exploration | M Thomas Apple Author Page

Nancy Grace Roman telescope is a GO

June 16, 2026
MThomas

“In the mission’s first five years, it’s expected to unveil more than 100,000 distant worlds, hundreds of millions of stars, and billions of galaxies,” [Julie McEnery, senior project scientist] said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/nasa-roman-space-telescope-launch-fastest-ever-rcna349773

It should be ready for launch in August, to be parked at the L2 Lagrange space near James Webb ((which has been there since 2021).

Two decades in the making. Yet “under budget and ahead of schedule”? Really?

I’m all for discovering tens of thousands of possibly inhabited worlds and learning more about dark energy and dark matter. But I’d also like to see a little more practical tech from NASA. How will this help us settle the solar system and figure out how to visit other systems?

First Hong Konger in space

May 25, 2026
MThomas

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 three.”

Presumably she got sent into space because she qualified for the job, not because she has three children. Sexist reporting like this has to stop.

Artemis II, welcome home. Now let’s go again. And stay.

April 14, 2026
MThomas

“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 posted this a couple days ago, but better late than never.

Just like this mission. It’s better to delay a mission than scrub it.

And DJT should stop trying to take credit for it. He’s still trying to slash NASA’s budget to practically nothing. Get rid of him already.

More good news like this, please. No more war. Space awaits all of us.

To go farther than anyone before

April 7, 2026
MThomas

“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.

To boldly go where Tom Hanks has not actually been…

April 2, 2026
MThomas

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).

Here we (don’t) go again, NASA…

February 22, 2026
MThomas

Just one day after NASA said it was eyeing a potential March 6 launch date for the Artemis II lunar mission, the space agency said Saturday that complications with the rocket could delay all launch attempts in March from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/21/nx-s1-5722339/nasa-artemis-ii-march-launch-delay

Looks like you get what you pay for…

(Btw, WordPress, the “quote” field used to have a separate area where you could put a link to the quote’s source. Where did that go? Nothing like helping the spread of unverified fake news…)

Billions and billions of wasted dollars’ worth of samples…

February 19, 2026
MThomas

NASA’s plans for Mars sample return are effectively cancelled as part of a bill approved by the U.S. Congress, ending efforts to collect Perseverance rover samples that could contain evidence of alien life.

https://www.livescience.com/space/mars/nasas-mars-sample-return-is-dead-leaving-china-to-retrieve-signs-of-life-from-the-red-planet

Congratulations, America. You’ve managed to give Mars to China.

But do tell me how this makes America great again…

…and just how ironical the rover’s name is at this point…

And also WordPress, could you please fix the “quotation” block style? It refuses to turn off…

Life on Trappist 1e?

September 12, 2025
MThomas

In two separate papers published Monday in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, astronomers zeroed in on the TRAPPIST-1 system, which consists of seven rocky planets that orbit a single star. Both studies outlined initial results from observations by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, suggesting that one planet in particular, known as TRAPPIST-1e, may have a nitrogen-rich atmosphere like Earth’s, though follow-up studies are needed to confirm the discovery.
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/trappist1e-atmosphere-extraterrestrial-life-planet-earth-conditions-rcna229839

Trappist 1e is in the “Goldilocks zone” in orbit around its star (i.e., not too cold, not too hot, just right). However, the Webb telescope can’t determine whether its atmosphere has any carbon dioxide, hydrogen, or oxygen, only nitrogen. Yet nitrogen is a clear sign that life is possible, because without nitrogen, DNA and other proteins are not possible. Of course, it could be simply a whole lot of microbes. Or even just ammonia.

Closer to home, the Mars rover Perseverance has found evidence of life in the distant past. Maybe. It found evidence that certain rock features may have happened because of microbes.

May.

That’s how science works, folks. A whole lot of maybes.

(I still think we need more catchy names for the Trappists. I mean, come on.

How Star Trek helped NASA make better shuttle names

August 8, 2025
MThomas

Gorog summarised in the memo:

This group comprises millions of individuals who are deeply interested in our space programme

The name “Enterprise” is tied in with the system on which the Nation’s economic structure is built.

Use of the name would provide a substantial human interest appeal to the rollout ceremonies scheduled for this month in California, where the aeronautical industry is of vital importance.

It is really too bad that the shuttle looked nothing at all like the Enterprise (Constitution class).

And an odd coincidence that the original name chosen by NASA was…

…Constitution…

New study of moons of Uranus suggests life

November 14, 2024
MThomas

Note: this is artwork and not an actual image

The planet Uranus and its five biggest moons may not be the dead sterile worlds that scientists have long thought.

Instead, they may have oceans, and the moons may even be capable of supporting life, scientists say.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgk1333k0ypo

Cue the jokes in five…four…three…

“So, you mean there really is life in…ah…”

Note that this is not from new data. It’s a re-analysis of what Voyager 2 sent back decades ago. Basically, it just had a bad day, with magnetic storms screwing up the scan.

Still…

There could be moons there that could have the conditions that are necessary for life, they might have oceans that below the surface that could be teeming with fish!

I think this is a bit of an exaggeration…

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