Newsletter for friends #07: Life has changed

Hello friends,

In the more than three months since I sent out the previous newsletter, life has changed. Between reading more of longer longform, ditching social media completely, stepping out more, writing better on my space blog, and reorganizing my personal blog, life has improved, calmed down, and become more clear. Here’s a snapshot of some notable things from the past three months. Click the links you’re curious about—that’s what the Web is for. :)

Liked reading

• Sci-Fi: The Three Body Problem
• Poetry: Iron Draped in Silk
• Re-read: What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
• The rise and demise of RSS (feeds)
• Is the decline of reading making politics dumber?
• Gaining context on China and its rise (Good reads)

Writing

I’m so happy that I’ve been publishing many feature stories lately. It really feels good to have been this productive while spanning distinct space developments. 🚀

• Achievements and shortfalls in Moon exploration this half year (by country or region)
  • We’re building future technologies for the Moon without closing missed milestones
  • Our Moon is valuable even beyond itself
  • China’s bags many milestones in getting humans on the Moon while Artemis slows down
• Indian space
  • Was Shukla’s Axiom-4 flight to the ISS worth it for ISRO?
  • Chandrayaan 4 will bring unique Moon materials—and maybe a giant scientific leap for India
  • Notable nuances about NISAR and how it flows into planetary science for NASA and ISRO
• On SpaceNews going paywalled, and the broader disregard for archiving in journalism

Visual posts!

Space, personally

• Welcomed Open Lunar Foundation and Astrolab as continuing sponsors of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter
• Fraser Cain of Universe Today recommended my blog & newsletter on his YouTube channel!

Life

• Took the day off against my will, and thankful for it

I’m grateful that I can continue embracing a calmer digital life on here while staying connected with people directly instead of drowning in the slurp—and now slop—of social media.

Have you been reading something interesting lately? Reach out to me.