Universe Today
• Andy Tomaswick
The solar storm that produced auroras as far south as Florida and Mexico also breached Earth’s so-called “impenetrable” space radiation shield from within, according to the article. The finding highlights how a major solar event can affect the space environment around Earth.
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Turkey plans to launch an orbiter carrying several scientific instruments in 2027, marking the first of two planned lunar missions. A second mission is intended to land on the Moon, though no timing or further mission details were provided.
The solar storm that produced auroras as far south as Florida and Mexico also breached Earth’s so-called “impenetrable” space radiation shield from within, according to the article. The finding highlights how a major solar event can affect the space environment around Earth.
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NASA officials say the SR-1 nuclear electric propulsion mission is still expected to launch in late 2028. The agency has provided limited detail on the mission’s cost and schedule, leaving key program parameters unclear despite the stated launch outlook.
On Oct. 29, 1991, Galileo passed asteroid Gaspra and took images while traveling at about 18,000 mph. The encounter added an asteroid observation to the spacecraft’s journey to Jupiter, demonstrating how a planetary mission could gather science during its cruise through the solar system.
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A reddish meteorite recovered in Mali’s Sahara in 2022 formed in the Martian crust at least 4.1 billion years ago, scientists say. The rock may be the oldest of the 435 meteorites from Mars known on Earth, and a NASA-funded study details its age and origins.
Astronomers describe two “zombie” exoplanets that survived the destruction of their planetary systems and now orbit amid the remains of other planets. The systems offer a view of how planetary systems can evolve after their stars change, with possible implications for the long-term fate of our own solar system.
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NASA has confirmed the UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX), setting its lifecycle cost at $590 million and committing to launch by January 2031. The telescope is described as roughly 100 times more powerful than GALEX, whose mission ended in 2013, and is intended to expand ultraviolet observations of the universe.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has measured ultrafine dust particles on materials designed to represent spacesuit surfaces, sharpening concerns about crew exposure during future Mars missions. Separately, the rover collected a sample from a rock dubbed Singita that may be more than 3.9 billion years old.
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