That Looked Like a Slice to me, Al

TL;DR

Liquid methane Raptor engines
Enceladus's extraterrestrial oceans
Golf on the Moon!

Current events

Yesterday, Elon Musk unveiled the first test-fire of SpaceX’s newest prototype rocket engine, the Raptor. The Raptor is unique because it burns liquid methane, as opposed to the more conventional rocket fuels of liquid hydrogen or kerosene (SpaceX’s current rocket engine, the Merlin, burns kerosene). Liquid methane is Musk’s fuel of choice for his new rockets because liquid methane can be manufactured from the Martian atmosphere through a process called the Sabatier reaction. Doing so would allow us to not have to send fuel to Mars for the return trip on a future manned mission (saving a ton of weight and money!). Blue Origin’s newest engine under development, the BE-4, also burns liquid methane. Great minds think alike

Today I learned

Saturn’s moon Enceladus is one of the most fascinating bodies in the Solar System – it’s an icy world that shoots plumes of water vapor up into its atmosphere. When NASA’s Cassini probe flew through these vapors in 2005, it detected complex organic molecules coming from deep within the moon’s interior, suggesting the existence of a liquid water ocean beneath the surface that could potentially host life.

Artist's impression of Cassini flying through Enceladus' plumes

This day in space history

Apollo 14 landed on the moon on Feb 5, 1971. The two moonwalkers on this voyage were Alan Shepard (who was the first American in space) and Edgar Mitchell. Apollo 14 is awesome because the two astronauts played golf on the moon – Shepard brought a six iron and a few golf balls to the lunar surface. Because of the bulky spacesuit, Shepard had to swing one-handed and chunked the first shot (“got more dirt than ball”). But he nailed the third one and sent it flying “miles and miles and miles.”

This is the perfect first "this day in space history" for my new blog because golf is my favorite sport! I'm so excited to have you here