Space 'n Stuff

18/01/2026

The Orion spacecraft and its associated Space Launch System rocket, mounted on its mobile launch platform, is poised to roll out no earlier than tomorrow (Saturday) morning, January 17th, 2026. The rocket will make the long trek from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

This will be the first human spaceflight to the vicinity of the Moon since December 1972 and is only the second mission for SLS, and its first flight with crew. NASA Artemis II’s four-person crew will fly the Orion spacecraft, which they named Integrity, on a 10-day mission to loop around the Moon and return to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific off the coast of California.

For the full article, written by Justin Davenport, click the link in the comments below. 👇

18/01/2026

The heaviest taxi on Earth.

​Everyone is geared up for Artemis 2, but we need to talk about the machine that actually gets the rocket to the pad.

Meet the NASA Crawler-Transporters.

​These aren't just trucks. They are 3,000-tonne behemoths that have been moving NASA’s biggest hardware since 1965.

​World Record Holders: The CT-2 unit is officially the heaviest self-powered vehicle ever built.

​The Pace: It moves at a top speed of 1.6 km/h. The 6.5 km trip to the launch pad takes several hours.

​Precision: It uses a laser guidance system and massive hydraulics to keep the rocket perfectly level. If the ground shifts even a fraction, the Crawler compensates to ensure the SLS doesn't tip.

​Self-Sustained: It carries 19,000 litres of fuel and has its own onboard bathrooms. Once the crew starts the engine, they are in it for the long haul.

​It carried Apollo. It carried the Space Shuttle. Now, it’s carrying the next generation of lunar explorers. Not bad for a machine built in the sixties.

Image courtesy of NASA's Kennedy Space Center

18/01/2026

In place and ready for some fuel. Almost good to go.

11 million pounds. Four miles. 12 hours.

These are what the numbers look like for transporting a stacked Moon rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launchpad 39B. Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are targeting no earlier than 7 a.m. EST (1200 UTC) on Saturday, Jan. 17 to move the Artemis II vehicle to its last stop on planet Earth. https://go.nasa.gov/49HFdKm

18/01/2026

So. The biggest news lately. US and Canadian humans are going to swing by the moon. The lander isn't quite ready yet. But we're going to have a look, take some nice photos and head back to Earth. Onward and upward.

Made it.

At 6:42 p.m. EST on Jan. 17, NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft reached Launch Pad 39B after a nearly 12-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Hours earlier, NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 began its 4-mile trek with the integrated SLS and Orion stacked on top. Moving at a maximum speed of just 0.82 mph, the crawler carried the towering Moon rocket and spacecraft slowly but surely toward the pad.

Next steps? The team will prepare for a "wet dress rehearsal" at the end of the month. During this operation, team members will load the rocket with cryogenic, or super-cold, propellants, run through the countdown, and practice safely draining the propellants from the rocket – all essential steps before the first crewed Artemis mission. After the wet dress rehearsal, the mission management team will assess the readiness of the systems and confirm a launch date. https://go.nasa.gov/3NpPLGG

12/11/2024

Johannesburg's Planetarium is back. 60 Years of education. Well done!

After 64 years, the Johannesburg Planetarium has been significantly upgraded. Its new cutting-edge digital projectors will enhance the planetarium’s role in science education, providing tens of thousands of learners an unparalleled opportunity to explore the universe each year.

12/11/2024

We're still learning more and more about our very own Sun.

Like the Earth, the sun likely has swirling polar vortices, according to new research led by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR). But unlike on Earth, the formation and evolution of these vortices are driven by magnetic fields.

12/11/2024

Juno still doing the work after 8 years.

The images were taken during the spacecraft's 66th close flyby of Jupiter on Oct. 23.

12/11/2024

44 years ago, Voyager 1 captured this image of Saturn and two of its moons, Tethys and Dione. The shadows of the planet's rings and Tethys are cast onto the cloud tops.

Fun fact: Saturn has the most moons of any planet in our solar system – 146 of them! https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/