Space.com
• Robert Lea
Astronomers used NASA’s SPHEREx spacecraft to study brown dwarfs—objects that do not become stars and drift through space alone. The observations offer a closer look at these poorly understood objects and demonstrate the mission’s use in investigating the composition and properties of the universe.
NASA
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Astronomers used NASA’s SPHEREx spacecraft to study brown dwarfs—objects that do not become stars and drift through space alone. The observations offer a closer look at these poorly understood objects and demonstrate the mission’s use in investigating the composition and properties of the universe.
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Poland’s ability to make long-term commitments to NASA’s Artemis program is complicated by uncertainty over US politics and budgets, a Polish minister said. The warning underscores how shifting US policy and funding conditions can affect international partners’ planning for the lunar program.
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Engineering studies found that Orion’s heat shield performed as expected during the Artemis 2 mission, with none of the erosion seen on Artemis 1. The result addresses a key concern for the spacecraft’s crewed lunar flight, though the report provides no further technical details.
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JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration mission is set to launch aboard an H3 rocket during this year’s transfer window. It will investigate Phobos and Deimos, with the goal of returning samples from Phobos—the first such effort at Mars’s moons, and potentially including material originating from Mars.
The pioneering computer scientist’s problem-solving helped NASA land Apollo astronauts on the moon. An opinion essay reflects on Hamilton’s example and the lasting significance of her work, which helped establish software as a critical part of human spaceflight.
Dragon launched Oct. 13 and docked with the International Space Station on Oct. 15, delivering more than 6,300 pounds of cargo for the Expedition 75 crew. The payload includes supplies, solar arrays and experiments involving brain models, 3D heart tissue and artificial-retina technology, with potential applications for medical research on Earth.
NOAA is working to acquire GeoXO, the next generation of geostationary weather satellites, but the GAO says program challenges put vital observations of atmospheric conditions, severe storms and hurricanes at risk. The coverage also recalls NASA’s launch of the first operational GOES satellite on Oct. 16, 1975.
Researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope tracked water-cloud changes in a brown dwarf about 7.5 light-years away, while separate studies describe deformed atmospheres on ultra-hot exoplanets and gemstone-forming conditions on a scorching, low-density world. Together, the findings extend observations of weather and atmospheric structure beyond the planets in our solar system.
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