All articles tagged with #space and spaceflight
Chinese researchers propose using a nuclear blast to destroy or rapidly deflect a large asteroid by carving a crater and detonating a warhead inside; their models favor a pre-excavation detonation for deep energy transfer, potentially making this approach more effective than surface-only hits for rocks around 100 meters in size and offering two defense modes: direct-impact detonation and pre-excavation detonation.
California's Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will display the Space Shuttle Endeavour in a vertical, launch-ready pose—featuring its orbiter, solid boosters, and external tank—as the centerpiece of a new exhibit opening November 13, 2026, commemorating NASA's shuttle era.
Physicists propose gravastars—ultra-compact stars with a thin shell of ordinary matter and an interior powered by dark energy—that externally resemble black holes but lack singularities or event horizons. A new model shows how such objects could form from gravitational collapse and, in the process, trigger a Big Bang–like expansion inside a self-contained mini-universe. The scenario hinges on ideal, finely tuned conditions and does not replace black holes as the default outcome of collapse.
NASA has upgraded its Cold Atom Lab on the International Space Station to further study Bose-Einstein condensates in microgravity, enabling larger quantum states to be probed for longer times and advancing quantum technologies by leveraging ultracold atoms to measure time, gravity, and motion with unparalleled precision.
China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft aims to rendezvous with near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa, collect a small sample (20–100 mg) and return it to Earth by April 2027, potentially making it China’s first asteroid sample return; Kamo'oalewa is a quasi-satellite that may be Moon-origin rock, offering clues to the Moon’s early history, with the mission also planning a flyby of main-belt asteroid 311P/PANSTARRS in 2035.
New research suggests Earth could dodge engulfment by the Sun’s red-giant stage if the Sun loses mass quickly enough, causing Earth to drift to a wider orbit around a future white-dwarf Sun; however, life would still be impossible due to increased brightness and heat long before that final phase, with Mercury and Venus assuredly doomed and Mars potentially surviving in a wider orbit.
A UC-led study proposes Uranus and Neptune may harbor well-mixed magma oceans with dissolved hydrogen beneath a hydrogen-dominated envelope, suggesting they’re magma-ocean giants rather than ice giants and potentially explaining their densities. The model, submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, challenges the traditional three-layer interior picture and could inform the study of sub-Neptune exoplanets, though the idea remains under debate without a dedicated mission to these distant planets.
A NASA inspector general report warns Kennedy Space Center cannot support the elevated cadence of Starship launches needed for Artemis missions, with SpaceX planning up to 44 Starship launches per year and a minimum of 15 Starships to deliver propellant before the Starship HLS can carry astronauts to the Moon; upgrading aging pads and infrastructure at LC-39A and related facilities is essential to avoid bottlenecks and meet the 2028 lunar timeline.
NASA and Boeing have extended Starliner’s return-to-flight timeline by at least a year while they fix thruster malfunctions and helium leaks; a previous crewed mission in 2024 highlighted safety issues, and while progress is ongoing, no firm uncrewed launch date is set for Starliner-1, with NASA reducing Starliner missions and relying more on SpaceX as the ISS program heads toward 2030 retirement.
China’s Shenlong reusable spaceplane, on its fourth orbital mission, released an unidentified object in Earth orbit. LeoLabs confirmed the deployment near the spacecraft on June 22, 2026, noting the object did not match any catalog entry. Past Shenlong missions included long-duration orbits and sub-satellite deployments, but China has disclosed little about the program, fueling speculation about potential military, surveillance, or early-warning roles. Observers will monitor the object’s trajectory and any further spaceplane activity as the secrecy around Shenlong continues.
Biologist Frederick Moxley and McGill’s Anthony Ricciardi propose NASA build a self-contained, automated lunar biocontainment facility (BSL-X) on the Moon to quarantine and sterilize potentially hazardous extraterrestrial samples before any Earth return, arguing Earth-based labs may be insufficient to guard against novel alien microbes; they cite a 2018 ISS bacterium mutation as a cautionary example and frame the plan as a precautionary firewall for interplanetary exploration.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers obtained the first direct spectrum of the cool, pink exoplanet GJ 504 b and detected signatures of water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide, and ammonia; when salt clouds are included in atmospheric models, the data align with theory, implying a metal-rich planet aged roughly 2.5–4 billion years and highlighting clouds’ key role in interpreting similar faint exoplanets.
NASA will launch the LINK servicing spacecraft from the Stargazer mothership using a Pegasus XL rocket to boost the Swift Observatory’s orbit, aiming to extend its life and demonstrate a path for future robotic orbital servicing.
A 13-year radio study of Europa (2011–2024) finds its radar albedo is unusually bright and the scattering pattern matches clean, porous ice, placing new limits on how deep radar can probe below the icy crust and offering important context for upcoming missions like Europa Clipper and Juice.
After years of persistent air leaks in the ISS’ PrK vestibule that connects to Russia’s Zvezda module, NASA and Roscosmos debated fixes, with a risky saw-cut repair postponed. Moscow now appears poised to decommission the PrK module by sealing its hatch, potentially ending the leak saga but limiting docking access and cargo transfer to the station.