Starliner’s flight to the space station was far wilder than most of us thought

As it flew up toward the International Space Station last summer, the Starliner spacecraft lost four thrusters. A NASA astronaut, Butch Wilmore, had to take manual control of the vehicle. But as Starliner’s thrusters failed, Wilmore lost the ability to move the spacecraft in the direction he wanted to go. He and his fellow astronaut, Suni Williams, knew where they wanted to go. Starliner had flown to within a stone’s throw of the space station, a safe harbor, if only they could reach it. But already, the failure of so many thrusters violated the mission’s flight rules. In such an Continue ReadingStarliner’s flight to the space station was far wilder than most of us thought

Lunar polar regions could have microbes, modeling study suggests

Could microbes survive in the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of the moon? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 2025) hopes to address as a team of researchers from the United States and Canada investigated the likelihood of long-term survival for microbes in the PSR areas of the moon, which are craters located at the poles that don’t see sunlight due to the moon’s small axial tilt.

‘I’d get on in a heartbeat’: Starliner astronauts would fly on Boeing spacecraft again despite malfunctions (video)

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore both say they’d ride on Boeing’s Starliner again, despite the issues the capsule had on its first crewed flight. Continue Reading‘I’d get on in a heartbeat’: Starliner astronauts would fly on Boeing spacecraft again despite malfunctions (video)

Sampling the plumes of Jupiter’s volcano moon, Io

What can a sample return mission from Jupiter’s volcanic moon, Io, teach scientists about planetary and satellite (moon) formation and evolution? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 2025) hopes to address as an international team of more than two dozen scientists discussed the benefits and challenges of a mission to Io with the goal of sampling its volcanic plumes that eject from its surface on a regular basis.

How can we find cryovolcanoes on Europa?

In the 1970s, NASA’s Voyager probes passed through Jupiter’s system and snapped pictures of its largest moons, also known as the Galilean moons. These pictures and the data they gathered offered the first hints that a global ocean may be beneath Europa’s icy crust. Moreover, planetary models indicated that Europa’s interactions with Jupiter’s powerful gravity could lead to tidal flexing in the moon’s interior. In short, scientists learned that Europa could have all the necessary ingredients for life in its interior.

Modeling lunar in-situ resource utilization can help plan future prototypes

In-situ resource utilization will likely play a major role in any future long-term settlement of the moon. However, designing such a system in advance with our current level of knowledge will prove difficult, mainly because there’s so much uncertainty around both the availability of those resources and the efficacy of the processes used to extract them.

FAA concludes Blue Origin, SpaceX January ‘mishap’ investigations

The Federal Aviation Administration has completed its investigations looking into “mishaps” that occurred during Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch and SpaceX’s Starship Flight 7 in January. On Jan. 16, Blue Origin’s New Glenn-1 reached orbit on its debut flight. While the launch was successful, the rocket lost its lower stage during its descent. Later thatContinue reading “FAA concludes Blue Origin, SpaceX January ‘mishap’ investigations” The post FAA concludes Blue Origin, SpaceX January ‘mishap’ investigations appeared first on Astronomy Magazine. Continue ReadingFAA concludes Blue Origin, SpaceX January ‘mishap’ investigations

How to engineer microbes to enable us to live on Mars

A field known as synthetic biology has become one of the most highly anticipated in science. Its outputs range from golden rice, which is genetically engineered to provide vitamin A, to advances stemming from the Human Genome Project, which successfully mapped the entire human genome. Prominent voices in biotechnology have heralded it as the next wave of the future of innovation.

Four private astronauts launch on first human mission to fly over the poles

Four adventurers suited up and embarked on a first-of-a-kind trip to space Monday night, becoming the first humans to fly in polar orbit aboard a SpaceX crew capsule chartered by a Chinese-born cryptocurrency billionaire. The private astronauts rocketed into orbit atop a Falcon 9 booster from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:46 pm EDT Monday (01:46 UTC Tuesday). Instead of heading to the northeast in pursuit of the International Space Station, the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft departed Launch Complex 39A and arced to the southeast, then turned south on a flight path hugging Florida’s east coast. The Continue ReadingFour private astronauts launch on first human mission to fly over the poles