Special to CosmicTribune.com, September 17, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher Oxon Hill, MD — In Sept. 15 remarks before the Air Cyber Space Conference of the United States Air Force Association, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Jared Isaacman described aspects of the lunar space race with China and the importance for the U.S. […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, September 13, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, September 13 Blazing at magnitude –4.8, Venus is nearing its greatest illuminated extent and stands out as an unmissable evening star after sunset. This evening it is joined by a lovely thin crescent Moon as the pair hangs together in Virgo the Maiden, near […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, September 10, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher An “international” satellite project and a Sept. 5 revelation in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) indicate that China is moving to contest cislunar space, the strategic zone between the Earth and the Moon. On Sept. 4 state media China Daily revealed the International Cislunar […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, September 6, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Sky & Telescope.com report. Sunday, September 6 The waning crescent Moon lies in Gemini today, not far from the 3rd-magnitude star Epsilon (ε) Geminorum, roughly around where western twin Castor’s knee would be. Mars is also in Gemini, closer to the midsection of the eastern twin, Pollux. […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 30, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Sky & Telescope.com report. SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 ■ The waning gibbous Moon rises in the east in late twilight. Saturn follows it up about 30 minutes later. Another hour and they’re nicely high free and clear. Although they look close together (about 5°), Saturn is currently 3,400 […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 27, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher On Aug. 18 China’s LandSpace Corporation achieved the first first-stage vertical recovery for a reusable space launch vehicle (SLV) produced by a “privately” funded Chinese space company. The LandSpace Zhuque-3 two-stage SLV also achieved China’s first on-land first-stage vertical recovery about 390 kilometers down range, […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 23, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Sky & Telescope.com report. SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 ■ Late these evenings as autumn approaches, Fomalhaut, the Autumn Star, makes its inevitable appearance above the southeast horizon. Its rising time will depend on where you live. But by about 11 p.m. now, you should have no trouble identifying […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 20, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher On Aug. 5, 2026, a nearly 4-ton upper stage to a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket crashed into the Moon creating an 18-meter-wide crater. More than 60 spacecraft or other man-made objects have crashed into the Moon since 1959, but there is growing concern that lunar traffic […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 16, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Sky & Telescope.com report. SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 ■ Now the Moon shines about 10° left of Venus in twilight. Look too for Spica. ■ Check the sky low in the northwest or north at the end of these long summer twilights. Would you recognize shiny, ripply noctilucent clouds if […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 13, 2026 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher For 20 years the New Zealand origin, now Long Beach, California-based Rocket Lab corporation has developed innovative small space launch vehicles, growing into a space launch service provider and satellite developer, serving commercial and military markets in the United States and other democracies. On Aug. […]
