Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 27, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher The United States Space Force is catching on: China’s Moon program is of direct concern to the security of the United States and its allies. During a March 18 program sponsored by the Aerospace Corporation, Brigadier Gen. Anthony Mastalir, Commander of the U.S. Space Forces […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 25, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, MARCH 24 ■ If you haven’t spotted Mercury yet this season, look for it lower right of Jupiter as twilight fades as shown below. Jupiter is magnitude –2.1. Mercury this evening is magnitude –0.1, meaning one sixth as bright. And that’s not counting the extra […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 20, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher On March 14, the world’s largest man-made flying platform, the 5,000-ton SpaceX Starship, made its partially successful third flight, with 6 more planned for 2024 alone, and with SpaceX leader Elon Musk on March 18 vowing that Starship will reach Mars by 2030. The caveat […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 19, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, MARCH 17 ■ The Moon, a day past first quarter, is approaching Castor and Pollux high overhead, as shown below. The waxing gibbous Moon passes under the heads of Gemini. They’re over Procyon at nightfall. ■ Look for Arcturus, the Spring Star, very low in […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 13, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher Chinese officials and astronauts played their usual role touting advances in China space program during the March 6 to 10 National People’s Consultative Congress (NPC), as it serves to highlight the military-technical leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Female Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping, whose […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 9, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SATURDAY, MARCH 9 ■ Sirius is the overwhelmingly brightest star of Canis Major. In a very dark sky the Big Dog’s realistic stick figure is fairly plain to see — the dog is in profile, prancing to the right on his hind legs, with Sirius as […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 28, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher The second United States attempt to send an unmanned Moon Lander to the Moon apparently will end in mission termination on Feb. 27, while China on Feb. 23 revealed new information and projected confidence in its ability to send astronauts to the Moon before 2030. […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 26, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 ■ Another way Sirius is special: it’s the bottom star of the bright, equilateral Winter Triangle. The other two stars of the Triangle are orange Betelgeuse to Sirius’s upper right (Orion’s shoulder) and Procyon to Sirius’s upper left. The Winter Triangle perfectly balances on […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 20, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher Last week, the Biden Administration sparked a crisis by warning without openly/publicly explaining that Russia was close to placing nuclear weapons in space, but then damaged its credibility as leader of the free world by trying to walk back the same threat. This crisis emerged […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 18, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18 ■ Canopus, the second-brightest star after Sirius, happens to lie 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). And near there, you’ll […]
