The sky, June 24-30: Arcturus and Vega dominate the summer nights

The sky, June 24-30: Arcturus and Vega dominate the summer nights

Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 24, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, JUNE 24 ■ After dark look south for orange Antares, “the Betelgeuse of summer,” nearing the meridian. (Both are 1st-magnitude “red” supergiants). Around and upper right of Antares are the other, whiter stars of upper Scorpius, forming their distinctive pattern. ■ Also right after dark, spot […]

China’s SLV engine test substantiates manned Moon advances

China’s SLV engine test substantiates manned Moon advances

Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 19, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher China has presented evidence that its manned Moon program is real, not just an endless collection of journal articles, power point briefings and curious models. On June 14 the principal Chinese state owned space conglomerate, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), conducted a […]

The sky, June 17-23; Happy Solstice on the 20th

The sky, June 17-23; Happy Solstice on the 20th

Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 17, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, JUNE 17 ■ Have you ever knowingly seen even a bit of the constellation Centaurus? Famous Alpha Centauri never gets above the horizon unless you’re as far south as San Antonio or Orlando (latitude 29° N). But fairly easy from much farther north is Theta Centauri, […]

Significant: SpaceX sustained communications through reentry

Significant: SpaceX sustained communications through reentry

Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 12, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher For its fourth flight — in less than a year — on June 6, Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship epitomized what the SpaceX mission announcer called their “rapid iterative development” process, exploiting a crash or “failure” to produce data that improves the next mission. Perhaps the […]

The sky, June 9-16: Saturn re-emerges at dawn, rings edge-on

The sky, June 9-16: Saturn re-emerges at dawn, rings edge-on

Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 9, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, JUNE 9 ■ The Big Dipper has now swung around to hang down by its handle high in the northwest after dark. The middle star of its handle is Mizar, with tiny little Alcor right next to it. On which side of Mizar should you […]

The news leaks out at Yahoo: Covid vaccines tied to 3 million excess deaths

The news leaks out at Yahoo: Covid vaccines tied to 3 million excess deaths

Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 7, 2024 “Covid vaccines could be partly to blame for the rise in excess deaths since the pandemic, scientists have suggested.” Disinformation? Yahoo News editors on June 4, 2024 felt free to publish a story by The Telegraph which cited researchers from the Netherlands who analyzed data from 47 Western countries […]

Memo to Trekkies, Spock’s home planet Vulcan was never really there

Memo to Trekkies, Spock’s home planet Vulcan was never really there

Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 6, 2024 An alien world orbiting a star made famous as hosting Spock’s home planet of Vulcan in Star Trek was nothing but a celestial illusion, scientists say. In 2018, much to the delight of Trekkies, the discovery of the planet was first announced. It was thought to be orbiting the […]

Chang’e-6 and China’s three-stage program for Moon control

Chang’e-6 and China’s three-stage program for Moon control

Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 5, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher The Chinese and American “new race” to the Moon was advanced by two major developments in the first week of June 2024. On June 4, China’s second sample-return Moon landing probe, Chang’e-6, successfully launched its 2-kilogram (4.4 lbs) Moon sample carrying ascending stage into Lunar […]

CCP’s played North Korean space card to disrupt China-Japan-South Korea summit

CCP’s played North Korean space card to disrupt China-Japan-South Korea summit

Special to CosmicTribune.com, May 29, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher China’s play was a classic exercise in coercion straight out of a 1930s gangland movie: Pay me and I will make sure my crazy cousin does not thump you! But in this case, on March 26 China had gathered in Seoul, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida […]

The sky, May 27 – June 2

The sky, May 27 – June 2

Special to CosmicTribune.com, May 27, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, MAY 27 ■ With the Moon gone from the evening sky, can you see the big, dim Coma Berenices star cluster? Does your light pollution really hide it, or do you just not know exactly where to look? It’s southwest of the zenith these evenings, 2/5 of the […]

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