Why NASA wants to go back to the moon, and other stories
Welcome to Ramin’s Space, the newsletter from WIRED space writer Ramin Skibba. You can read more about the newsletter here. If you like it, please consider subscribing and sharing this post.
Why NASA Wants to Go Back to the Moon
After a half century since the Apollo program, NASA wants to return to the moon. That includes bringing a new generation of astronauts to the dusty surface and also building a lunar space station. Here’s my take on the ambitious Artemis program, which will really begin with the upcoming launch of the massive Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft.
The Mini Missions Aboard the Artemis Rocket Pack a Big Punch
While all eyes will be on the moon, the SLS rocket comes with 10 little spacecraft too, which it will deploy on all their myriad side quests. In this story, I focus one of the really cool ones, a briefcase-sized, solar sail-powered satellite that will catch up with a near Earth asteroid.
Russia’s War in Ukraine Reveals More Problems in Space
The new head of the Russian space program threatened to put an end to the iconic International Space Station, alarming everyone, but fortunately that turned out to be mere bluster. But the future of the station—and Russia’s role in space—remain in doubt. This was my most popular WIRED story over the past month.
A New Film Challenges the James Webb Telescope’s Controversial Name
It's disappointing and frustrating that NASA named the exciting new flagship space telescope after James Webb, and then NASA officials released almost no information from their investigation. As a new documentary shows, Webb led NASA during a time discriminatory and homophobic policies.
In other writing…
JWST delivers a new view of the cosmos
We’re living during difficult times on Earth, but it helps to put things into perspective to look up at the stars together and gawk at the exquisite images from the James Webb Space Telescope. We’re all made of starstuff, after all, and we have to share this unique world of ours. I enjoyed this New York Times essay by Shannon Stirone. I also recommend this Slate piece by Jaime Green.
How to stop robots from being racist
Algorithms can amplify patterns of racist and sexist discrimination. But robotics researchers are trying to find new ways to stop worsening such biases. This is an excellent piece in WIRED by my colleague Khari Johnson.
A hole in the head
Can a brain implant treat drug addiction? Probably not by itself. Here’s an interesting piece by Zachary Siegel in Harper’s magazine about a controversial use of deep brain stimulation.
The great fiction of AI
People have long speculated that artificial intelligence, like tools powered by the language model GPT-3, could one day be used to write, even fiction. Today’s machine-written prose looks weird and sometimes hilarious, but I suppose it has promise. Fascinating story by Josh Dzieza in The Verge.
What I’m reading: The Sentence, a novel by Louise Erdrich.
Looking back: Five years ago I wrote this story for Hakai magazine about marine archaeologists studying climate change’s role in bringing down the late Bronze Age civilizations.
More about me: I’m the space writer at WIRED magazine, and I’ve just moved from San Diego to the Bay Area. I used to be a freelance writer and journalist, and before that, an astrophysicist. You can find me at my website, raminskibba.net, and on Twitter @raminskibba. I’m also former president of the San Diego Science Writers Association (SANDSWA) and on the board of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW), though the opinions I express are mine alone. If someone has forwarded this email to you, you’re welcome to subscribe too.