Special to CosmicTribune.com, May 6, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher While the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is trying to extend the retirement schedule of the International Space Station (ISS) from 2030 to September 2032, China is confirming plans to double the size of its Tiangong small space station. Currently, the 450 metric ton […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, May 4, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, May 3 Venus officially passes 7° north of Aldebaran at 3 A.M. EDT this morning. But the bigger story occurs late tonight, as the Moon rises around 10:30 P.M. local daylight time in northwestern Scorpius and passes 0.5° south of Alpha (α) Scorpii, better […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 30, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher Russia and China are developing weapons for use in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), with Russia suspected of developing nuclear weapons for anti-satellite warfare, while China pursues fighting satellites. For its part, the United States is finally developing space-based weapons as part of the Trump Administration’s […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 26, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, April 26 Let’s look north this evening to examine a strange star: Gamma (γ) Cassiopeiae, which sits at the central peak of the famous W in Cassiopeia the Queen. Shining at magnitude 2.2, although it is quite bright, this sun has no official name […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 24, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher On April 22 Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) revealed the names of two Pakistani pilots chosen to go to China for advanced astronaut training following on a Feb. 28, 2025 agreement between SUPARCO and the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO), to […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 19, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, April 19 The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth in its orbit, at 2:56 A.M. EDT. At that time, our satellite will be 224,707 miles (361,631 kilometers) from Earth. The Moon passes 5° north of Venus at 5 A.M. EDT, then passes […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 15, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher A recent Chinese engineering journal article provides more insights into China’s “Lanyue” manned Moon landing, which uses a specific Russian-inspired design that could in some circumstances prove hazardous to future residents of the lunar South Pole. This is important because both the United States and […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 12, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, April 12 While Comets Wierzchoś and Tempel 2 are faint, there’s a breakout star in the early-morning sky that’s cracked naked-eye visibility: Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS). Recently recorded at mid-5th magnitude, although this interplanetary fuzzball is technically within reach of naked eyes, your best […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 9, 2026 NASA has shared images of the far side of the Moon from Artemis II and the Orion spacecraft as its astronauts head back to Earth. ‘Absolutely stunning’ were the words used by a lead NASA scientist to describe the images. Such words could also be used to describe AI […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 8, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher An old Ronald Reagan Cold War joke about the Soviet Union helps to explain the current United States-China information dynamic over their respective space programs. Reagan’s joke, paraphrased, went like this: “An American tells a Russian that the U.S. is free because he can stand […]
