogey 30 years ago. https://cosmiclog.com/2026/05/08/pentagon-releases-ufo-files-from-moon-trips-and-more/ #PURSUE #UAP #Space
A static-fire test of the #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn rocket ended in a spectacular launch-pad explosion that dealt a heavy blow to the company's Florida launch facility — and cast a dark cloud over the schedule for launching #AmazonLeo satellites and Blue Origin's lunar lander. (Photo credit: Spaceflight Now) https://www.geekwire.com/2026/blue-origin-new-glenn-rocket-explodes-on-pad/ #Space
#BlueOrigin was able to stick the landing at sea with a previously flown rocket booster - which is a first for the #NewGlenn launch system. However, the satellite that was launched didn't reach its intended orbit, and the company says it's assessing the situation. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/blue-origin-uses-a-recycled-rocket-to-launch-satellite-for-ast-spacemobile/ #NG3 #ASTSpaceMobile #Space
#NASA reschedules the first crewed lunar landing since the #Apollo era for 2028, and slips in a test mission in 2027 that could put the #BlueOrigin lunar lander through its paces in low Earth orbit. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/nasa-overhauls-artemis-moon-program-blue-origin/ #Space #Artemis #BlueMoon #Moon
Not everything went right during the first flight test for SpaceX's redesigned #Starship V3 rocket, but the results were impressive enough for #SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to congratulate the team for scoring "a goal for humanity." Be sure to watch the video clips. https://cosmiclog.com/2026/05/22/next-gen-starship-passes-its-first-flight-test-despite-snags/ #Space
The Financial Times quotes unidentified sources as saying that @blueorigin@mastodon.social is looking at the option of seeking outside investors to boost the company's launch rate. Company founder Jeff Bezos, whose net worth currently amounts to around $270 billion, has put billions of dollars into his privately held space venture over the past 26 years. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-outside-investment/ #Space #BlueOrigin
Just catching up with this week's big news from the #KuiperBelt - about a mini-world that shouldn't have an atmosphere but apparently does. I also manage to wedge in a word about #Pluto. https://cosmiclog.com/2026/05/08/pluto-like-worlds-thin-atmosphere-poses-a-mystery/ #Space #TNO
#PortalSpaceSystems is partnering with an Australian venture called #PaladinSpace on a commercial service that would round up and dispose of potentially hazardous orbital debris. The first mission is being targeted for 2027. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/got-space-junk-portal-and-paladin-team-up-to-create-an-orbital-trash-disposal-service/ #Space #OrbitalDebris #SpaceJunk
The protocols for dealing with purported signals from extraterrestrials have been revised for the era of deepfakes and doxing. Is it just a coincidence that the revisions are being revealed just as the #DisclosureDay movie is coming out? https://cosmiclog.com/2026/06/05/seti-experts-update-their-protocols-for-disclosure-day/ #Space #Aliens #SETI
Seattle-based #Teague started out designing Texaco service stations - but now it's helping its partners create the look and feel of commercial space stations including #Starlab and #OrbitalReef. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/design-space-station-teague/ #Space #Design
These pictures of #Saturn look like two scoops of ice cream - maybe mocha and mango - but they're actually infrared and visible-light views from the James #Webb Space Telescope and the #Hubble #Space Telescope that scientists can dig into for tasty insights. Yum! https://cosmiclog.com/2026/03/25/two-space-telescopes-see-saturn-in-a-different-light/ #NASA #JWST
UPDATE: After a good-looking launch and landing for Blue Origin's first twice-used #NewGlenn rocket booster, AST SpaceMobile reports that its satellite was put into an orbit that's too low to sustain operations. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/blue-origin-uses-a-recycled-rocket-to-launch-satellite-for-ast-spacemobile/ #Space #BlueOrigin #NG3 #ASTSpaceMobile
#Seattle science-fiction writer Vonda McIntyre completed the manuscript for a different kind of #Odyssey - from ancient Crete to the Pacific Northwest - just before she died in 2019. Seven years later, "The Curve of the World" has finally been published, and that's a cause for celebration. https://cosmiclog.com/2026/05/15/late-author-curve-world/ #FictionScience #Minoan #History #Science #Archaeology #Books #ClarionWest
On its first night of operation, an astronomical alert system developed at the University of Washington sent out 800,000 notifications about changes in the night sky detected by the #RubinObservatory. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/rubin-observatory-data-alert/ #Space #Astronomy
Aerospace consultant Roger Myers explains the geopolitical rationale behind the drive by #NASA and the Department of #Energy to put a #nuclear reactor on the #moon by the 2030s. Check out the #FictionScience podcast: https://cosmiclog.com/2026/01/30/why-nasa-is-going-nuclear-for-a-power-play-on-the-moon/ #Space
#NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman responds to an independent panel's report on 2024's troubled #Starliner mission by putting the event in the agency's most serious category of anomalies - and declaring that astronauts won't ride on Starliners until corrective actions are taken. The report faults NASA as well as #Boeing ... https://cosmiclog.com/2026/02/19/nasa-blames-itself-and-boeing-for-starliner-screw-ups/ #Space #ISS
#BlueOrigin CEO Dave Limp says the company plans to rebuild its #NewGlenn launch pad and return to flight by year's end, which is much sooner than many expected in the wake of last week's rocket blast. One thing's certain: company founder #JeffBezos can cover the bill. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/blue-origin-fix-launch-pad-return-flight/ #Space
#StokeSpace has boosted its Series D financing round to $860 million, with the newly announced $350 million going toward getting the Seattle-area startup's Florida launch pad activated and expanding production capacity for Stoke's fully reusable rockets. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/stoke-space-350m-added-funding/ #Space #Nova
How will the launch-pad explosion of the #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn rocket affect customers ranging from #AmazonLeo to #NASA ? It's likely to take months to rebuild the pad, and "Amazon is probably in the best position to deal with this setback,” an industry analyst says. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/blue-origins-rocket-blowup-nasa-amazon-leo/ #Space
Jeff Bezos' #BlueOrigin space venture wins a #NASA contract to send two crew-carrying #moon buggies to the lunar surface, with the first delivery set for as early as 2028. The buggies will be built by #Astrolab and #LunarOutpost. #FireflyAerospace also won a contract to drop off NASA's rocket-powered drones for future #MoonBase missions. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/nasa-taps-blue-origin-to-deliver-lunar-rovers-for-moon-base-initiative/ #Space
#NASA gives a thumbs-up to building a #moon base within a decade and sending a nuclear-powered spacecraft to #Mars by 2028 - while hitting the pause button on commercial space stations and a moon-orbiting outpost. Some say the plan is essential to beat China, while others wonder whether it's realistic or wise. https://cosmiclog.com/2026/03/24/nasa-pivots-to-moon-base-and-nuclear-mars-mission/ #Space #Ignition #Gateway
#SpaceX had to scrub its #Starship launch today due to technical difficulties, but a different sort of launch took place: The kickoff of crypto investor Chun Wang's campaign to ride Starship to #Mars and back someday in the future. Will his interplanetary plan actually get off the ground? Past precedents aren't encouraging. https://cosmiclog.com/2026/05/21/crypto-investor-plans-to-ride-starship-around-mars/ #Space
The leader of the team behind the #AmazonLeo satellite broadband network reveals how Jeff Bezos got the ball rolling in the connectivity competition with SpaceX's #Starlink. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/amazon-leo-leaders-inside-look-satellite-past-future/ #Space #Tech #TechAlliance #Amazon
Two veterans of Microsoft's #geospatial data projects are unveiling #TerraByte #AI, a stealthy startup that uses an "Earth Search Engine" to glean insights from intersecting streams of satellite data. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/terrabyte-ai-stealth-geospatial-data/ #Tech
#AmazonLeo is planning to launch its commercial #satellite #broadband internet service in the "next couple of months," according to the project's vice president of business and product. But the service won't be available everywhere all at once. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/amazon-leo-double-pace-roll-out-satellite-broadband/ #Amazon #Space #Tech
#NASA has finished rolling back its Space Launch System rocket and #Orion crew capsule from the launch pad to the Vertical Assembly Building. Let's hope they can get everything fixed up in time to send four astronauts on a historic #Artemis 2 trip around the #moon in early April. https://cosmiclog.com/2026/02/25/moon-rocket-goes-back-to-the-garage-for-troubleshooting/ #Space #SLS #Rollback
Just days after a successful launch-pad rehearsal, NASA's chief says an issue involving a helium pressurization system will rule out launching the rocket for the #Artemis 2 round-the-moon mission in March. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/helium-problem-nasa-delay-artemis-2-launch-rollback/ #NASA #Moon #Space
#NASA has awarded Seattle-based #Interlune $6.9 million to develop a payload suite that can cook gases out of #moon dirt and look for traces of potentially valuable #hydrogen and #helium3. The project fits into Interlune's grand plan to sell lunar helium-3 for earthly applications. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/interlune-nasa-contract-extract-helium-3-hydrogen-moon/ #Space #Regolith
When we scheduled our #FictionScience podcast with evolutionary biologist Scott Solomon to talk about his book, "Becoming Martian," we didn't know that #ElonMusk would be doing his strategic pivot from a city on #Mars to a city on the #moon. But that made the podcast even more timely. Hope you enjoy listening to our conversation! https://cosmiclog.com/2026/02/17/occupy-mars-or-the-moon-its-time-for-a-reality-check/ #space
Even before the first Otter satellite servicing spacecraft is launched for the U.S. #SpaceForce #Space Systems Command, they're ordering up another one for $54.5 million from #StarfishSpace. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/starfish-space-54-5m-space-force/
A #SpaceX proposal to put up to a million #satellites in orbit to process #AI data takes the controversies over its #Starlink network and ramps them up by two orders of magnitude. The plan would seem to trump other companies' aspirations to create orbital #datacenter constellations. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/spacex-fcc-million-data-center-satellites/ #Space #Tech #FCC
Here's the scoop on exactly when you can see tonight's total lunar #eclipse - and perhaps just as importantly, exactly where you can find cloud-cover forecasts telling you how likely it is that you can see it. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/total-lunar-eclipse-visibility-weather/ #tle #lunareclipse #moon #space
#SophiaSpace has attracted millions of dollars in investment for its plan to build edge-computing spacecraft for orbital data processing, with a longer-term goal of creating a constellation of #AI #datacenters. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/sophia-space-10m-space-computing-network/ #Space #Tech
#NASA runs through a mostly trouble-free rehearsal for the launch of its #Artemis2 mission, which aims to send astronauts around the #moon for the first time since 1972. Liftoff could come as early as March 6. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/nasa-smooth-rehearsal-artemis-2-moon-launch/ #Space #Artemis #SLS #Orion
Why did #ElonMusk fold #xAI into SpaceX? Some industry observers say the acquisition, and SpaceX's proposal to put a million #AI data center satellites in orbit, are aimed at boosting interest in an initial public offering for #SpaceX (and throwing a lifeline to xAI). https://cosmiclog.com/2026/02/02/elon-musk-lays-out-a-new-vision-as-spacex-acquires-xai/ #Space #Tech
Amazon Web Services has launched two credit programs worth up to $100 million to help federal agencies use cloud services and AI for applications ranging from battle management to quantum computing. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/aws-accelerator-initiatives-100m-credits-federal-agencies/ #Tech
#Amazon says that delays in getting new rockets off the ground have made it impossible to meet an #FCC deadline for deploying the required number of #AmazonLeo broadband internet satellites by a July 30 deadline, so the company is asking for a two-year extension. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/amazon-leo-fcc-extension-request/ #Space
Just days after the #FAA accepted the findings of a launch mishap investigation, Jeff Bezos' #BlueOrigin space venture announced that its #NewGlenn rocket will soon send 48 satellites into orbit for the high-speed internet network that Bezos approved when he was #Amazon CEO. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/blue-origin-new-glenn-rocket-amazon-leo-satellites/ #Space #AmazonLeo #ProjectKuiper #NG4 #LN01
A Seattle-area tech venture called #PowerLight Technologies demonstrated to the #Pentagon how it can keep a military #drone flying with its power-beaming #laser system. The system could also be adapted to fight off enemy drones. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/powerlight-laser-power-beaming-drone-pentagon-test/ #Tech #Military #BeamPower
Watch this space: Space Northwest, the Commercial Space Federation and the City of Kent are working out the details for a Pacific Northwest space business accelerator program that will have its official kickoff this summer .https://www.geekwire.com/2026/space-northwest-commercial-space-federation-accelerator-1/ #Space #PacificNorthwest
A Seattle-area startup called #StarfishSpace has announced that an Australian space startup will be its partner in what promises to be a dramatic satellite docking demonstration. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/starfish-space-australian-satellite-docking/ #Space
#Amazon still has to get its first-generation #Leo #satellite #broadband network into full operation, but it's already won the OK from regulators to move on to the second-generation satellites (and end up putting 7,700 satellites in low Earth orbit). https://www.geekwire.com/2026/fcc-amazon-leo-gen2-broadband-coverage-polar/ #FCC #Space
Seattle-based #Interlune was created to seek out and harvest #helium3 and other resources on the #moon - but now it's also aiming to help #NASA build base camps and other infrastructure on the lunar surface. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/interlune-excavator-helium-3-moon-construction/ #Space #Artemis