Space Stories: Space Observatory in Need of Rescue, Alien Comet Activates Earth Defense, and Japan Sends Cargo to the ISS

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: swift.sonoma.edu/.

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—KJZZ Phoenix: “Flagstaff-based Company Wins $30M Contract for NASA Space Rescue Mission“

A Flagstaff-based space company has won a $30 million contract to raise the orbit of a space-based NASA observatory next year before it can drop uncontrolled back into Earth’s atmosphere. NASA officials say they are in a race against time as the agency’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and its three-telescope system studying gamma rays from space needs a rescue.

—Space Coast Daily: “NASA Activates Earth Defense Over Possible Alien Comet in Our Solar System“

NASA has activated a global planetary defense group to study a massive interstellar object exhibiting strange, possibly artificial characteristics—fueling speculation that it could be an alien probe operating within our solar system. The object, designated 3I/ATLAS, is approximately the size of Manhattan and was first captured by the Hubble Space Telescope on July 21. It has been selected as the first-ever official target of the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN)—a NASA-backed coalition of global agencies and astronomers tasked with identifying and tracking potential threats to Earth.

—ABC News: “Japan Successfully Launches New Cargo Spacecraft to Deliver Supplies to ISS“

Japan’s space agency successfully launched Sunday its most powerful flagship H3 rocket, carrying a newly developed unmanned cargo spacecraft for its first mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the HTV-X1 spacecraft successfully lifted off atop the No. 7 H3 rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center in the country’s south and confirmed it entered targeted orbit 14 minutes after liftoff. The spacecraft was separated and placed into a planned orbit, JAXA said. If everything goes smoothly, it is expected to arrive at the ISS in a few days to deliver supplies. Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, currently at the ISS, is set to catch the craft with a robot arm in the early hours of Thursday.

Space Stories: Earth’s Second Moon, Organic Molecules on Enceladus, and Mysterious Gullies on Mars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Earth as observed by the Apollo 11 spacecraft. (NASA/JSC)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—The Economic Times: “NASA Confirms Earth Has a Second Moon, And It Will Stay With Us Until 2083“

Earth has received a new cosmic partner, a small asteroid designated as 2025 PN7. NASA confirmed this week that the object, initially found by the University of Hawaii, qualifies as a “quasi-moon” , an uncommon type of celestial body that moves almost similarly in sync with Earth. While not a real moon, it has a similar orbit surrounding the Sun, seeming to shadow our planet as it travels through space. Researchers estimate the asteroid measures 18 to 36 meters wide, approximately the height of a small building, making it small by cosmic standards but noteworthy for Earth’s extended neighborhood.

—Sky&Telescope: “New Study Identifies Organic Molecules Spewing from Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus“

Twenty years after the Cassini spacecraft discovered an ocean under the icy surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, a new study of previously collected data hints at a much better chance for habitability. The change comes from recording how a plume of ice grains hit Cassini just minutes after it erupted from the moon. The close encounter exposed organic compounds not previously seen on Enceladus.

—Utrecht University: “Mysterious Gullies on Mars Appear to Have Been Dug, But by Whom or What?“

Did life really exist on Mars after all? Unfortunately, there is no conclusive evidence for this yet. Nevertheless, it would seem that some form of life was the driving force behind the mysterious Martian dune gullies. Earth scientist Dr Lonneke Roelofs from Utrecht University has investigated how these gullies were formed. In a test setup, she observed that blocks of CO2 ice ‘dug’ these gullies in a unique way. “It felt like I was watching the sandworms in the film Dune.”

Space Stories: Layoffs at NASA’s JPL, Rocky Giants in our Solar System, and New Findings from Apollo 17

Posted on by onespaceman2000

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—NBC News: “NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lays Off 550 Workers“

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced Monday that it will cut around 550 jobs — around 10% of its staff. In a statement posted online, the lab’s director, Dave Gallagher, said the layoffs are part of a broad “realignment of its workforce” and not a result of the government shutdown. The cuts will affect positions across the NASA center’s technical, business and support areas, he said.

—Space.com: “Uranus and Neptune May Not Be ‘Ice Giants’ After All, New Research Suggests“

Astronomers have long called Uranus and Neptune the “ice giants” because models suggested that these outer planets’ interiors are largely made of mixtures of water, ammonia and other ices — compounds that freeze easily in deep space. But new research reveals that we actually know very little about what’s going on inside these planets, causing researchers to propose that Uranus and Neptune be called “rocky giants” instead.

—Brown University: “With New Analysis, Apollo Samples Brought to Earth in 1972 Reveal Exotic Sulfur Hidden in Moon’s Mantle“

In a study published in JGR: Planets, researchers report a sulfuric surprise in rock samples taken from the Moon’s Taurus Littrow region during Apollo 17. The analysis shows that volcanic material in the sample contains sulfur compounds that are highly depleted of sulfur-33 (or 33S), one of four radioactively stable sulfur isotopes. The depleted 33S samples contrast sharply with sulfur isotope ratios found on Earth, the researchers say.

Space Stories: Questionable Move of Space Shuttle Discovery, the Problem with Red Dwarf Exoplanets, and a Rare Sight from Mars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Space shuttle Discovery landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. (NASA)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Chron: “Historic Space Shuttle Could Be Compromised for Trip to Texas“

Within the next 18 months, the space shuttle Discovery may be disassembled in Washington D.C., transported more than 1,000 miles to Houston and reassembled. But not if grassroots group Keep The Shuttle has anything to say about it. The plan to move a shuttle, notably an unnamed shuttle, was part of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed this summer. The Smithsonian and others have dug in against the move, saying the research institute actually owns the Discovery in a trust for the American people, nothing that it’s unclear if Congress even has the authority to order the Smithsonian transfer an artifact.

—Universe Today “New Research Suggests Red Dwarf Systems are Unlikely to Have Advanced Civilizations“

Thanks to the huge spate of exoplanet discoveries, multiple rocky planets have been found orbiting within the habitable zones (HZs) of red dwarf stars. For decades, there has been an ongoing debate as to whether these systems could be our best bet for finding evidence of life beyond Earth. In a recent study, Professor David Kipping addresses two key facts that could mean humanity is an outlier. Based on the age of the Universe and the relatively rare nature of our Sun, he concludes that astrobiologists examining red dwarf planets may be looking in the wrong place.

—CBS News: “Interstellar Comet Passing by Mars Seen in Rare Images“

A rare interstellar comet — only the third ever confirmed to enter our solar system — was photographed last week, closely approaching Mars, the European Space Agency said Tuesday. The images taken on Friday by two Mars orbiters show a bright, fuzzy white dot of the comet, also known as 3I/ATLAS, appearing to move against a backdrop of distant stars as it was about 18,641,135 miles away from Mars. The comet poses no threat to Earth, NASA has previously said.

Space Stories: Dragonfly Issues, NASA Under a Government Shutdown, and Threats from Venus

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Dragonfly on Titan. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Physics World: “NASA Criticized Over its Management of $3.3bn Dragonfly Mission to Titan“

An internal audit has slammed NASA over its handling of the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. The drone-like rotorcraft, which is designed to land on and gather samples from Titan, has been hit by a two-year delay, with costs surging by $1bn to $3.3bn. NASA now envisions a launch date of July 2028 with Dragonfly arriving at Titan in 2034.

—USAToday: “Do Rockets Still Launch During a Government Shutdown? How NASA Could Feel the Effects“

NASA is far from immune to the effects of a looming government shutdown if congressional leaders fail to reach an agreement before midnight Oct. 1 to prevent one. At stake for the U.S. space agency if the federal government grinds to a halt? The progress of many of its science missions and access to its public outreach arm. NASA’s contingency plan for a shutdown, outlined in a guide from 2018, emphasizes that only “activities which are necessary to prevent harm to life or property” would be exempt from ceasing operations during a shutdown.

—Earth Sky: “‘Invisible’ Asteroids Near Venus: A New Danger to Earth?“

Astronomers across the globe are dedicated to identifying the near-Earth asteroids that could one day impact our planet. But there might be a group of potentially dangerous nearby asteroids that have remained invisible to astronomers so far. On September 24, 2025, an international team of researchers at the São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil said that a group of asteroids sharing Venus’ orbit could have remained undetected so far due to their location in the sky. And they could pose a threat to Earth within a few thousand years.