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Posts Tagged ‘science’

Experts Have Thoughts

Posted in Entertainment, Science!, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 7, 2026| 1 Comment »

Since my recent posts have spent a lot of time in space, let’s take a slight break from the nonfiction drama of NASA’s Artemis II mission and shift over to the fictional world of space adventure.

In his books, Andy Weir (The Martian) works hard to bring scientific accuracy to his fiction. The challenge is balancing the demands of a thrilling story with the science that grounds it in reality.

How did he do? Experts weigh in.

How plausible is ‘Project Hail Mary’? Experts have thoughts

While “Project Hail Mary” has its share of explosions and catastrophes, it’s the thinking that’s thrilling. Grace and Rocky must come together, with tools and whiteboards, craft and ingenuity, to solve a seemingly insoluble problem. They make mistakes, but they learn from those mistakes and from each other.

And an astrophysicist also has thoughts:

Project Hail Mary is packed with hard science. An astrophysicist breaks it down

… when I walked out of a recent preview screening of the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 science fiction novel Project Hail Mary, I had tears of joy in my eyes. The filmmakers had done justice not just to the original story, but also to the science at the heart of it.

From NASA, with lots of interesting subsidiary links: 

The Science Behind ‘Project Hail Mary’ – NASA Science

Let NASA shed some light: Explore the resources below to learn the science facts fueling the science fiction.

(Wait, Tau Ceti was also featured in fiction by Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert, Robert Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Kim Stanley Robinson? And was the setting for Barbarella? This planet gets around!)

The final assessment of the science? Not perfect, but good. And precisely accurate or not, this promises to be another very entertaining movie. (I’ve read the book but haven’t seen the film yet. Yes, I am a little behind the curve!)

Since we’re here, how about an article on the movie as a climate parable? (warning, spoilers!)

AMAZE AMAZE AMAZE! Yes, this is an article about Project Hail Mary as climate parable

And what the heck, here’s the movie trailer just for fun.

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Photo by Alex Shuper on Unsplash

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Road Trip!

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , , on April 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

A quick update from the solar system’s coolest road trip: the Artemis II mission just set a new distance record, going farther into space than the Apollo 13 astronauts did in 1970.  

Artemis II astronauts share their first images from the historic mission | CNN

“There was a moment about an hour ago where Mission Control Houston reoriented our spacecraft as the sun was setting behind the Earth. And I don’t know what we all expected to see at that moment, but you could see the entire globe, from pole to pole. You could see Africa, Europe, and if you looked really close, you could see the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks.” — mission commander Reid Wiseman

Check out NASA’s Artemis II image repository on Flickr for more shots from space.

What else are our friendly neighborhood explorers up to? Oh, you know, today they’re just doing a quick flyby of the Moon! 

How cool is that?

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NASA “Approximate Focus Distance – infinity”

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Fingers Crossed!

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , , , on April 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

NASA’s Artemis II mission is (as of right now!) still a go. Here’s a site with a countdown to launch and a tracker for when it happens.

Artemis II Mission Tracker | Live Orion 3D Timeline

And here’s a video on the mission in case you didn’t get enough background material yesterday.

And here are a couple of Artemis-themed games to play, just for fun: Artemis Game Hub

Just over six hours now if all goes well. Fingers crossed!

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Photo by NASA on Unsplash

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Artemis II, Take II

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , , , on March 31, 2026| 1 Comment »

The countdown has begun! Tomorrow is the first April launch date for the Artemis II flight. (If the weather or tech doesn’t cooperate, the mission will be pushed forward, so the next couple of days could be interesting!)

NASA’s Artemis II Launch Mission Countdown Begins – NASA

The countdown for NASA’s Artemis II test flight is underway at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with members of the launch team arriving at their consoles inside the Rocco Petrone Launch Control Center. The onsite countdown clock started ticking down at 4:44 p.m. EDT to a targeted launch time of 6:24 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1.

Who will be in that shiny new rocket, you ask?

Meet the first Artemis crew flying to the moon since the Apollo era

The Americans who blazed the trail to the moon more than half a century ago were white men chosen for their military test pilot experience. This first Artemis crew includes a woman, a person of color and a Canadian, products of a more diversified astronaut corps.

Speaking of the comparison to Apollo, what else is different, how are they similar, is that an excellent graphic showing time and trajectory (yes!) and more:

Apollo vs. Artemis: What to know about NASA’s moon missions | AP News

Let’s revisit: Why are we doing this again?

Artemis II: Why is Nasa sending people back to the Moon?

There’s still prestige in being the first to plant your flag in the lunar dust. But now it really matters where you plant it.

(In short: resources, scientific and technological discovery, and did we mention resources?)

We can all follow NASA’s feed, but there’s another option for tracking the flight:

When Artemis II launches to the Moon, we’ll be able to track it on our smartphones. Here’s how

NASA has announced that Artemis II’s journey around the Moon will be available to track online and via a downloadable app called Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW).

And here’s what it will be like inside Firing Room 1 a.k.a. Mission Control:

The NASA mission control masterminds who will keep the Artemis II astronauts safe

…who has the Artemis II astronauts’ backs as they make the 10-day, roughly 685,000-mile journey around the moon, aboard a rocket and spacecraft that haven’t carried humans before? And what does it take to work in the high-stakes, behind-the-scenes roles that keep astronauts safe and the mission on track?

Because astronauts are just the most visible part of what it takes to get a project like this off the ground. Here’s to the engineers, adventurers, and dreamers too!

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NASA/Jessica Meir

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Not Really, No

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , on March 6, 2026| 1 Comment »

A critical writing question addressed by the good people over at xckd (home of “serious answers to absurd questions”):

Can you power your computer by typing?

I mean, the answer’s pretty obvious, but the details are interesting!

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Photo by LS Whitmer on Unsplash

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Sad but Happy

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , on February 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Sadly, the Artemis II moon mission has been pushed back again, and the new launch window now won’t happen until April at the earliest. Pesky helium flow issues!

Happily, this week we can entertain ourselves with a planetary conjunction!

APOD: 2026 February 24 – Planet Parade over Sydney Opera House

Look up this week and see a whole bunch of planets. Just after sunset, looking west (mostly), planets Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter will all be visible to the unaided eye simultaneously. 

Mercury Completes the Planetary Parade at Dusk

Seeing all the naked eye planets at once is set to become a rarity in coming years.

Here’s hoping the skies are clear where you are! 

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Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash

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You’ve Reached Artemis, Please Hold…

Posted in Entertainment, Science!, tagged , , , , , , , on February 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Sadly, NASA’s Artemis mission launch has run into some issues (hydrogen leaks bad!) and will be delayed until at least March.

NASA Conducts Artemis II Fuel Test, Eyes March for Launch Opportunity

That said, safer is better, so you do what you need to do, NASA. (Maybe rehiring some of the folks who were let go last year might help? Just saying.)

What do we hope to see when the mission does launch? This site has a nice explainer.

The flight path of Artemis 2, step by step

And for more on the long-term goals, see this in-depth article: How Artemis will land humans on the Moon.

As we wait to hear more from the launchpad, here’s something fun I ran across the other day that may help keep you entertained:

We asked former astronauts about their favorite space movies, and this is what they said

I mean, I’m more The Martian and Galaxy Quest than 2001, but that’s me. So many good movies! 

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Photo by NASA on Unsplash

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If We Look

Posted in Other, Science!, tagged , , , , , , , on February 1, 2026| 8 Comments »

We’ve lived in this house for years but this morning I discovered something new. Some confluence of sun angle, time of day and positioning meant that the lampshade in the kitchen reflected a rainbow-colored series of textured light onto the ceiling. It was both joyful and unexpected, reminding me that there is beauty everywhere. 

If I look.

Speaking of reflected light, there’s a full moon tonight.

Tonight’s moon is known by many names, including the Wolf Moon, Cold Moon, and Snow Moon. We may finally have clear skies tonight, too, and I’m looking forward to looking up. 

Snow Moon: Full Moon in February 2026

February’s Full Snow Moon reaches peak illumination at 5:09 P.M. EST on Sunday, February 1. Step outside after dusk to see the Full Moon in all of its glory!

Since we’re here, I’ll share a link that led to a flurry of conversation in my family. 

1969 Apollo 11 First steps on the Moon (16mm footage)

On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard touched down on the surface of the Moon 4 days, 6 hours, and 45 minutes after having launched from Cape Canaveral.  At 02:56:15 GMT, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on another celestial body.

My parents were remembering where they were when it happened (at the next-door neighbor’s in Michigan, because they didn’t have a television), and what it felt like to watch the landing. Uplifting.

And looking ahead, NASA’s first crewed mission around the moon in over half a century will be happening soon.

Something to look forward to!

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Photo by Pascal Debrunner on Unsplash

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A Hot Second in a Cold Place

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , on January 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Like many of you, we caught some of the winter weather that’s making such a splash this weekend. I feel for those who are digging out from the snow and sleet and ice many got, but for us it was a little snow and a lot of cold.

We hit -34C last night, which is (checks notes) really really cold! Which made today the perfect day to post this quick @ScienceandtheCity video on how space would feel, temperature wise.

Would space feel cold without a suit?

Yes. The answer is yes.

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Photo by Foad Roshan on Unsplash

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Brighter Days Ahead

Posted in Other, Science!, tagged , , , , , on December 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

It’s that time again! 

Winter solstice is nearly upon the Northern Hemisphere. Here’s what to know about the shortest day of the year

Yes, the darkest day of the year is here, but that means brighter days are ahead.

Sunday is the shortest day of the year north of the equator, where the solstice marks the start of astronomical winter.

That’s right, if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, today is the shortest day of the year. (And if you’d like a quick reminder of the astronomy of it all, this one’s helpful: December Solstice 2025.)

So light a candle (physical or metaphorical, your choice!), and look ahead to a brighter future.

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Photo by Eugene T on Unsplash

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