JAXA | M Thomas Apple Author Page

“New” planetoid discovered farther than Pluto?

May 5, 2026
MThomas

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 Japan.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/atmosphere-icy-world-beyond-pluto-rcna343509

The planetoid, called “(612533) 2002 XV93” (good luck remembering that one), was discovered and tracked by three separate observatories in Japan in 2024.

So why is it being only announced now?

Because scientists are cautious folk. They still want other observers to document this in other countries, to increase the validity of their finding.

The fact that the planetoid has an atmosphere (ridiculously thin, something like five to ten million times thinner than that of the Earth’s) came as a surprise.

So is this the famed “Planet X”? Or “Nibiru”?

No worries. It’s not rogue and won’t destroy the Earth in 3600 years. Sorry.

May the Fourth Be With You, Always…

May 4, 2026
MThomas

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!

And the real reason Class D missions are a complete waste…

March 4, 2026
MThomas

Lunar Trailblazer blazed so hard that NASA completely lost it immediately…

Software that was supposed to point the spacecraft solar panels toward the sun instead pointed them 180 degrees away from the sun.

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/26/nx-s1-5727622/nasa-lunar-trailblazer-moon-new-report-what-went-wrong

It took a year to figure this out.

A year.

To find out that the outsourced company in charge couldn’t even be bothered to test the product. They just happily pocketed $72 million of taxpayer dollars and laughed all the way to the bank.

Another symptom of a nation in decline…

Blood Moon tonight! And..

March 3, 2026
MThomas

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/mar/03/total-lunar-eclipse-tonight-blood-moon-2026-what-time-when-date-march-full-worm-moon-sydney-australia-new-york-america

Lunar eclipse, tonight from 6:30 to 11:00…

Except it still raining here in Japan, and we’ll see nothing.

Rats.

At least we’ll visit JAXA tomorrow…

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…)

Geminids, Geminids, Geminids!

December 15, 2025
MThomas

It’s been several months since I last posted…too much work and no play!

Until this past Sunday. Whew.

After a morning lecture about ancient Japanese myths and “deliberately forgotten” kings (maybe), I was grateful to be able to take a quick power nap…

…so that the family could go up a nearby mountain and watch the Geminid meteor shower. (By “mountain,” I mean about 640m/2100ft.)

After a brief lecture/quiz by a staff member at our local culture center, we stayed outside, lying flat on the ground, for over an hour. And, yes, it was cold, despite the sleeping bag and thermal underwear. I saw three shooting stars. Not nearly as many as I’d hoped.

After we got home and took evening baths, the kids went out on our second-floor balcony and found out that the night view was even better at home than on top of a mountain! At least they knew what to look for, thanks to the culture center event.

Although the peak is Sunday night between midnight and 2 a.m., the meteors are still visible to some degree the rest of this week.

And by “meteor,” I mean the size of grains of rice. Look to the eastern sky, just a bit to the northwest of Orion, to find the Twins (Castor and Pollux in Greco-Roman mythology).

For more on the origins of the Geminids, check out the JAXA mission to Phaeton, the parent body asteroid. It’s DESTINY!

Long time, no…

August 5, 2025
MThomas

Hi, everyone. I haven’t written a blog post in a very long time.

For various reasons.

I’ll see if I can start posting a few entries on recent science events in a few days (for starters, four astronauts finally arrived at the ISS, the first replacements following the Boeing Starliner fiasco).

But for right now, I want to follow up this short post with some analysis I got from our friend ChatGPT…

…about Adam’s Stepsons and Bringer of Light. Stay tuned!

Japan launches world’s first wooden satellite

November 12, 2024
MThomas

Researchers at Kyoto University who developed it hope it may be possible in the future to replace some metals used in space exploration with wood.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y3qzd5ql9o

The researchers argue that “if” trees could be planted on Mars…

OK, just stop right there. I’m pretty sure Mars will struggle to support even grass, let alone trees.

And the argument that, due to a lack of oxygen, flammable wooden structures in space would not be in danger strikes me as a bit ludicrous…surely there would be oxygen inside the wooden structures?

And, you know, I do think I’ve seen this before some where…nah…

Boeing Starliner delayed. They should delay again.

May 15, 2024
MThomas

A contractor for Nasa urged the space agency to conduct more safety checks before the highly-anticipated first launch of its Starliner rocket – which is set to take off as soon as next week – “before something catastrophic happens”.

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/nasa-contractor-boeing-starliner-launch-b2542947.html

It was supposed to launch last week, but someone spotted a valve problem — *minutes* before the countdown procedure was about to start.

They’d better check for door plugs while they’re at it.

Boeing does not give a rat’s ass about whoever uses their products. They‘re only interest in paying dividends to stockholders. And of course paying the CEO’s ridiculously high salary.

NASA is trusting the future of space travel to people like Musk and companies like Boeing. Using taxpayer money to reward greed and incompetence.

We can do better than this.

Nuclear power on the Moon. Gee, no problem…

May 13, 2024
MThomas

The South Pole, where power plants are likely to be constructed (without human help…)

“The truth is that nuclear is the only option to power a moonbase,” says Simon Middleburgh from the Nuclear Futures Institute at Bangor University in Wales.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240417-the-nuclear-reactors-that-could-power-moon-bases

So far there are two major consortiums that have plans for moon bases:

The Artemis Accords, with 36 countries (the US, Japan, South Korea, UAE, India, etc.)

The countries that don’t like the US, the UK, and Canada (China, Russia, Belarus, Venezuela, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt, Ajerbaijan)

OK, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, granted.

But there is no doubting the political ramifications of two competing groups of astronauts (cosmonauts, taikonauts) on the Moon.

And just wait until they get to Mars.

Imagine what might happen. (I did!)

“May you live in interesting times…”

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