You have to be a very particular kind of nerd to find this story interesting. I myself am ... EXACTLY that kind of nerd. #Shakespeare
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/oct/18/scholars-conclude-beyond-doubt-that-shakespeare-was-main-author-of-edward-iii
JAXA (Japan) and ESA (EU) are poised to launch MMX (Martian Moons eXploration), which among other things will send a rover to the Martian moon of Phobos. This is the first rover to visit a Martian *moon* as opposed to the planet itself, and if all goes well it will return a sample(!!!) -- ten grams of precious moon material.
Personally, I can't wait for this! Mars's moons are dreadfully under-explored, and I wish JAXA and ESA all good fortune.
https://hackaday.com/2026/10/18/the-new-phobos-martian-moon-rover-that-weighs-in-at-only-15-grams/ #space
Aw, gods damn it: the absolute software legend who helped humans land safely on the moon, Margaret Hamilton, has died. Without her genius, professionalism, and discipline, it's hard to imagine Apollo would have succeeded.
Ad astra to a brilliant lady.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/07/science/nasa-apollo-margaret-hamilton-software
Just about now, the Perseverance rover -- you know, Percy -- is kicking off sol 2000. Happy sol-iversary! #space
You know the famous rabbit/duck optical illusion? I present you with the newest optical illusion, crab/dog.
Twenty-five years ago today I got to work late. JPL's enormous East (parking) Lot, normally full to bursting at that time, was completely empty, and indeed the gate at the top of the hill was closed. Never seen that before. I got out of my car and asked the guard what was going on.
He looked at me. "Turn on your radio," he said. I did. And that's when I found out.
#nineeleven #september11 #911
This isn't the first time we've made ESA a commitment and then backed out. I wouldn't blame them if they saw us as an unreliable partner now; indeed, I'd be astonished if they didn't. It's grotesquely shameful: an honorable country, like an honorable person, keeps its promises.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/europe-will-go-it-alone-on-venus-mission-after-nasa-yanks-radar-instrument/ #space
Today is the 60th anniversary of #StarTrek, a show that has loomed large in my life. It was the thing my dad and I had in common when we were trying to find a relationship after he and my mom divorced. I can still remember lying on the floor of his crappy first post-divorce apartment as his tiny black-and-white TV showed us the episode Metamorphosis. Whatever Trek means to you, that's one of the things it will always mean to me.
Also, DS9 is the best Trek. (Fight me. ;-)
Congratulations to the Curiosity rover -- a.k.a. MSL, or Mars Science Laboratory -- which begins sol 5000 on Mars approximately when this posts. The lack of celebration, or even appropriate acknowledgement, from NASA is practically criminal, but it takes nothing away from the talent and dedication of my good friends who have brought us to this kilometerstone and beyond. Ad astra, y'all. Keep on rovin'. #space
Tomorrow we'll launch a big eye: the Roman Space Telescope will cover a comparatively huge swath of the sky and teach us more about dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanets. Yay for shiny new #space toy!
Roman Launch Countdown - NASA Science
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/roman-launch-countdown/ via Adafruit
Hack’s Law says that the length of any stream is proportional to its drainage area raised to the power of 0.5-0.6 (longer streams are on the higher end of the range). And not just on Earth: Mars's ancient water streams obeyed the same law. Further, while AIUI Cassini/Huygens data wasn't good enough to prove this, the same law seems to apply on Saturn's moon Titan as well, with its active *methane* rivers.
Geology studies how planets work. It's neat. #space
https://blog.adafruit.com/2026/08/29/why-are-rivers-so-mathematical/
I can't get enough of these wonderful stories about the engineers who are carefully, patiently, lovingly keeping our twin Voyager spacecraft alive. I'm going to have to start shooting these stories directly into my veins. https://share.google/Mj6L3agBIfODi7K3u
RE: https://beige.party/@cap_ybarra/117078920641433367
I regret that I have but one boost to give to this heartfelt rant thread.
You've just gotta love the careful, painstaking work that keeps a 50-year-old spacecraft alive and functioning. VGR was the mission that inspired me to get into robotic #space exploration, and at this rate they're gonna outlive me. https://hackaday.com/2026/08/06/nasas-just-prolonged-voyager-2s-science-mission-with-a-big-bang/
The mission that would have brought these samples back to Earth was canceled because it was over budget, with no clear replacement in sight. That's comically short-sighted. We could be within striking distance of proving that there was once life on Mars -- an historic scientific finding if ever there were such a thing, a genuinely transformative piece of knowledge -- and we canceled it over the kind of money Jeff Bezos routinely loses in his couch cushions.
Had she lived, the best Mars rover ever, Spirit, would be starting her 8000th sol right about ... now.
Damn it. I miss you, my girl.
All hands on deck. You can help save US science from being judged by political operatives instead of by sober, peer scientists. But you must act fast: the deadline is in a mere 10 days.
I lack words to explain just how fucking stupid this is. I just ... there are no words. Your existing multi-billion-dollar Mars mission needs this thing, you clown. On this planet, not on the moon.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/nasa-may-send-a-backup-nuclear-powered-mars-rover-to-the-moon/
Any day you lose your #spacecraft is a bad day. My heart goes out to my friends and colleagues -- my fellow Martians -- on #MAVEN. Ad astra, y'all.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/after-11-years-at-mars-nasas-maven-spacecraft-went-out-with-a-whisper/ #space #NASA