ASTRO SPACE NEWS

A DIVISION OF MID NORTH COAST ASTRONOMY (NSW)

(ASTRO) DAVE RENEKE

SPACE WRITER - MEDIA PERSONALITY - SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT ABC/COMMERCIAL RADIO - LECTURER - ASTRONOMY OUTREACH PROGRAMS - ASTRONOMY TOUR GUIDE - TELESCOPE SALES/SERVICE/LESSONS - MID NORTH COAST ASTRONOMY GROUP (Est. 2002)   Enquiries: (02) 6585 2260       Mobile: 0400 636 363        Email: davereneke@gmail.com

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   NOW IN OUR FIFTH YEAR ON NORFOLK ISLAND

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING.....

"Absolutely amazing!! I Learned so much. Dave's knowledge is amazing, and he made it sound so simple. What a great night, not what I expected! It's an awesome introduction to the night sky for first timers through the large telescope. Maureen Rivendell." Port Macquarie.

"This evening changed forever my understanding of the night sky. We saw 100km wide Moon craters, Jupiter and Saturn up close, amazing star clusters. Highly recommended for the entire family!" Ken Sorenson. Adelaide

" Thanks so much Dave for a night we will never forget! The impact has been huge on our kids, especially those incredible close-up views of the Moon, and I have pics I took to prove it . Will re-book." Karen Amato. Wauchope NSW See the                                                                  * SEE our FB Page  https://norfolkislandtravel.co/stargazing-with-dave/

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Warrumbungle National Park has once again put regional NSW on the world stage, recently being ranked the second-best stargazing destination on the planet in the 2026 Clean Sky Index. The Warrumbungles were recognised for their low light pollution, accessibility and internationally-recognised Dark Sky status. 

As Australia's first Dark Sky Park, Warrumbungle National Park continues to attract visitors from across the country and around the world, providing unforgettable views of the Milky Way, planets and meteor showers, alongside the world-class Siding Spring Observatory.This recognition is a testament to the region's unique natural assets. Congratulations to everyone involved in preserving this remarkable destination and showcasing the very best of regional NSW to the world.

NASA is preparing to send astronauts back to the Moon, but an unexpected problem is threatening to complicate the journey: the spacesuit.

NASA is now working with Axiom Space on a simpler version of its planned lunar suit, known as the "Sortie Suit." The goal is to make it lighter, less complicated and easier to connect with the lunar landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin. The reason is straightforward: NASA wants to get astronauts onto the lunar surface as early as 2028.

But why is a spacesuit such a big deal? On the Moon, a spacesuit isn't simply clothing — it's essentially a tiny personal spacecraft. There is no atmosphere to breathe, no air pressure and no protection from extreme temperatures. The suit must supply oxygen, maintain pressure, regulate an astronaut's temperature, provide communications and protect against the harsh lunar environment.

NASA's original requirements were enormous. The planned suit had to support six moonwalks during a six-and-a-half-day mission, remain usable after being stored for up to 210 days, and operate for two hours in the extraordinarily cold, permanently shadowed regions near the lunar South Pole. Meeting all those demands produced a suit that became increasingly complicated, heavy and difficult to move around in.

That's a serious problem because astronauts don't just have to survive inside a spacesuit — they have to work in it. They need to walk, bend, climb, collect rocks, operate scientific instruments and handle tools. A heavy and stiff suit can turn even a relatively simple task into exhausting physical work, while reduced mobility can make working on the uneven lunar surface even more difficult.

The situation became serious enough that NASA leadership has reportedly been meeting with Axiom six days a week to tackle schedule and performance concerns. NASA is also adjusting some requirements and shortening certification timelines. The agency's Inspector General has warned that the original spacesuit development schedules were unrealistic, with delays threatening NASA's ambitions for a 2028 lunar landing.

So NASA has made a fascinating decision: don't wait for the perfect spacesuit. Build a simpler one that can get astronauts safely onto the Moon — then improve it. That is the thinking behind the Sortie Suit.

Artemis IV is planned to be the first Artemis mission to land astronauts on the Moon. Four astronauts will travel toward lunar orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft, with two descending to the surface aboard a commercial lunar lander. They are expected to spend about a week near the lunar South Pole, conducting experiments, collecting samples and studying an environment humans have never explored before.

And the South Pole is particularly exciting. Scientists believe permanently shadowed regions may contain water ice. That water could eventually provide drinking supplies, oxygen for breathing and even ingredients for rocket fuel. The lunar South Pole could therefore become much more than an interesting scientific destination — it could eventually serve as a launching point for a permanent human presence beyond Earth.

But NASA is racing against the clock. The agency wants Artemis IV ready for an early-2028 landing, and the spacesuit is only one of several major pieces that must come together. The rocket, Orion spacecraft, lunar lander and spacesuit all have to work reliably.

There is very little room for failure. The irony is remarkable. After decades of extraordinary technological progress, one of the biggest challenges standing between humanity and its return to the Moon may be something an astronaut simply wears.

But perhaps that's exactly what makes the spacesuit so important. The first Artemis suit doesn't have to be perfect. It simply has to keep an astronaut alive and capable of working long enough to take those historic steps.

And when those footsteps finally reach the lunar surface, the Moon may once again hear the sounds of human exploration — this time with Mars and an even bigger future firmly in sight.

For decades, astronomers have known that something enormous is influencing the motion of our galaxy and thousands of others around us. The strange part is that nobody could see exactly what it was.

Our Milky Way is not sitting still in space. Along with neighbouring galaxies, it is travelling through the Universe at hundreds of kilometres per second. Something appears to be exerting a gravitational pull on this vast collection of galaxies, drawing them towards a region of space that became known as the Great Attractor.

The name sounds dramatic — and the mystery certainly is.

The problem for astronomers was that the suspected source lies in an awkward location: directly behind the crowded plane of our own Milky Way. Looking in that direction from Earth is rather like trying to see through a thick forest. The Milky Way is packed with stars, dust and gas, making it extremely difficult to observe distant galaxies beyond it.

For years, astronomers could detect the gravitational effects of this hidden region without being able to clearly identify what was responsible.

The mystery began to unravel as increasingly powerful telescopes and new observing techniques allowed researchers to peer through the Milky Way's dusty foreground. Instead of finding one enormous object acting like a cosmic magnet, astronomers discovered something considerably more complicated.

The Great Attractor appears to be associated with a vast concentration of galaxies and galaxy clusters, all embedded in an enormous region of space containing huge amounts of matter. Much of that matter is invisible — the mysterious substance known as dark matter, which does not emit or reflect light but does exert gravity.

To understand the scale involved, remember that our own Milky Way contains hundreds of billions of stars. Yet it is just one galaxy among countless others. Galaxies themselves are gathered into groups and clusters, which can be connected across enormous distances to form even larger structures known as superclusters.

Our galaxy belongs to a collection called the Local Group, which includes Andromeda and dozens of smaller galaxies. The Local Group sits on the outskirts of a much larger structure called the Laniakea Supercluster — a vast cosmic neighbourhood containing tens of thousands of galaxies.

And Laniakea itself is being influenced by even larger concentrations of matter.

This is where the Great Attractor becomes particularly fascinating. Rather than being a single mysterious object hidden somewhere in space, it is better thought of as a region where gravity from enormous concentrations of matter influences the movements of surrounding galaxies.

Astronomers have also identified even larger structures farther beyond the Great Attractor, including the Shapley Supercluster, one of the most massive concentrations of galaxies known in our cosmic neighbourhood. These structures form part of the enormous cosmic web — a gigantic network of galaxies, clusters, gas and dark matter stretching across the Universe.

So, is the Milky Way actually heading toward the Great Attractor?

In a sense, yes. Gravity is influencing the motion of our galaxy and its neighbours toward regions containing greater concentrations of matter. But the picture is not as simple as galaxies racing toward a single destination. The expansion of the Universe is simultaneously carrying space itself outward on the largest scales.

The real story is therefore one of a cosmic tug-of-war between the expansion of the Universe and gravity's tendency to pull matter together.

And there is something wonderfully humbling about that.

Every star we see in the night sky, every galaxy captured by the world's largest telescopes and even our own Milky Way is part of this immense gravitational dance. Our galaxy is moving through space, influenced by structures so enormous that their scale is almost impossible to imagine.

For decades, the Great Attractor was an invisible mystery lurking behind the Milky Way.

Today, astronomers are beginning to understand that there was never a single cosmic monster hiding there.

Instead, they have uncovered something arguably more extraordinary — an enormous landscape of galaxies and invisible matter, shaping the journey of our entire galactic neighbourhood through the Universe.

For decades, extraterrestrial microbes have been the stuff of science fiction. Stories such as The Andromeda Strain and Project Hail Mary have imagined what might happen if scientists encountered living organisms from somewhere beyond Earth. But as space exploration accelerates, that scenario is becoming less like science fiction and more like a question scientists, governments and international organisations may eventually have to confront.

When most people hear the words "alien life," they probably picture intelligent beings arriving in spacecraft. In reality, the first discovery of life beyond Earth is far more likely to be something much smaller — perhaps a microscopic organism preserved in Martian rock, a chemical signature suggesting biology, or evidence of life in the oceans hidden beneath the icy surfaces of distant moons.

Even a tiny microbe would be an extraordinary discovery. It would provide the first confirmed evidence that life is not unique to Earth and would fundamentally change our understanding of biology, the history of our planet and our place in the Universe.

The question is: what happens next?

Scientists have been searching for signs of life for decades, and several recent discoveries have made the possibility increasingly compelling. Mars, for example, has revealed abundant evidence of water ice and strong indications that liquid water existed on its surface in the distant past. Since water is considered one of the essential ingredients for life as we know it, the Red Planet remains one of our most important targets.

Asteroids have also provided intriguing clues. Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft returned samples from the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, and scientists found uracil, a chemical component involved in RNA. Such discoveries do not prove that life existed on the asteroid, but they demonstrate that some of the chemical ingredients associated with life can exist beyond Earth.

Meanwhile, spacecraft are heading deeper into the Solar System in search of potentially habitable environments. NASA's Europa Clipper is travelling to Jupiter to investigate Europa, an icy moon believed to contain a vast ocean beneath its frozen surface. The European Space Agency's JUICE mission is also studying Jupiter's icy moons, including Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.

Then there is Saturn's Enceladus, a tiny icy moon that has become one of the most exciting places in the Solar System for the search for life. Jets of water and other material erupt from cracks in its icy surface, offering scientists the tantalising possibility that material from its hidden ocean could be sampled without having to drill through kilometres of ice.

Beyond our Solar System, powerful observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope are examining the atmospheres of distant planets. Scientists are looking for chemical combinations that might provide clues that biological processes are taking place.

But discovering extraterrestrial microbes would create challenges extending far beyond science.

How would governments respond? Who would be responsible for announcing the discovery? How would scientists ensure that an extraterrestrial organism could not contaminate Earth's environment — or that Earth organisms could not contaminate another world? And what would happen if different nations disagreed over access to samples or information?

There would also be enormous social and political consequences. Religious beliefs, philosophical ideas and our understanding of humanity's uniqueness could all be affected. Markets could react, misinformation could spread and the public response might range from excitement to fear.

That is why experts argue that preparation should begin before the discovery occurs. International agreements and scientific protocols already provide some guidance for planetary protection, but an actual confirmed discovery of alien life could test those arrangements in ways nobody has experienced before.

And perhaps the most remarkable possibility is this: the first evidence of life beyond Earth may not arrive with a dramatic signal from an advanced civilisation. It could come quietly, hidden inside a rock, trapped beneath an icy moon or revealed by a tiny chemical signature in a distant planet's atmosphere. If that day comes, the discovery may be microscopic. But its implications for humanity could be enormous.

Welcome to the universe's strangest barbecue. What does space smell like? Fresh air? Roses? Nothing at all? Well, technically, nothing. Space is an almost perfect vacuum, so there's no atmosphere outside a spacecraft to carry smells into your nose. But ask astronauts what space smells like after a spacewalk, and suddenly things get very interesting. Apparently, the universe has been cooking. Astronauts returning from spacewalks have described a strange odour clinging to their spacesuits and equipment. Descriptions have included burnt steak, hot metal, welding fumes, gunpowder, ozone and even the smell of a recently fired gun. Forget the cosmic music. Apparently, space comes with its own barbecue!

The astronauts don't actually smell these aromas while floating outside. Instead, when they return to the spacecraft and remove their helmets, the mysterious smell becomes noticeable. Something from the space environment appears to have hitched a ride home on their suits. But what? One major suspect is atomic oxygen. High above Earth, ultraviolet radiation from the Sun can smash ordinary oxygen molecules apart, producing highly reactive individual oxygen atoms. These can collide with and stick to spacecraft surfaces and spacesuits. Once the astronaut returns inside and the suit encounters normal cabin air, chemical reactions can occur. One result can be ozone, which has that unmistakable sharp, metallic, electrical smell.

But there's another intriguing ingredient in this cosmic cocktail: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Don't worry about the tongue-twister. These are carbon-rich molecules found throughout the universe and are associated with things like smoke, soot and charred material here on Earth. Scientists think some of these compounds could help explain why astronauts describe the post-spacewalk smell as something resembling burnt meat. And here's where the story gets seriously cosmic. Some carbon-rich molecules are produced in the harsh environments around dying stars and can spread through interstellar space. So some of the chemistry behind that strange astronaut odour may ultimately be connected to material created by stars. Think about that next time you smell something burning. You might just be getting a tiny whiff of stellar chemistry.

NASA has even gone to the trouble of recreating the smell of space on Earth. Astronauts need to become familiar with unusual odours because inside a spacecraft, a strange smell could indicate a chemical problem or equipment malfunction. Better to know what "space smells like" before something important starts leaking. And space isn't finished with our noses yet. Apollo astronauts reported that lunar dust smelled like gunpowder after they brought it inside their spacecraft. The Moon itself has no atmosphere and therefore no smell in the normal sense. But freshly disturbed lunar dust contains extremely reactive particles that can react with moisture and oxygen once inside the spacecraft. So the Moon apparently comes with its own eau de gunpowder.

There is, of course, a serious lesson hiding beneath all this weirdness. Space isn't empty in the way we imagine. It is filled with atoms, molecules, dust, radiation and extraordinarily complex chemistry. Even something as apparently simple as a smell can reveal clues about what happens when these materials encounter humans and spacecraft. So, does space actually smell like burnt steak? Not exactly. The vacuum itself doesn't smell at all. But astronauts returning from the great cosmic darkness can bring back a faint reminder of the universe's chemistry — and if their descriptions are anything to go by, it smells less like a heavenly garden and more like someone left the barbecue on in the Milky Way.

Just don't ask for the recipe.

At 10:17 tomorrow morning, the Sun could vanish. And for the next eight minutes, nobody on Earth would know. You'd be driving to work, a child walking to school, someone waiting impatiently for toast. Above them, the Sun would still shine brilliantly. Except it would already be gone.

The reason is extraordinary. The Sun is about 150 million kilometres away, and its light takes eight minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth. We never see the Sun as it is—we see it as it was. If it disappeared instantly, its final light would continue racing toward us, giving humanity a few peaceful minutes before reality arrived.

Then, without warning, the Sun would simply blink out. No explosion. No thunderous sound. No countdown. The blue daytime sky would suddenly become black, and stars would appear in broad daylight. The Moon, if visible, would gradually disappear as its reflected sunlight vanished.

At almost the same moment, something even more remarkable would occur. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, the Sun's gravitational influence would also cease after those same eight minutes. Earth would no longer orbit the Sun. Instead, our planet would continue flying through space in a straight line at around 30 kilometres per second.

Earth would become a rogue planet—a gigantic spacecraft carrying billions of passengers with absolutely no destination. For a brief time, the view from Earth would be breathtaking. Without sunlight drowning out the heavens, the Milky Way would blaze across the sky during what was once daytime. Stars, nebulae and distant galaxies would become visible in spectacular detail.

But the beauty would be short-lived. The Sun is the engine that drives Earth's climate, weather and nearly every food chain. Without sunlight, photosynthesis would stop. Plants would die, crops would fail and global agriculture would collapse.

Surprisingly, however, we would not freeze immediately. Earth's oceans and atmosphere store enormous quantities of heat, slowly releasing it like a massive thermal battery. Temperatures would fall over weeks and months rather than hours. Eventually, snow and ice would engulf the continents, rivers and lakes would freeze solid, and thick ice would spread across the oceans.

Yet life itself might survive. Deep beneath the frozen surface, Earth's interior would remain hot. Radioactive decay and geothermal energy would continue warming underground regions, while hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor would still support strange ecosystems living entirely without sunlight. Nature has already proven that life can flourish in perpetual darkness when chemical energy replaces sunshine.

Human civilisation would face a far greater challenge. The survivors would likely retreat underground, depending on nuclear reactors and geothermal power for warmth, electricity and artificial light. Food could be grown beneath powerful lamps in underground farms, while sealed cities beneath the surface became humanity's final refuge.

Forget ocean views. The future real-estate advertisement might read: "Luxury underground residence. Geothermal heating included. No windows." Meanwhile, Earth would continue drifting silently through the Milky Way, forever separated from its parent star. There would be no sunrise, no sunset, no seasons and no golden mornings—only a frozen world wandering through interstellar darkness.

Perhaps the most haunting part is the beginning. For eight minutes, life would seem completely ordinary. People would sip coffee, walk their dogs, complain about traffic and glance casually at a perfectly normal Sun. Nobody would know that it had already disappeared. Then the final photons would arrive. The light would fade. The sky would turn black. And our beautiful blue planet would begin its lonely journey into the darkness between the stars. See Dave's website for Astro-Tours www.davidreneke.com

There are nights when the Moon seems to put on a show just for us. It can glow through a veil of clouds, wear a mysterious ring, appear impossibly huge above the horizon or shrink to a delicate silver crescent. Yet none of these tricks are quite what they seem. Our nearest neighbour in space is playing with light, gravity, movement—and even our minds. Take the strange ring that sometimes surrounds the Moon. On a clear night, you may look up and see a vast, ghostly circle stretching across the sky. It can look almost too perfect to be real. But the Moon isn't creating the ring. Earth's atmosphere is.

High above us, thin cirrus clouds can contain countless tiny ice crystals. When moonlight passes through them, the crystals bend and redirect the light, producing a luminous circle known as a lunar halo. For centuries, people have treated these rings as signs that rain is coming. There is actually some truth in the old weather wisdom. The high clouds that create halos can form ahead of approaching weather systems, sometimes providing an early warning that conditions are about to change.

But the Moon has an even bigger secret. Why do we always see the same side?

It isn't because the Moon doesn't rotate. It does. The remarkable thing is that it spins exactly once on its axis during the same time it takes to complete one orbit around Earth. This is called tidal locking. Earth's gravity has been tugging on the Moon for billions of years, gradually slowing its rotation until the two movements became synchronised. The result is a spectacular cosmic dance: as the Moon travels around Earth, it turns at exactly the right rate to keep the same hemisphere facing us.

And here's another surprise: there is no permanent "dark side" of the Moon. The far side gets sunlight too. It is simply the side we don't normally see from Earth. Then there are the Moon's famous phases. One night it is a thin crescent, another it is half illuminated, and eventually it becomes a brilliant full Moon. But the Moon itself isn't changing shape. We are simply seeing different amounts of its sunlit half.

As the Moon orbits Earth, our viewing angle changes. Sometimes most of the illuminated side is facing away from us, producing a new Moon. At other times we see almost all of it, creating a full Moon. Between these extremes come the crescents, quarters and gibbous phases. The complete cycle takes about 29.5 days. That's slightly longer than the Moon's actual orbit around Earth because Earth itself is moving around the Sun, constantly changing the geometry of the three bodies.

And then comes perhaps the greatest lunar illusion of all. Watch the Moon rise and it can look enormous. Sometimes it appears so huge and golden that you might think it has somehow moved dramatically closer to Earth. It hasn't. Measure it, and its apparent size is essentially the same as when it is high overhead. Your brain is responsible.

The Moon illusion happens because, near the horizon, our brains compare the Moon with familiar objects such as trees, buildings and hills. Against an otherwise empty sky, the same Moon can appear much smaller.

So the next time you see a giant Moon rising, a halo glowing around it or a crescent hanging above the rooftops, take another look. You're witnessing an extraordinary mixture of sunlight, ice crystals, gravity, orbital motion and human perception. Our Moon may be only a quarter of a million miles away, but it still has the power to fool our eyes, stir our imagination and remind us that the night sky is far stranger—and far more fascinating—than it first appears.

Space has always been fertile ground for myths, perhaps because the night sky is so enormous, mysterious and difficult to visit that humans have filled the gaps in our knowledge with stories, guesses and the occasional piece of complete nonsense. Some are harmless fun, while others are so persistent that they deserve a gentle blast of scientific reality.

Take the wonderfully ridiculous idea that the Moon is made of cheese. Sorry, Wallace and Gromit, but the evidence is firmly against you because the Moon is a rocky world covered in dust, mountains, valleys and countless impact craters. Its surface has been battered by asteroids and meteoroids for billions of years, while ancient volcanic activity produced the enormous dark plains we call maria.

The Moon isn't particularly shiny either, reflecting only about 12 per cent of the sunlight that falls upon it, making it about as reflective as worn asphalt. That beautiful glowing Moon therefore isn't a gigantic piece of Camembert beaming back at us; its minerals are simply reflecting sunlight.

Then there are shooting stars, another case of misleading terminology because there is no star falling out of the heavens, desperately trying to find somewhere to land. A shooting star is usually a tiny piece of space debris, often no larger than a grain of sand, entering Earth's atmosphere at enormous speed, where friction and compression heat the surrounding gas and create the spectacular streak of light we see.

The object itself is called a meteoroid while it is in space and a meteor when it produces that brilliant streak, while any surviving piece that reaches the ground becomes a meteorite. So, when you see a shooting star, make a wish, but don't ask it to slow down because some meteors can enter the atmosphere at more than 70 kilometres per second, making that one very fast wish-delivery service.

Now for one of the most famous myths of all: the Great Wall of China can be seen from space. It sounds plausible and has been repeated for decades, but it isn't true in the way people imagine. Astronauts in low Earth orbit can sometimes photograph portions of the wall under favourable conditions, but it is extremely difficult to distinguish with the naked eye because the wall is simply too narrow and blends into the surrounding landscape.

From the Moon, forget it because the wall is far too narrow, and its winding shape doesn't magically turn it into a giant planetary sign saying "Welcome to China." I remember astronaut Buzz Aldrin telling me that they couldn't see it from the Moon, and at roughly 384,400 kilometres away, even an enormous telescope would have trouble picking out such a relatively thin structure against the Earth's complicated landscape.

And finally, we arrive at the flat-Earth myth, at which point perhaps it really is time for a Panadol. Earth is demonstrably spherical, and we have mountains of evidence — literally and scientifically — including ships disappearing hull-first over the horizon,

There is also the small matter of time zones because when it is lunchtime in Australia, people elsewhere can be asleep in darkness, and on a flat Earth illuminated by the Sun in the ordinary way, explaining that would require some remarkably creative geometry.

The universe is full of genuine mysteries, but we don't need invented ones because the real story is far more fascinating: a rocky Moon, fiery meteors, a magnificent but difficult-to-see wall, and a spherical Earth hurtling through space.

President Donald Trump has ordered the creation of a Presidential Commission to develop plans for a new United States Space Academy, designed to strengthen America's workforce and maintain its leadership in space.

The proposed NASA-led academy would train the next generation of astronauts, scientists, engineers, space operators, entrepreneurs, civil servants and military personnel. Its aim would be to combine advanced technical education with leadership, discipline and a strong commitment to public service.

A Presidential Commission, chaired by the NASA Administrator and including senior officials from national security, defence, the White House, the Air Force and other government agencies, will now examine how the academy could be established.

Within 120 days, the commission must present the President with detailed recommendations covering the academy's structure, courses and degree programs, practical training, student requirements and possible military or civilian government service after graduation. It will also examine security-clearance and citizenship requirements, potential locations, partnerships with universities and industry, and any changes to U.S. law that may be required.

The commission will also consider whether the academy should operate directly within NASA and how existing Federal education programs could be used to help establish it.

Importantly, the order does not establish the Space Academy itself. It creates the formal process for developing a plan to determine whether and how the academy should be created. If the President approves the recommendations, and any necessary legislation is passed, NASA would then begin implementing the plan.

The broader objective is clear: to recruit, educate and prepare a new generation of Americans capable of leading the nation's space exploration, technology, scientific and security efforts well into the future. The executive order was signed on August 28, 2026.

Imagine standing on the Moon in July 1969. There is no wind, no sound, no atmosphere and no familiar landscape—just an endless, eerie wilderness of grey dust and ancient rocks. Neil Armstrong looks across the Sea of Tranquillity, takes those famous first steps and leaves footprints that, incredibly, are still there today.

More than half a century later, Tranquility Base remains almost exactly where the Apollo 11 astronauts left it. There is no memorial, no flagpole, no protective fence and certainly no visitor centre. Instead, the first human landing site on another world sits alone in the stark lunar landscape, about 384,000 kilometres from Earth. And remarkably, we can still see it.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, circling the Moon since 2009, has photographed the site from above. Its cameras have picked out the remains of the lunar module Eagle, including the descent stage that Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left behind when they blasted off from the surface. Around it, scientists can detect the paths made by the astronauts as they moved between the spacecraft and their scientific equipment.

It gets even more astonishing. Their footprints are still visible. On Earth, a footprint is temporary. Wind blows dust into it, rain fills it, animals cross it and eventually nature erases the evidence. The Moon has none of that. With virtually no atmosphere, no wind and no rain, there is nothing to wash or blow Armstrong and Aldrin's tracks away. Their boot prints could remain for millions of years, although tiny meteorites will gradually disturb them over enormous periods of time.

Think about that for a moment. The footprints of the first humans to walk on another world may outlast almost every human structure ever built on Earth.

The scene itself is strangely modest. There is no gigantic crater announcing the historic event and no spectacular monument visible from space. Instead, Eagle's descent stage looks like a small piece of forgotten machinery sitting in an otherwise ordinary patch of lunar terrain. Nearby, however, are the traces of one of humanity's greatest adventures: astronaut tracks, equipment and the disturbed lunar soil where humans worked, jumped and shuffled across the surface.

The famous American flag is another fascinating story. Armstrong and Aldrin planted it near Eagle, but when the lunar module's ascent engine fired, the blast probably knocked it over. If anything remains of the flag today, it has spent more than five decades being bombarded by intense ultraviolet radiation and exposed to enormous temperature swings. It certainly isn't waving. There is no breeze to make it wave anyway.

And then there is the plaque attached to Eagle. It carries the names of Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins and records the extraordinary achievement with the words: "Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon The Moon."

Perhaps the most haunting thing about Tranquility Base is how ordinary it can look. Under a high lunar Sun, shadows become short and details can almost disappear. When the Sun is low, however, enormous shadows stretch across the landscape, revealing the spacecraft, equipment and subtle tracks in the dusty surface.

For all its historical importance, Tranquility Base is not a preserved museum exhibit. It is simply sitting there, exposed to the brutal environment of space, waiting patiently as the Moon continues its slow journey around Earth. One day, humans may return. When they do, they won't merely be visiting an old landing site. They will be walking into a kind of archaeological time capsule—a place frozen in 1969, containing the machines, tracks and physical traces of the moment humanity first stepped beyond its home planet.

And perhaps that is the most astonishing thing of all. Armstrong's footprints are still waiting there. Silent. Undisturbed. And staring back at us from the surface of another world.

Space travel has some glamorous moments. Floating above Earth, watching sunrises every 90 minutes and seeing the planet from hundreds of kilometres above it. And then there is the toilet.

Scientists have now learned more about why astronauts frequently suffer from constipation in space. A study of astronauts who lived aboard the International Space Station found that microgravity slows the movement of food through the intestines.

That might sound like a slightly embarrassing space problem. It isn't. The researchers discovered that changes in the gut can cause bacteria to process proteins differently. This produces chemicals that could become harmful during very long missions.

That matters because astronauts may eventually spend months or even years travelling to the Moon or Mars. A problem that is merely uncomfortable during a short space mission could become much more serious during a three-year journey to Mars.

Researchers are looking at possible solutions, including more fibre, probiotics and ways of encouraging normal intestinal movement. So the future of space travel may depend on some very sophisticated technology. But astronauts will still need to eat their vegetables. Even on Mars.

For decades, astronomers have wondered whether the enormous red star Betelgeuse had a companion. Now they have strong evidence that it does. Betelgeuse is one of the most famous stars in the night sky. It forms the reddish shoulder of Orion and is so enormous that, if placed where our Sun is, it would swallow the inner planets.

Astronomers have now directly observed a much smaller companion star orbiting it. The companion is estimated to have between about 2.6 and 3.1 times the mass of our Sun. The two stars are separated by a distance roughly comparable to Saturn's orbit around the Sun. That is still remarkably close considering the enormous size of Betelgeuse.

The discovery is more than a cosmic curiosity. Betelgeuse is a dying massive star. Astronomers have long expected it eventually to explode as a supernova. But having a companion changes the story.

The second star may influence how Betelgeuse loses material and how its final explosion develops. So the next time someone says Betelgeuse is about to explode, there is an important qualification. It could still be a very long wait. Astronomically speaking, of course.

Forget the morning traffic jam. Forget finding a parking space. One billionaire space executive thinks the future could involve commuting to the Moon.

Dylan Taylor, founder and CEO of Voyager Technologies, says humans will be living and working in space and believes a permanent lunar base could arrive in the early 2030s. Taylor is not alone. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Sam Altman have all talked about a future in which humans increasingly live and work away from Earth.

The International Space Station has already shown that humans can live continuously in space for years at a time. The next step is much harder. The Moon has no breathable atmosphere, extreme temperatures and dangerous radiation. Every litre of water and every kilogram of equipment becomes valuable. But the Moon has one enormous advantage. It is close. Compared with Mars, the Moon is practically next door.

Possible lunar jobs could include construction, mining, scientific research, power generation and operating equipment. It sounds like science fiction. But only a few decades ago, so did having thousands of satellites providing internet from space. Perhaps one day "Where do you work?" will have a rather interesting answer.

JUICE COMES SURPRISINGLY CLOSE TO EARTH
In September, ESA's JUICE spacecraft will make its first Earth gravity-assist flyby, passing only about 9,000 km from Earth. It will use our planet as a cosmic slingshot on its journey to Jupiter's icy moons.

THE MYSTERY OF INTERSTELLAR COMET 3I/ATLAS CONTINUES
The third known object from outside our Solar System is now heading back into interstellar space, but astronomers are still analysing its unusual chemistry and behaviour, including particularly interesting gas-to-dust signatures.

AN "ASTEROID" THAT TURNED OUT TO BE A COMET
NASA recently revealed that 1998 SH2, previously classified as a near-Earth asteroid, is actually a comet. It looks asteroid-like but has a comet-like orbit and behaviour — another reminder of how untidy the Solar System can be.

EARTH IS ABOUT TO GET A FLOOD OF NEW ASTEROIDS
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is ramping up its enormous sky survey. It is expected to uncover huge numbers of previously unknown asteroids, comets, supernovae and other transient objects. Some discoveries could appear almost overnight.

CHINA'S TIANWEN-2 HAS A VERY STRANGE TARGET
Tianwen-2 is heading for Kamoʻoalewa, a tiny asteroid-like object sometimes described as a quasi-moon of Earth. The spacecraft is attempting to collect samples, potentially giving scientists material from one of Earth's strangest companions.

COULD 2026 FINALLY PRODUCE A "WEIRD STAR" SURPRISE?
Astronomers are watching objects such as Betelgeuse and T Coronae Borealis, both of which have generated speculation about spectacular future outbursts. A nova from T CrB would be particularly dramatic, although there is no confirmed date for an eruption.

BLACK HOLE STAR BAFFLES ASTRONOMERS

A bizarre object spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope appears to be something between a star and a black hole. Dubbed a "black hole star," it is roughly Solar-System-sized and produces extraordinary amounts of energy. Astronomers believe it may help explain the mysterious "little red dots" seen in the early universe.

COMET ERUPTS 20,000 TIMES BRIGHTER

Comet 220P/McNaught has dramatically brightened following two unexpected outbursts. Normally requiring a telescope, it became bright enough to see with binoculars. Scientists aren't sure what triggered the eruptions—possible explanations include trapped gas escaping or mysterious "comet quakes."

HUBBLE FINDS A COSMIC GHOST
A previously overlooked ribbon of stars, nicknamed Oyashio, has been discovered in an old Hubble image. The faint stellar stream could provide a new way of probing the mysterious dark matter surrounding another galaxy. 

Apollo11 – In Retrospect. A Personal Journey

In 2008 I was News editor for Australia's Sky & Space Magazine visiting all the historic people and places in Space history in the USA. I had a personal invitation for this visit to meet up with history - and it still gives me a 'buzz'...pardon the pun. THIS is a revision of that day and a retrospective version of how things were, and could have been.

The door opened without ceremony. No spotlight. No drumroll. Just a firm handshake from a man who had walked on the Moon — and inside, a living room that quietly held the weight of history.

Visiting Buzz Aldrin at his home was not what you'd expect from someone who helped change the course of the 20th century. There were no grand trophies dominating the space. Instead, framed mission patches, a carefully displayed model of the Lunar Module Eagle, and photographs that have since become icons of human achievement. The setting was modest. The story was not.

Buzz, Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 11, was the second human being to set foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969 after the reclusive neil Armstrong. But what fascinated me most weren't the famous headlines. It was the fine detail — the seconds, decisions and sensations that rarely make it into documentaries.

He described those final moments of descent. The Lunar Module was low on fuel — roughly 30 seconds remaining — when Neil Armstrong took manual control to avoid a boulder-strewn crater. The onboard computer flashed 1201 and 1202 alarms, signalling executive overload. In Houston, guidance officer Steve Bales made the split-second decision to continue. Abort would have meant a very different chapter in history.

Then came the dust. As Eagle descended, the engine plume kicked up lunar regolith, creating a blinding haze. There were no trees, no buildings, no atmosphere to soften perspective. Just harsh light and shadow. Armstrong relied on instinct honed from years as a test pilot. When the contact light illuminated and the engine shut down, Aldrin calmly confirmed, "Okay. Engine stop." That composure under pressure defined the mission.

But there's another presence in this story — quieter, reflective, almost reluctant to be mythologised. Neil Armstrong, by nature reserved and semi-reclusive in later life, reinforces something that rarely makes it into public speeches: sheer amazement. He speaks softly about the lunar surface. Not theatrically. Not dramatically. Simply, honestly.

The horizon felt closer than expected, he said, because the Moon is smaller. The sky was completely black — even with the Sun glaring down. The surface wasn't smooth and poetic as imagined in paintings; it was textured, sharp, ancient. The regolith behaved almost like powdery snow mixed with ash. And yet, despite the training, the simulations, the rehearsals — nothing quite prepared him for the reality of stepping onto another world.

When pressed He admits something profound: being chosen as the first was an honour that weighed heavily. The decision had been NASA's, based on crew roles and procedures, but the historical symbolism was undeniable. Armstrong understood that the first step would echo beyond engineering or politics. It would belong to humanity. There's no bravado in his recollection. Only a kind of quiet wonder.

Buzz detailed the physical strain. The suits were pressurised to about 3.7 psi, making every movement deliberate. Heart rates exceeded 150 beats per minute during the moonwalk. This was not a stroll in low gravity; it was demanding work. Before exploration began, Armstrong collected the contingency sample — a small bag of lunar soil gathered immediately in case they had to abort. Insurance for history.

They deployed experiments that still function today. The Laser Ranging Retroreflector remains in place, allowing scientists to measure the Moon's recession from Earth — about 3.8 centimetres per year. The Passive Seismic Experiment detected moonquakes, proving the Moon was not entirely geologically dead.

Inside the cabin, once helmets were removed, the dust carried a faint smell — like spent gunpowder. It clung stubbornly to suits and equipment. We spoke of Michael Collins, orbiting alone in Columbia. As I sat there Buzz took a quick call from him. Without his flawless command module operations, there was no return. Collins described himself as "not lonely," but responsible. It was a trio, not a duo, that completed the mission.

After splashdown on July 24, 1969, the crew entered 21 days of quarantine in a Mobile Quarantine Facility — a converted Airstream trailer. NASA could not rule out lunar microbes. Caution ruled over celebration.

The Saturn V that launched them stood 110 metres tall and generated 7.5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. Controlled violence. Precision engineering. More than 400,000 people worked across the United States to make it happen. President Kennedy's 1961 challenge — to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth before the decade was out — had been met.

But sitting there listening, what stayed with me most was not rivalry, nor Cold War urgency, nor even technological triumph. It was awe! Buzz's measured confidence shows, Neil's quiet astonishment is legendary. Two different temperaments united by a moment when human beings crossed a threshold no species had crossed before. The footprints remain there still, undisturbed in silent dust. And in that quiet living room, the Moon did not feel distant at all.

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'ASTRO DAVE' RENEKE - A Personal Perspective

His extensive background includes teaching astronomy at the college level, being a featured speaker at astronomy conventions across Australia, and contributing as a science correspondent for both ABC and commercial radio stations. David's weekly radio interviews, reaching around 3 million listeners, cover the latest developments in astronomy and space exploration.

As a media personality, David's presence extends to regional, national, and international TV, with appearances on prominent platforms such as Good Morning America, American MSNBC news, the BBC, and Sky News in Australia. His own radio program has earned him major Australasian awards for outstanding service.

David is recognized for his engaging and unique style of presenting astronomy and space discovery, having entertained and educated large audiences throughout Australia. In addition to his presentations, he produces educational materials for beginners and runs a popular radio program in Hastings, NSW, with a substantial following and multiple awards for his radio presentations.

In 2004, David initiated the 'Astronomy Outreach' program, touring primary and secondary schools in NSW to provide an interactive astronomy and space education experience. Sponsored by Tasco Australia, Austar, and Discovery Science channel, the program donated telescopes and grants to schools during a special tour in 2009, contributing to the promotion of astronomy education in Australia. David Reneke, a highly regarded Australian amateur astronomer and lecturer with over 50 years of experience, has established himself as a prominent figure in the field of astronomy. With affiliations to leading global astronomical institutions,

David serves as the Editor for Australia's Astro-Space News Magazine and has previously held key editorial roles with Sky & Space Magazine and Australasian Science magazine. 

Heard on over 50 stations weekly