News Archive / Tagged: Editorial

• Remembering Apollo 8, celebrating Christmas from a distance

  Sean CostelloDecember 24th, 2020

  As 2020 draws to a close, families worldwide are gathering for Christmas Eve celebrations in various degrees of isolation, driven in large part to public health restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

• OPINION: 2019 – Numbers and Names

  Jason RhianJanuary 1st, 2020

  Well that happened. 2019 was a roller-coaster of ups and downs that will have far-reaching consequences for future space exploration efforts.

• OPINION: SpaceX’s upcoming Starlink mission means more than ending Florida’s launch drought

  Curt GodwinNovember 3rd, 2019

  The Space Coast has not seen a liftoff since Aug. 22. SpaceX is set to launch the second group of its Starlink satellites on Nov. 11, ending a two-month "drought" of ground launches from Florida. This upcoming mission has a lot more riding on it other than just alleviating that.

• OPINION: NASA administrator enters decades-long Pluto debate

  Laurel KornfeldAugust 28th, 2019

  A comment by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine affirming he still considers Pluto to be a planet has drawn criticism from some media outlets that may be motivated more by politics than science. It is also a potential game changer in the decades-long planet debate.

• What did Opportunity’s ‘last words’ actually mean?

  Jason RhianFebruary 17th, 2019

  "My battery is low and it's getting dark." This supposedly was the last message sent back to mission controllers on Earth by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. But is this actually what she "said?"

• Notes on the Run: Put on your tinfoil hat because here we go…

  Jason RhianFebruary 3rd, 2019

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – “Have you seen UFOs? Are aliens real?” My response to this line of questioning is almost always the same and, usually, not suitable for print. 

• Notes on the Run: Where the wild things are

  Jason RhianJanuary 13th, 2019

  The locations where rockets are tested at or lift off from are usually in the middle of nowhere. Within these swamps and deserts live a wide assortment of creatures that you have to contend with if you're going to be in the space business.

• OPINION: 50 years after Apollo 8 NASA is grounded

  Jason RhianDecember 25th, 2018

  On Dec. 25, 1968 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders circled the Moon in their Apollo 8 capsule. This was a dark period in U.S. history and, as one person stated via a telegraph, Apollo 8 had "saved 1968." It was a time when anything seemed possible. It now serves as a reminder of a bygone age.

• Inside Opportunity: Oppy still silent

  James RiceNovember 1st, 2018

  Dr. Jim Rice has provided this latest update from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Has the rover been silenced forever?

• Opinion: Musk marijuana story much ado about nothing

  Jason RhianSeptember 9th, 2018

  Elon Musk smoked pot and drank whiskey in California. The story was painted as if the event was some bizarre Matthew McConaughey moment where Musk was banging on a bongo drum and smoking weed. After watching the 2.5-hour Joe Rogan interview, one is left with the impression that some in the media must be in desperate need of views.

• He who laughs last – launches best: Parker Solar Probe mission a testament to faith

  Jason RhianAugust 13th, 2018

  KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- A speech during a pivotal scene in the 2016 movie Captain America Civil War, has become relevant in terms of the recent flight of the Parker Solar Probe. If you don't think so, you might want to chat with Eugene Parker. 

• Opinion: Mutants, airstrikes and more: Space ‘fake news’ on the rise

  Jason RhianApril 1st, 2018

  Fake news, a relatively new term that has entered the public lexicon. Stories regarding space flight have recently seen an uptick in incorrect information being reported and given the complexity of the subject matter, it might be understandable—but it is also preventable.

• OPINION: How NASA became a ping-pong ball

  Jason RhianDecember 17th, 2017

  For 30 years, NASA's human space flight program was in a secure, albeit uninspiring, trajectory – low-Earth orbit. The loss of the Shuttle Columbia and her seven-member crew on Feb. 1, 2003, changed all that. The Shuttle era was set to end and the agency would discover there's something even more dangerous than re-entering Earth's atmosphere with damaged heat tiles – politicians.

• OPINION: Is there inconsistency in how NASA treats its private partners?

  Jason RhianJuly 23rd, 2017

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A recent report noted that NASA will not be releasing a public report on the findings of the SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-7 explosion. The report also denotes that a previous similar accident was handled differently by NASA, but were the two accidents so distinct as to warrant two totally dissimilar approaches?

• OPINION: President-elect Trump’s NASA landing team continues to take shape

  Curt GodwinDecember 26th, 2016

  Though both candidates made clear their position on a multitude of issues prior to the election, their view of NASA's role in our nation's spacefaring efforts wasn't really among them. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump often gave politically expedient answers when asked what their vision for NASA, but neither has ever really presented a coherent roadmap for its future.