May 9, 2024

Space Council Tackles Control and Access to Space Intelligence Among Agencies (Source: Space News)
The National Space Council will reevaluate national security space roles and responsibilities among various players. Chirag Parikh, the council's executive secretary, said the council will examine the ongoing tug-of-war between military leaders concerned with speedy access to imagery and data and intelligence agency leaders who emphasize the need to verify information and gather insights. The National Space Council will consider solutions ranging from policies, authorities and processes to funding, advocacy and communications.

That debate about roles and responsibilities includes questions about who will control a planned satellite constellation for tracking moving targets. The military and intelligence community are working together on the Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) constellation, but are debating who will control and task those satellites. Lt. Gen. David Miller, head of the U.S. Space Force's Space Operations Command, said he was concerned that having data from the GMTI system go through intelligence agencies could delay getting information to frontline forces. An NRO official, though, said the NRO should have control of the GMTI system. (5/9)

NRO Works Toward Flexibility for Commercial Data Contracting (Source: Space News)
The NRO is developing a more flexible contracting approach to acquiring commercial data. Pete Muend, head of the NRO's commercial space office, said at the GEOINT Symposium that the office plans to roll out a new contracting vehicle with an "open-ended rolling environment" that is not restricted to any single type of imagery like electro-optical or synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The NRO is also finalizing plans for a large procurement exclusively for commercial SAR imagery that will be similar to contract vehicle for optical imagery but at a smaller scale. (5/9)

NATO Turns to Industry to Speed Intelligence Exploitation (Source: Space News)
NATO is looking to industry for help speeding up intelligence exploitation and understanding. Scott Bray, NATO assistant secretary general for intelligence and security, said that while NATO countries do a good job sharing intelligence, they need help analyzing that intelligence. He encouraged companies with those capabilities to work with NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) program. (5/9)

House Members Urge NASA Science Budget Increase (Source: Space News)
More than 40 House members have signed a letter asking appropriators to increase NASA's science budget. The letter to the leaders of the House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, signed by 44 House members, seeks $9 billion for NASA science, more than $1.4 billion above the agency's request for fiscal year 2025. The additional funding, the letter argues, is needed to keep missions identified as top priorities in recent decadal surveys on track while also supporting existing missions. Any increase will be a challenge given budget caps that remain in place for 2025, likely meaning cuts elsewhere at NASA or in other agencies. (5/9)

Dream Chaser Ready for Trip to Florida (Source: Space News)
Sierra Space says it is ready to ship its Dream Chaser vehicle to Florida. The company announced Thursday it wrapped up environmental testing of the cargo spaceplane at NASA's Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio, putting it through shock, vibration and thermal vacuum tests. The spacecraft will go to Florida for a final round of tests at the Kennedy Space Center and payload integration work ahead of a launch later this year on a ULA Vulcan. (5/9)

China Launches MEO Broadband Satellites (Source: Space News)
China launched a pair of medium Earth orbit broadband satellites late Wednesday. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 9:43 p.m. Eastern from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Only after the launch did China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation disclose the payloads as Smart Skynet-1 (01) satellites A and B. The satellites are the first in a constellation of at least eight satellites in medium Earth orbit to provide broadband services, possibly working with future low Earth orbit megaconstellations. (5/9)

SpaceX Launches Wednesday Starlink Mission From Florida (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX launched one set of Starlink satellites from Florida Wednesday while delaying another launch from California. A Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport at 2:42 p.m. Eastern and placed 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX has now conducted 83 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches from LC-39A, exceeding the number of shuttle launches from that pad over three decades. (5/9)

ULA Procuring Another Maritime Ship for Rocket Transport (Source: ULA)
ULA is getting a SpaceShip, but one that won't go to space. The company said Wednesday it signed contracts with Bollinger Shipyards and Bristol Harbor Group to design and build a new ship that will be used for maritime transport of rockets from ULA's Alabama factory to launch sites. That ship, dubbed SpaceShip, will join the existing RocketShip vessel for transporting rocket stages. ULA is acquiring the second ship as part of efforts to scale up infrastructure needed for a higher launch rate in support of Amazon's Project Kuiper and other customers. (5/9)

Blinded by the Light: How Bad are Satellite Megaconstellations for Astronomy? (Source: Space.com)
Over the past few years, our planet has become increasingly encircled by Starlink, OneWeb and other "megaconstellation" satellites. Yes, the emergence of those megaconstellations offers great benefits for humanity. But there are also substantial costs, including a growing imposition on astronomy. "The world has mostly been assuming that the relevant international law basically allows the satellite companies to do whatever they want in space, while forcing the observatories to adapt as well as they can," David Koplow said.

But in reality, the legal regime is not so one-sided, according to Koplow: "Astronomers also have legal rights to free use of space, and they need not stand by idly while their profession is damaged." The astronomical community has related that the time and the financial costs of conducting effective astronomy will rise considerably, Koplow said, "and that some important data will simply be irretrievable, with concomitant losses for science and the future exploration and use of space." (5/9)

Breakthrough Method Pierces Ionosphere to Reveal Radio Universe in Stunning Clarity (Source: Science Alert)
The very lowest frequencies of the radio Universe have just been revealed in spectacular clarity. A team of astronomers has used a new calibration technique to give us the first sharp images of the radio Universe in the frequency range of 16-30 megahertz – an achievement previously thought impossible, due to the turbulent interference generated by Earth's ionosphere. (5/9)

Astronomers Detect Earth-Sized Planet (Source: AP)
Astronomers have detected a rocky planet with an atmosphere, although that world is not exactly Earth-like. Observations of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e by the James Webb Space Telescope show that the planet, about twice the size of Earth, has a dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The planet, through, has temperatures as high as 2,300 degrees Celsius, likely making it inhospitable for life. (5/9)

We're About to Witness a Once-in-a-Lifetime Star Explosion (Source: BBC)
A star in the Corona Borealis constellation is about to explode. The recurrent nova, T Coronae Borealis, has an outburst every 80 years. The next one is expected between now and September. What can we expect to see when looking up at the night sky? And what should we know about watching this rare event? Click here. (5/8)

Mysterious Space Signals May Come From a Dead Star With a Planet (Source: New Scientist)
One of the most puzzling phenomena in space may finally have an explanation. It might be caused by the interactions between a “dead” neutron star and a planet in tight orbit around it. The strange phenomenon in question is a repeating fast radio burst (FRB). These are series of powerful radio waves blasting at us from distant galaxies. (5/3)

Seven Rare High-Energy Neutrinos Detected in a Gigaton of Clear Ice (Source: Science Alert)
About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these "relic" neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they can't harm you. In fact, only one of them is likely to lightly tap an atom in your body in your entire lifetime. Most neutrinos produced by objects such as black holes have much more energy than the relic neutrinos floating through space.

While much rarer, these energetic neutrinos are more likely to crash into something and create a signal that physicists can detect. But to detect them, neutrino physicists have had to build very large experiments. IceCube, one such experiment, documented an especially rare type of particularly energetic astrophysical neutrino in a study published in April 2024. These energetic neutrinos often masquerade as other, more common types of neutrino. But for the first time, my colleagues and I managed to detect them, pulling out a few from almost 10 years of data. (5/3)

Xona Raises $19 Million for Satellite Navigation Service (Source: Space News)
Xona Space Systems, a California-based startup developing a satellite-based navigation service, has raised $19 million in a Series A funding round, the company announced May 8. Xona is developing a commercial positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) service through a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites. The company plans to offer the service as an alternative or backup to the Global Positioning System. (5/8)

US Military Plan Base on Moon by 2030 (Source: Times of India)
The United States is considering the construction of a lunar base within the next few years. US Rep. Ken Calvert, chair of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, believes the US military, including the Space Force, will be crucial in securing a lunar presence. "Space Force will be actively involved in, I think, in going to the Moon at some point and that discussion is ongoing... Obviously, China is probably going to militarize the Moon... so I suspect we will have a base on the boon also." (5/8)

Boeing Confirms Attempted $200 Million Ransomware Extortion Attempt (Source: Cyberscoop)
The cybercriminals who targeted Boeing using the LockBit ransomware platform in October 2023 demanded a $200 million extortion payment, the company said Wednesday. Boeing confirmed to CyberScoop that it is the unnamed multinational aeronautical and defense corporation referenced in an indictment unsealed Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The indictment, which identified Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev as the main administrator and developer behind the LockBit ransomware operation, was part of a sweeping international array of actions against the Russian national that included sanctions in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. Boeing reportedly did not pay any ransom to LockBit after roughly 43 gigabytes of company data was posted to LockBit’s website in early November. (5/8)

Safety Concerns Show Urgent Need to Stop NASA Starliner Launch, Warns ValveTech (Source: Hastings Law)
NASA should immediately halt the Starliner launch due to serious safety risks demonstrated by a leaking valve, according to the professional opinion of ValveTech Inc. The launch was scrubbed due to a leaking regulator valve in an oxygen tank, yet NASA is considering trying another launch soon.

"As a valued NASA partner and as valve experts, we strongly urge them not to attempt a second launch due to the risk of a disaster occurring on the launchpad," said ValveTech President Erin Faville. "According to media reports, a buzzing sound indicating the leaking valve was noticed by someone walking by the Starliner minutes before launch. This sound could indicate that the valve has passed its lifecycle."

"NASA needs to re-double safety checks and re-examine safety protocols to make sure the Starliner is safe before something catastrophic happens to the astronauts and to the people on the ground," Faville added. (5/8)

Boeing's Starliner Problem Is Far From Its Crisis (Source: Newsweek)
Boeing has been dealing with a PR nightmare following a series of safety issues with its planes this year. There were 29 incidents, accidents and occurrences involving Boeing planes globally from January 1 to April 7, according to data available from the National Transportation Safety Board's online case analysis and reporting tool. Despite Boeing's ongoing crisis, an aerospace expert said the scrubbed Starliner launch should not be conflated with issues with their airplanes. "This is a totally different team at Boeing. Boeing is a gigantic company, their commercial airplane business is quite separate from their launch vehicle business." (5/8)

Space Force Now Boasts Three ‘Space Cowboys’ (Source: National Review)
Space cowboys: They were born on this rock, and they may be soon traveling through space. A combination of Army training and Space Force personnel was required to produce such a fantastic trio. The three Space Force Guardians traveled to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, to complete an Army Cavalry Spur Ride, a series of arduous combat tests and physical training exercises in which service members often ruck-march in between challenges — the first members of the military’s newest and smallest service to do so. (5/8)

US Space Force Insignia Designs Have Sci-Fi Fans in Hysterics (Source: Creative Bloq)
The US Space Force's mission is to secure the US's "interests in, from, and to space". And how's it supposed to do that without some classic science-fiction inspired visual design? We've already reported on the similarity of the Space Force logos to motifs from Star Trek. It turns out the influence also extends to its various insignia. Reddit users are poring over the details of 13 designs that look like they could have been taken straight from several sci-fi series. Perhaps Space Force would always have come up with these designs; it's just that sci-fi got there first. (5/9)

Remembering James Dean, Founder of the NASA Art Program (Source: NASA)
In March 1962, NASA Administrator James Webb addressed a two-paragraph memorandum to NASA Public Affairs Director Hiden T. Cox about the possibility of bringing in artists to highlight the agency’s achievements in a new way. In it, he wrote, “We should consider in a deliberate way just what NASA should do in the field of fine arts to commemorate the … historic events” of America’s initial steps into space. 

Shortly thereafter, NASA employee and artist James Dean was tasked with implementing NASA’s brand-new art program. Working alongside National Art Gallery Curator of Painting H. Lester Cooke, he created a framework to give artists unparalleled access to NASA missions at every step along the way, such as suit-up, launch and landing activities, and meetings with scientists and astronauts. (5/6)

Military Surveillance Constellation Fuels Debate Over Who Calls the Shots (Source: Space News)
The U.S. military and the intelligence community are developing an ambitious new constellation of satellites designed to track moving targets on the ground. Meanwhile, a debate is unfolding over who should control and task these sensors once they become operational. Lt. Gen. David Miller, who leads the U.S. Space Force’s Space Operations Command, said the new program known as Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) will be essential in future battles, as troops engaged in frontline combat need direct and unfiltered access to targeting data provided by these space-based sensors.

He insisted that military commanders, rather than intelligence officials, should be in charge of controlling and tasking the sensors. “We cannot have it so that the information goes back through a headquarters, gets filtered and then gets sent out,” he cautioned. “The ‘kill webs’ that our adversaries are building don’t do that.” (5/8)

SSC Partners with Perigee Aerospace for Satellite Launches From Sweden (Source: Space Daily)
SSC has teamed up with South Korean company Perigee Aerospace Inc. to initiate satellite launches from Esrange Space Center in Sweden beginning in 2025. This partnership marks the first time an orbital rocket, Perigee's Blue Whale 1 microlauncher, will be launched from Esrange.
"I'm very pleased to announce this historic collaboration, our first orbital launch partnership. The market demand for this service is huge and it's needed now, by both European and international satellite owners.

Perigee's Blue Whale 1 rocket is an ideal match for our orbital launch complex at Esrange. With this partnership, SSC will be able to offer a competitive commercial European orbital launch service at our spaceport in Sweden. This is exciting news for us, and for the global space market," says Charlotta Sund, CEO of SSC. The collaboration involves a two-stage launch vehicle capable of delivering payloads up to 200 kg into a 500 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit. Together, SSC and Perigee will develop a shared payload space concept for the rocket, aiming to accommodate both companies' customer bases. (5/8)

South Australian Space Companies Embark on Growth Mission with New UniSA Program (Source: Space Daily)
The University of South Australia (UniSA) has launched a new business growth program aimed at assisting early-stage space companies in South Australia. The program includes a six-month initiative called the Growth Ramp space pathway, hosting its first cohort of six companies.

The participating companies-AICRAFT, ESpy Ocean, HEX20, Orbital Blue, ResearchSat, and Robinson Aerospace Systems-are engaging in a program managed by UniSA's Australian Centre for Business Growth (AUCBG) and the Innovation and Collaboration Centre (ICC). The South Australian Space Industry Centre (SASIC), supported by state government funding, also backs the initiative as part of the Venture Catalyst Space Program. (5/8)

Starfish Space and D-Orbit Successfully Conduct Satellite Rendezvous (Source: Space Daily)
Starfish Space and D-Orbit have successfully completed an on-orbit rendezvous between Starfish's Otter Pup and D-Orbit's ION SCV006 satellite. The coordinated effort involved precise maneuvering by the ION satellite, culminating in a close approach where Otter Pup captured detailed images of the ION spacecraft. The mission began with recovery from initial technical challenges, including high rotation rates and a thruster issue. These were overcome to test and validate the core technologies of Otter Pup, leading to the decision in January to attempt this complex rendezvous. (5/8)

USSPACECOM Represents at NATO's Inaugural Space Symposium (Source: Space Daily)
Lt. Gen. Thomas James, deputy commander of the U.S. Space Command, and RAF Air Commodore Darren Whiteley, deputy director of USSPACECOM Strategy, Policy and Plans, attended NATO's first Space Symposium held in France on April 29-30.  The symposium, organized by NATO Headquarters International Military Staff and Allied Command Transformation, aimed to enhance the integration of space capabilities into NATO operations, capitalize on the evolving space sector, and define a long-term space strategy for NATO.

The event attracted about 300 participants from allied nations, covering defense, industry, and academia, and focused on "Deterrence, Defense and Resilience in and through the Space Domain." (5/7)

ICEYE Launches New APIs for Direct Satellite Tasking and Data Access (Source: Space Daily)
ICEYE, a leader in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite technology, has introduced two new application programming interfaces (APIs) that provide customers quicker access to its extensive SAR satellite imagery. These APIs allow for automated interactions and seamless integration with ICEYE's space and ground systems, eliminating the need for manual oversight. The first of these APIs is designed to automate the satellite tasking process, streamlining operations for customers with their own access platforms. The second API offers a simplified method for requesting imagery from ICEYE's vast archive, which contains over 60,000 images. (5/8)

Japan Captures 1st Image of Space Debris From Orbit (Source: Live Science)
A private Japanese company has taken the world's first close-up photo of an individual piece of space debris, by parking another satellite next to it in orbit. This orbital photo op is the first step in an ongoing mission to capture and destroy potentially hazardous pieces of space junk that are clogging up our sky.

It's easy to imagine space as a vast, empty frontier. But since the first satellite launched in 1957, the space surrounding our planet has gotten more and more crowded. Human-made space junk — including used rocket stages, decommissioned satellites, frozen fuel and flecks of paint — has been steadily accumulating in Earth's orbit over the past seven or so decades. Now, the space industry is trying to find ways to remove it. (5//6)

China's Military Satellites Are Watching America's Every Move (Source: Newsweek)
China has added over 400 satellites in the past two years, from which more than half have the capability to track objects on Earth, Gagnon said at the Mitchell Institute. Major General Gregory Gagnon explained that China can now track U.S. military assets even when they are mobile, challenging U.S. monopoly on long-range targeting. The data collected by China's satellites can provide a precise location of military vessels on the move at sea, making their subsequent targeting during conflict easier, according to Gagnon. (5/8)

Russia Reveals New China Nuclear Moon Base Details (Source: Newsweek)
Details about joint plans between Moscow and Beijing to put a lunar nuclear reactor within the next decade have been revealed by the head of Russia's space agency. In March, Roscosmos announced plans to work with China to build an automated nuclear reactor to power a proposed lunar base that the two countries would operate together within the next decade.

To construct the site, Roscosmos director general Yury Borisov said two months ago it was looking at using nuclear-powered rockets to transfer cargo to the moon, but had not yet figured out how to build these spacecraft safely. Borisov said that development of the plant was underway and the countries were working on creating experimental and research facilities as part of the project.

Borisov added that the creation of the International Scientific Lunar Station (ILRS) is planned to be deployed in two stages from 2025 to 2035 and consist of several modules. (5/8)

NASA's Proposed Plasma Rocket Would Get Us to Mars in 2 Months (Source: Gizmodo)
The future of space travel depends on our ability to reach celestial pit stops faster and more efficiently. As such, NASA is working with a technology development company on a new propulsion system that could drop off humans on Mars in a relatively speedy two months’ time rather than the current nine month journey required to reach the Red Planet.

NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program recently selected six promising projects for additional funding and development, allowing them to graduate to the second stage of development. The new “science fiction-like concepts,” as described by John Nelson, NIAC program executive at NASA, include a lunar railway system and fluid-based telescopes, as well as a pulsed plasma rocket. (5/8)

Axiom Space Eyes the Moon While Continuing to Dream Big in Earth Orbit (Source: Space.com)
Axiom's fourth mission, Ax-4, is scheduled to launch no earlier than this October and will send another crew to the ISS for up to two weeks. Such missions, Axiom says, will continue to build knowledge and skills that contribute to the company's goal of building and operating the world's first commercial space station.

Axiom is also building and testing the spacesuit that astronauts will wear on the surface of the moon during NASA's Artemis 3 mission, which is scheduled to launch in September 2026. A prototype of this suit, known as the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), was revealed in March. Like any other space technology, the prototype has to be evaluated and undergo continued alterations before the critical review phase begins in June.

Axiom Space could contribute to Artemis missions in additional ways as well; the company is partnering with Astrolab and Odyssey Space Research on the FLEX lunar rover project, one of three private efforts that just received NASA funding for development work. One of these three private designs is expected to become the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), which Artemis astronauts will use to drive around on the moon. (5/8)

Why Some Physicists Think We Are Living Inside A Black Hole (Source: IFL Science)
Black holes are strange objects which (though we have learned plenty about them) confound our understanding of physics. In an attempt to reconcile some of the paradoxes discovered when studying them, physicists have proposed stranger hypotheses still, with one suggesting that they imply we live in a holographic universe, where all of what we see and perceive is in fact encoded at our universe's boundary, a 3D (plus time) representation of a two-dimensional (plus time) universe. Further than that, some have suggested that it could imply that our universe is within a black hole of a larger universe. Click here. (5/8)

Existence of Dark Matter Confirmed by New Study (Source: Earth.com)
In the realm of astrophysics, the existence of dark matter has been a prevailing theory used to explain the anomalies observed in the universe. Unlike ordinary matter, dark matter does not emit, absorb, or reflect light, making it invisible and detectable only through its gravitational effects. Recent computer simulations conducted by a team of astronomers, including those from the University of California, Irvine, provide compelling support for this elusive component of our universe.

“Our paper shows how we can use real, observed relationships as a basis to test two different models to describe the universe. We put forth a powerful test to discriminate between the two models,” said Francisco Mercado. The team’s approach involved running simulations that incorporated both normal matter and dark matter. These simulations aimed to recreate the features observed in real galaxies, which are challenging to explain without the presence of dark matter. The findings reveal that these features indeed match those expected in a dark matter universe. (5/8)

Dogged Dark Matter Hunters Find New Hiding Places to Check (Source: Quanta)
In 2019, the Department of Energy launched its Dark Matter New Initiatives program to fund research into experiments that could reach their conclusions quickly — in years instead of the decades required by traditional dark matter detection efforts. Today, a number of these projects are ready to begin construction. Click here. (5/8)

Nuclear Clock Breakthrough Could Revolutionize Study of the Universe's Fundamental Forces (Source: Live Science)
Scientists have made a major breakthrough that takes us a step closer to developing a nuclear clock — a device that keeps time based on the inner workings of atoms. For the first time, physicists have used laser light to bump the nucleus of a thorium atom up to a higher energy level. The discovery paves the way for the development of a new clock whose ticks are not only more precise but can probe the most fundamental forces in the universe.

A nuclear clock would use the energy transitions of nuclei inside the heart of an atom, so they are shielded from outside interference. But many of the gaps between nuclei energy levels are thousands of times greater than those for electrons — meaning they are too large to be crossed with the energy of a laser. But in the 1970s, scientists found that one isotope, or version, of the element thorium (thorium-229) seemed to have an energy level that could be spanned by laser light.

But finding this precise energy gap has been no simple task. Initially, researchers excited thorium-229 to an energy level far above the two that physicists were actually interested in. They then measured the subtle differences in the energy of light emitted when it fell back down to the higher one compared to the one just below it. (5/8)

Warp Speed Possible! Scientists Discover Loophole Making Faster-Than-Light Travel Achievable (Source: Study Finds)
The traditional sci-fi concept of a warp drive involves distorting spacetime in a very specific way: compressing it in front of the ship and expanding it behind. In theory, this would allow the ship to effectively travel faster than light without actually exceeding the speed limit locally. It’s almost like a cheat code for bypassing the laws of physics!

However, previous studies of this idea suggested that it would require exotic forms of matter with “negative energy density.” In our everyday experience, energy is always positive – even in a vacuum, there’s a small positive energy called the “vacuum energy.” Negative energy density, in physics terms, means having less energy than a pure vacuum. This is problematic because the known laws of physics suggest that such negative energy cannot exist in large enough quantities to make a warp drive possible.

This is where the new study comes in. The researchers decided to approach the problem from a different angle. Instead of starting with a preconceived notion of what a warp drive should look like, they asked: what kind of spacetime geometry could transport a ship faster than light while obeying the known laws of physics? The answer, they found, involves a concept called a “shell of regular matter.” Click here. (5/8)

NASA Video Shows What Would Happen if You Fell Into a Black Hole (Source: Newsweek)
In a new video straight out of the movie Interstellar, NASA has revealed what it might look like to fall into a black hole. The simulation was created using a NASA supercomputer, and imagines what a person might see as they plummet past a black hole's event horizon into the abyss beyond. Another simulation shows what a person flying past a black hole would see, with space appearing to bend and twist as the viewer zooms past. (5/8)

NASA Director Is Glad Elon Musk Isn't Running SpaceX (Source: Gizmodo)
NASA plays nicely with privately owned SpaceX, but is that something to be concerned about? In an interview with NPR, NASA director Bill Nelson assuages any fears of an unsupervised Elon Musk running a space agency by reminding us that SpaceX is actually run by its president Gwynne Shotwell. Nelson trusts Shotwell to protect SpaceX from Elon Musk’s often irrational fever dreams, and thus to protect the billions of American tax dollars granted to SpaceX in government contracts from his wayward spending, too. (5/8)

Scientists Announce Discovery of a Planet Twice as Big as Earth with a Thick Atmosphere (Source: PBS)
A thick atmosphere has been detected around a planet that’s twice as big as Earth in a nearby solar system, researchers reported Wednesday. The so-called super Earth — known as 55 Cancri e — is among the few rocky planets outside our solar system with a significant atmosphere, wrapped a blanket of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The exact amounts are unclear. Earth’s atmosphere is a blend of nitrogen, oxygen, argon and other gases. (5/8)

NASA Challenge Gives Artemis Generation Coders a Chance to Shine (Source: NASA)
NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement selected seven student teams to participate in a culminating event for the 2024 App Development Challenge (ADC), one of the agency’s Artemis Student Challenges, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston from April 15-18, 2024. The coding challenge, celebrating its fifth year and a part of NASA’s Next Generation STEM project, invites middle and high school student teams to create an application visualizing the Moon’s South Pole region and display essential information for navigating the lunar surface. (5/8)

This Spy Satellite, Lost in Space for 25 Years, Reappears on Radar (Source: WECB)
The IRCB S73-7, launched in 1974, was presumed lost for decades before unexpectedly resurfacing on radar in April 2024. Originally deployed to calibrate equipment for the KH-9 “Big Bird” spy satellite program during the Cold War, it ended up classified as space debris following a critical deployment failure. Despite its disappearance, the U.S. Space Force eventually rediscovered it among the estimated 55,000 pieces of tracked debris orbiting Earth. (5/8)

The Geologists Discover a Mysterious Volcanic Activity on the Far Side of the Moon (Source: Softonic)
A group of Chinese geologists has discovered a mysterious volcanic activity in the Apollo lunar basin, located on the far side of the Moon and the next landing area for the Chinese Chang’e-6 mission. This finding could redefine our understanding of lunar volcanism and shed light on the enigmatic asymmetry of the Moon. (5/8)