Dave Pearce

Humans are on the cusp of returning to the Moon—closer than we've been in over half a century—but boots on the lunar surface remain a few years away.As of February 2026, NASA's Artemis II mission stands poised as the first crewed voyage beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. This daring test flight will hurl four astronauts on a roughly 10-day journey: launching aboard the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, looping around the Moon on a free-return trajectory (never quite entering orbit, but flying tantalizingly close—within about 7,400 km of the surface), and splashing back down on Earth. It's not a landing, but it will push the Orion spacecraft to its limits in deep space, verifying life-support systems, deep-space navigation, radiation protection, and the all-important heat shield for fiery re-entry.Latest status: The launch, originally eyed for early February 2026 (with windows starting around February 6–8), hit a snag during a critical "wet dress rehearsal" fueling test. A liquid hydrogen leak and other issues cropped up, prompting NASA to push the earliest opportunity to March 2026—specifically no earlier than March 6 (around 20:29 EST / 01:29 UTC on March 7), with additional slots through March 11 and into April if needed. Teams are reviewing data, planning a second rehearsal, and refining fixes before locking in a firm date. The SLS rocket sits ready at Launch Complex 39B, and the crew remains in training.The #MoonCrew:Reid Wiseman (Commander, NASA) Victor Glover (Pilot, NASA) Christina Koch (Mission Specialist, NASA—veteran of long-duration ISS missions) Jeremy Hansen (Mission Specialist, Canadian Space Agency—first Canadian on a lunar mission) This flight paves the way for Artemis III, the program’s flagship return-to-the-surface mission. Artemis III aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon near the lunar South Pole (targeting water-ice-rich regions), using a modified SpaceX Starship as the human landing system. Two of four astronauts would descend for surface ops lasting about a week, conducting science, testing habitats, and gathering samples.Timeline reality check: While earlier targets floated 2026–2027 for the landing, NASA now officially projects Artemis III no earlier than 2028, driven by development hurdles (Orion heat shield refinements, Starship HLS progress, spacesuit readiness, and more). The program’s ultimate goal remains a sustainable lunar presence—think base camps, resource utilization, and stepping stones to Mars.We're not just revisiting the Moon; we're building the infrastructure for humanity's next giant leap. The wait feels long, but every test, delay, and fix brings that historic footprint closer.Artemis program snapshot (as of early 2026):Artemis II: Crewed lunar flyby — NET March 2026 Artemis III: First crewed landing — NET 2028 Future missions: Gateway station assembly, sustained surface ops, and beyond.

HUMANITY'S DARING VOYAGER 1: 48 YEARS INTO THE ABYSS – STILL SPEAKING! Launched September 5, 1977 – Alive & Transmitting in 2026Voyager 1, humanity's farthest creation, marks 48 epic years speeding through interstellar space at 38,000 mph (17 km/s). Right now (January 2026), it's ~170 AU away (15.8–15.9 billion miles / ~25.4 billion km from Earth), still beaming data across the cosmic void.Epic Grand Tour A rare 176-year planetary alignment let gravity slingshots past Jupiter (1979) and Saturn (1980), flinging it to escape velocity. It revealed Io's explosive volcanoes, Jupiter's faint rings and stormy atmospheres, hints of subsurface oceans, Saturn's stunning ring particles (dust to boulders), and Titan's thick nitrogen haze.Revolutionary Discoveries Voyager shattered views of the outer solar system: new rings, wild weather, magnetic surprises – proving giant planets are chaotic and breathtaking.Interstellar Pioneer August 25, 2012: It crossed the heliopause (~122 AU), entering interstellar space – first human object to do so. Instruments detected cosmic ray surges and solar wind drop-off; for over a decade, it's sampled the space between stars.Golden Record Mixtape Attached: gold-plated record with 116 Earth photos, 55-language greetings, 90 minutes of music (Bach to Chuck Berry), whale songs, thunder, and heartbeats. Instructions etched for aliens; built to last billions of years.Fading Power RTGs lose ~4 watts yearly; instruments shut down (cosmic rays off in 2025). It should run at least one sensor into the early 2030s, full blackout ~2036 beyond Deep Space Network reach.One Light-Day Milestone – November 2026! Around mid-November 2026 (Nov 13–15), Voyager hits one light-day (26 billion km / 16 billion miles). Commands take 24 hours one-way; replies 48 hours round-trip. A profound symbol of our deepest cosmic reach.Long after contact ends, Voyager drifts through the galaxy for billions of years – golden record aboard, carrying humanity's story, music, and curiosity: our most poetic monument to exploration. It's not just a probe – it's us, still out there, still whispering back.

This is what a small part of the Andromeda galaxy looks like, what you are seeing is approximately 2.5 billion stars

“SN 1993J” a supernova explosion in progress captured by the Hubble ST.