Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 19, 2025 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher China’s state-owned and government subsidized “private” space sector has taken great liberties in trying to copy the pioneering concepts of Elon Musk’s SpaceX corporation, in particular the SpaceX innovation of reusable medium and heavy space launch vehicles (SLVs). Now, one Chinese private space company is […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 18, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, MARCH 17 ■ Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star after the Sun, shines due south crossing the meridian as the first stars come out in the fading twilight. How early can you spot it? Look next for the stars of Orion about two fists to […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 12, 2025 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher It has been a week of momentous space news for the United States, with the March 2 landing of the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost unmanned Moon lander, the March 6 failure of the second Intuitive Machines unmanned moon lander, and the March 6 spectacular failure […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 10, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, MARCH 10 ■ Mars, Pollux, and Castor in Gemini pass nearly overhead soon after nightfall this week, if you live in the world’s mid-northern latitudes. Mars is still the brightest. Pollux and Castor go smack overhead if you’re near latitude 30° north. Those “twin” heads of […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 4, 2025 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher On Feb. 28 in Islamabad, Pakistan and China signed an agreement for China to begin assisting Pakistan with the selection and training of Pakistani astronauts to visit China’s manned space station. Treated with fanfare by the state media in both countries, the agreement, witnessed by […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 28, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, MARCH 2 ■ February was Orion’s month to stand at his highest in the south in early evening. Now March pushes him westward and spotlights his dog, Canis Major with Sirius on his chest, standing center stage on the meridian. Sirius is not only the […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 26, 2025 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher As the Trump Administration and new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Jared Issacman review and reassess the Artemis Moon Program and determine the best way to pursue President Donald Trump’s additional priority to put Americans on Mars, it is also important to keep […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 24, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23 ■ Have you ever seen Canopus, the second-brightest star after Sirius? It lies almost due south of Sirius, by 36°. That’s far enough south that it never appears above your horizon unless you’re below latitude 37° N (southern Virginia, southern Missouri, central California). […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 19, 2025 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher A December 2024 discovery of a new large asteroid heading our way — even though it has a 99 percent chance of missing the Earth — is nevertheless providing an excuse for China to assemble a “Planetary Defense Force” that could justify China’s building of […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 16, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16 ■ The waning gibbous Moon rises around 10 p.m. tonight, with Spica following it up just 2° or 3° below it (for North America). The Moon will draw closer to Spica through the night, to pass only about 1° under it around dawn […]
