Category Archives: Space

Neil deGrasse Tyson, TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER

Posted on Sunday 21 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter (Simon & Schuster/Simon Six, May 2026, 226pp, including 28pp of acknowledgements, notes, index, and image credits) This latest by Tyson is irreverent and casual, even lightweight, in the way Tyson’s books often are, … Continue reading →

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Dead Scientists, Fine-Tuning, and the Vacuum of Space

Posted on Wednesday 29 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

PolitiFact on the mystery of the missing scientists; AMV on the fine-tuning argument and the limitations of academic credentials; Idiotic arguments from Facebook folks who think the Artemis mission was faked. – – – A couple follow-up items today. This … Continue reading →

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Those Who Do, Those Who Can’t

Posted on Friday 10 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How some of us reach for the stars, while others are mired in oppressive religious fantasies; How both sides think God is on their side, and wondering what religions are trying to accomplish; Rebecca Boyle on what we’re seeing new … Continue reading →

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Another Nothing-burger Trump Deal

Posted on Wednesday 8 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s ‘deal’ with Iran seems to have accomplished none of his objectives, and is worse than the Obama deal that Trump cancelled; Comments from Robert Reich, Paul Krugman, Media Matters; Which spills over in the contrast between Artemis II and … Continue reading →

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Artemis, and the Weirding of American Religion

Posted on Monday 6 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The Artemis mission, the dark side solecism, the flat earth crazies; Paul Krugman echoes my thoughts from yesterday: will America as we knew it end Tuesday? The weirding of American religion, what with claims of teleportation and demons; Brief items … Continue reading →

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The New Space Race

Posted on Wednesday 1 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s launch of Artemis II, and my background supporting the space program; A revelation about Bill Warren’s KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES! Noting the popularity of Project Hail Mary; Noting a GoodReads list; Radiohead’s The Gloaming. – – – So America’s … Continue reading →

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Moon Status; Dormant Bigotry

Posted on Monday 15 December 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Just two items today. First a think piece. Slate, Joel Achenbach, 9 Dec 2025: Moondoggle, subtitled “Officially, America is supposed to land on the moon again in 2027—and Mars thereafter. Ask anyone inside NASA under Trump, and you will hear … Continue reading →

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Progress, and Regression

Posted on Thursday 22 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Progress: This afternoon the US has landed a spacecraft, albeit unmanned, on the Moon, for the first time in over 50 years; Regression: the religious mindset behind the Alabama IVF decision; more examples of the ambitions of the Christian nationalists; … Continue reading →

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Scales of the Universe

Posted on Tuesday 15 August 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The 13 scales that define our physical universe; A video that maps the Milky Way onto the United States, where on that scale our sun would fit between the ridges of a fingerprint; Recalling again the famous Powers of Ten … Continue reading →

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Apollo 11

Posted on Saturday 20 July 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

Like most others of my generation, I remember watching the Apollo 11 moon landing in grainy footage on a black & white TV in July 1969. I was not quite 14, and was living with my family in Glen Ellyn, … Continue reading →

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