What makes constellations?

Constellations are named after a Greek or Roman God. They were made to help sailors find their way. Now they are used to help more people find their way. In this world such help is very useful.

Thursday, October 29, 2026

Voyager 1



"NASA’s Voyager team is celebrating two recent developments with the Voyager 1 spacecraft: In September, they successfully completed a months-long effort to stretch the spacecraft’s diminishing power supply."https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-voyager-1-conserves-power-resolves-brief-communications-pause/?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1-nasajpl&utm_content=latest-voyager-20261029

Cat's head Nebula

"In NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s mid-infrared image, emission from warm dust and carbon-based molecules excited by starlight outlines intricate structures within the nebula."https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/cats-head-nebula-webb-miri-image/

Drawf planet circling Neptune



"The powerful Vera Rubin Observatory has spotted what seems to be a dwarf planet circling the sun in the frigid depths beyond Neptune."https://www.space.com/astronomy/dwarf-planets/astronomers-found-a-mysterious-object-beyond-neptune-and-it-could-be-a-new-dwarf-planet?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

Subaru Telescope

"The Subaru Telescope on Maunakea will contribute 100 nights of observations to a new international partnership with NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope."https://mauinow.com/2026/10/27/subaru-telescope-on-maunakea-to-join-nasas-roman-space-telescope-in-exploring-the-universe/

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Rocky Lava planet



 "A rocky lava planet once thought to be too extreme to have an atmosphere appears to be wrapped in one with a reflective layer of vaporized silicate mineral clouds, the same family of compounds that make up quartz and sand."https://phys.org/news/2026-10-clouds-lava-planet-astronomers.html#google_vignette

EarthDaily

"EarthDaily today announced that it has been awarded a $3 million task order by NASA to provide EarthDaily Constellation data and technical support for NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to evaluate new approaches for incorporating commercial capabilities into federal land imaging programs."https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/earthdaily-awarded-3-million-nasa-104500620.html

Starlink Service

"Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Elon Musk said Kyiv violated the terms of SpaceX’s commercial Starlink service by using it for offensive drone strikes, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Starlink and Starshield operations had been restored to the speeds available before recent restrictions were imposed."https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-says-ukraine-violated-starlink-terms-12614989?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

Grok and SpaceX

"SpaceX has launched a partner program that offers training, tools and support to companies that build products, solutions and services with the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) model, Grok, according to a Thursday (Oct. 22) press release."https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/spacex-enlists-130-tech-leaders-to-help-businesses-deploy-grok-ai/

Moon Base

"NASA is moving fast on its plans to build a moon base and return astronauts to the lunar surface in as little as two years."https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida/articles/2026-10-23/nasa-adopting-apollos-urgency-to-build-a-moon-base-and-land-astronauts-within-two-years

Antimatter of Electron



"For the first time, Northwestern University physicists have coaxed a single positron — the antimatter counterpart of an electron — into an exquisitely controlled quantum state."

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026/10/scientists-trap-and-tame-a-single-particle-of-antimatter-for-months?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

Fermi Explorer mission



"The Fermi Explorer mission will carry scientific instruments to study conditions along the route to the star, which is located 4.4 light-years, or approximately 25.8 trillion miles, from Earth."https://www.tbsnews.net/science/first-interstellar-space-mission-may-launch-2028-take-80000-years-reach-nearest-star-1579231

Two Blue green Worlds



"Two blue-green worlds near the edge of the solar system may conceal different histories beneath their clouds."https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/neptune-and-uranus-appear-to-have-significantly-different-chemical-origins/

Cosmological simulations

"Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory completed two of the largest cosmological simulations ever, modeling 13.4 trillion dark matter particles across a 28.6-billion-light-year region of the universe."https://interestingengineering.com/space/aurora-supercomputer-massive-universe-simulations

Mars flight



"NASA researchers are developing the future of flight on Mars, laying the groundwork for helicopters with the ability to fly higher and farther while conducting science on the Red Planet."

https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nasa-experimental-mars-helicopter-blade.html#google_vignette

Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets



"SpaceX has indicated that it would cease launches of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets to concentrate on the Starship by the end of the International Space Station's operation in 2030."

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/opinion-crew-dragon-retiring-nasa-140000538.html

Monday, October 26, 2026

Psyche heads to Mars

"With a successful Mars gravity assist in its rearview mirror, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft has fired up its thrusters and is accelerating to the metal-rich asteroid of the same name."https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/psyche/2026/10/22/pedal-to-the-metal-nasas-psyche-heads-toward-asteroid-belt/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nn202642

Green Star

"Astronomers for the first time have identified a green star, documenting a dense stellar remnant called a white dwarf that became a ghostly shade of chartreuse after ingesting rocky debris from planets that once had orbited it."


https://tech.yahoo.com/science/articles/newly-identified-green-star-leaves-090252472.html?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

Thursday, October 22, 2026

Japan Mars mission



"Japan will launch the first spacecraft designed to travel to Mars and return to Earth on Monday, bringing back soil from one of the planet's potato-shaped moons."https://mashable.com/science/how-to-watch-jaxa-mars-mission-phobos-launch?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Phobos



"The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is targeting Oct. 19 for the launch of a first-of-its-kind sample return mission to the martian moon Phobos."

https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/japan-prepares-to-launch-sample-return-mission-to-phobos/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

New Space Images from James Webb Space Telescope



"Four images were featured in NASA’s weekly selection. The James Webb  Space Telescope revealed galaxies magnified and distorted by gravity."https://universemagazine.com/en/a-violin-shaped-structure-formed-by-radio-waves-and-a-rocket-shaped-jellyfish-nasas-best-photos-of-the-week/

Cosmic Explosion Billions of years ago



"A brief flash high above a mountain can carry evidence of an explosion billions of years ago."https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/new-large-sized-telescope-array-in-spain-ushers-in-a-new-era-in-exploring-the-extreme-universe/

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope



"NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is performing even better than scientists anticipated after engineers completed an extensive series of tests and precision adjustments."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/10/261016070630.htm#google_vignette

Friday, October 16, 2026

Randy Bresnik



"NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik has expressed the privilege he feels of being part of the Artemis III mission set for 2027."

https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/artemis-iii-astronaut-us-space-race/amp/

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Orbits



"Like Earth, most planetary bodies circle their star in stable, detached orbits."

https://news.mit.edu/2026/astronomers-catch-star-slowly-snacking-on-brown-dwarf-1005?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

Monday, October 12, 2026

Mars Rover mileage



"NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has driven farther than any vehicle ever has on the surface of another world."


https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-sets-off-world-record-for-total-distance-driven/?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1-nasajpl&utm_content=latest-20261012

Cosmic Creation



"A cauldron of cosmic creation is being revealed in a new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope."


https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-captures-commotion-from-nebulas-stellar-jets/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nn202640

Friday, October 9, 2026

SpaceX Crew 12



The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-12 mission returned to Earth this morning (Oct. 8) after nearly eight months in space.

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/spacex-crew-12-iss-astronaut-mission-return-to-earth?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

NASA has released 800 gigabytes of audio recordings



"NASA has released more than 800 gigabytes of images, audio recordings, written notes and other data gathered by the Artemis II astronauts on their historic flight past the Moon in April."


https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03197-7?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=0806be2ced-nature-briefing-daily-20261008&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50276768

Thursday, October 8, 2026

Second-generation planet



"Astronomers have discovered a rare second-generation planet orbiting the ashes of the dead star from which it was born, a smoldering white dwarf."


https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/completely-unexpected-phoenix-planet-was-born-from-the-ashes-of-a-dying-star?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4

Monday, October 5, 2026

Starship

"On Monday, September 28 at 7:48 a.m. CT, Starship lifted off from Starbase, Texas on its 14th flight and first attempt to go to orbit. "


https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-14?utm_source=nsspa&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nsspa_021026&utm_term=Newsletter%20NSSPA_Launchpad

Friday, October 2, 2026

International Space Station

"Four astronauts pulled up at the International Space Station on Thursday after launching on an eight-hour express that set a U.S. speed record."

https://apnews.com/article/spacex-nasa-astronauts-crew-13-d885ec0dcb9fab8bbf8977103118caa0?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c92f5d78644b3ac5d5b4