Special to CosmicTribune.com, January 10, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher A major Chinese aerospace journal has “suggested” a date for China’s first manned Moon landing while on Jan. 8, the United States launched the Perigrine-1 commercial robotic Moon lander built by the Astrobotic Corporation, due to reach the Moon in February. The December 2023 issue […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, January 8, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, JANUARY 7 ■ Sirius and Procyon in the balance. Sirius, the Dog Star, sparkles low in the east-southeast after dinnertime. Procyon, the Little Dog Star, shines in the east about two fists at arm’s length to Sirius’s left. ■ On Monday morning the 8th, the waning crescent […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, January 3, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher The year 2023 was significant for China’s space program on a number of levels, starting with the largest number of space launches — 65 — one more than 2022, while 17 were from new “commercial” space companies (CAS Space, Galactic Energy, Landspace, Space Pioneer, Expace, […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, December 13, 2023 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher China has tried mightily in the last decade to control emerging 5G digital communication networks by using Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled companies like Huawei and ZTE to gain access and then to try to dominate market share in both Western and developing countries But […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, Decemer 11, 2023, 2023 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, DECEMBER 11 ■ Tonight, the brilliant orange-red supergiant Betelgeuse will be covered by a faint little asteroid, 319 Leona, for up to a second or two. But only if you’re located near the middle of the narrow occultation track. It runs from central Asia across the […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, December 4, 2023, 2023 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, DECEMBER 4 ■ Last-quarter Moon tonight (exact at 12:49 a.m. EST). The Moon rises around 11 or midnight local time. By the time Tuesday’s dawn begins to break the Moon is high in the south. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5 ■ At this time of year the Big Dipper […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, November 28, 2023, 2023 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28 ■ The Moon, just past full, rises in the northeast in mid-twilight. Bright Capella, magnitude 0, sparkles about two fists to the Moon’s upper left. As night deepens, watch for Beta Tauri, magnitude 1.6, to come into view only about a fifth as […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, November 22, 2023 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher It’s been a tough week for SpaceX and Elon Musk, but they are getting some rare sympathy from China. At 8 a.m. EST on Nov. 18, from the SpaceX launchpad at Boca Chica, the second Starship two-stage heavy space launch vehicle (SLV) — the largest […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, November 21, 2023, 2023 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20 ■ First-quarter Moon (exact at 5:50 a.m. EST Monday morning). The Moon accompanies Saturn more closely than it did yesterday, as shown. ■ The tiny black shadow of Io crosses Jupiter’s face from 9:16 to 11:26 p.m. EST, moving across Jupiter from east […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, November 15, 2023 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher Look out Elon Musk, your “cheese” is about to be moved by the beginning of nuclear space power, and defense prime Lockheed Martin is making serious investments in the development of this technology. Paraphrasing Spencer Johnson’s 1998 classic millennial business book Who Moved My Cheese, […]