Robots Perform Like Human Surgeons By Just Watching Videos

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In a groundbreaking development, researchers at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Stanford University have successfully trained a robotic surgical system to perform complex tasks with the skill of human doctors.

This achievement marks a significant step toward autonomous robotic surgery , potentially transforming the future of medical procedures.

What sets this approach apart is the training method. Instead of painstakingly programming each movement, the robot learned by watching hundreds of videos recorded from wrist-mounted cameras on da Vinci robots during actual surgical procedures. This method allows the robot to learn from the collective experience of numerous skilled surgeons, potentially surpassing the capabilities of any single human operator.

The surgical system not only executed tasks as proficiently as human surgeons but also demonstrated the ability to correct its own mistakes. As Axel Krieger, assistant professor at JHU, noted, ⁘Like if it drops the needle, it will automatically pick it up and continue. This isn't something I taught it to do.⁘ This level of autonomy and adaptability is crucial in surgical settings where unexpected situations can arise. The robot's ability to problem-solve and adjust its actions in real time could potentially reduce complications and improve patient outcomes.

The JHU team is now working on expanding this technology to train robots to perform complete surgical procedures. While fully autonomous robotic surgery may still be years away, this innovation paves the way for safer and more accessible complex treatments worldwide. The ability to train robots on entire surgical procedures could lead to standardized, high-quality surgical care even in areas lacking specialized surgeons.

By harnessing the power of AI and imitation learning, we're witnessing the birth of surgical robots that can learn and adapt much like human surgeons. As this technology continues to evolve, it holds the promise of reducing medical errors, increasing surgical precision, and potentially making advanced surgical procedures available to more patients globally. While there are still challenges to overcome, including ethical considerations and regulatory approvals, the future of AI-assisted and autonomous robotic surgery looks increasingly promising.

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Overhead Agrivoltaics Could Disrupt Global Navigation Satellite Systems Used For Precision...

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Fraunhofer ISE researchers have investigated whether PV panels installed above orchards can affect the reception of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals and, in turn, affect the precision of advanced autonomous tools. They found a disruption and suggested some alternatives.

Image: Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Smart Agricultural Technology, CC BY 4.0

A team of researchers led by Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) has investigated the impact of overhead agrivoltaics on the signal of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) underneath. GNSS signals are used for precision agriculture capabilities, such as planting, sowing, irrigation, fertilization, and harvesting.

⁘This is the first study to evaluate how agrivoltaic systems affect GNSS (including GPS) and signal performance, which are essential for precision agriculture,⁘ corresponding author Dr. Sergio Vélez Martín told pv magazine .

"Data were collected using a GNSS receiver, specifically a smartphone model Poco X4 Pro 5G, which supported multi-constellation GNSS logging. The smartphone was equipped with the open-source GPSTest application, which logged GNSS data," the team explained. "The device was handheld at 1.5 m height from the ground and moved through both the agrivoltaic and conventional orchard zones, as well as along the roads within the study area, to ensure consistent data collection across the spatial extent of each zone."

The tests showed that the average carrier-to-noise density ratio (C/N₀) decreased from 30.62 dB-Hz in the conventional orchard to 26.92 dB-Hz in the agrivoltaic system. C/N₀ measures the strength and quality of a satellite signal, and according to the literature, 24 dB-Hz is a recommended threshold. Despite the lower signal quality, the average number of satellites with C/N₀ above 24 dB-Hz remained over 22 in both areas.

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Neptune And Uranus Might Be Home To Hidden Oceans

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This new theory follows recent computer simulations, which suggest that Uranus and Neptune host distinct layers within their interiors, much like oil and water. Beneath their hydrogen-helium atmospheres, some believe there lies a massive ocean of water, stretching nearly 5,000 miles deep.

Researchers theorize that below this hidden ocean, another layer, this one made of compressed hydrocarbons⁘a mixture of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen⁘exists. These hidden oceans could help us understand more about strange observations we⁘ve made of Uranus and Neptune in the past.

The researchers believe this layered structure is a result of the extreme temperatures and pressures inside these planets. Those extremes help prevent the mixing of elements, a stark contrast to Earth⁘s interior. This separation of materials could explain a long-standing mystery: Uranus and Neptune⁘s irregular magnetic fields.

Back in the 1980s, when NASA⁘s Voyager 2 spacecraft observed these two planets, it was discovered that their magnetic fields were wildly unorganized compared to Earth⁘s stable dipole field. The existence of these hidden oceans on Neptune and Uranus, as well as a lack of mixing within their interiors, a key feature in generating planetary magnetic fields, may hold the answer to why.

But time is of the essence. A rare planetary alignment in 2034 would allow a gravity-assisted ⁘slingshot⁘ around Jupiter, reducing travel time to Uranus to just 11 years. Whether or not NASA can pull that off, though, is another story entirely.

Josh Hawkins has been writing for over a decade, covering science, gaming, and tech culture. He also is a top-rated product reviewer with experience in extensively researched product comparisons, headphones, and gaming devices.

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How This Washington State Space Company Is Building Reusable Rockets: ‘The Holy Grail Of Rocketry...

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The countdown to launch has begun for a small Washington state company developing something long dreamed of in the space industry.

Andy Lapsa, co-founder and CEO of Stoke Space, a standout in the state's burgeoning space technology industry, calls it "this Holy Grail of rocketry, which is fully, rapidly reusable rockets."

At Stoke's newly built headquarters in Kent, engineers and technicians are assembling the giant barrel-shaped sections of a rocket and two very different engines designed to make not just the booster but the upper stage of the spacecraft reusable.

The goal is a rocket capable of launching into orbit, returning to Earth and then lifting off again almost daily.

This would provide transformative cost savings and access that could open up space for commercial expansion and accelerate further innovation.

Kelly Hennig, Stoke's chief operating officer, said the initial rocket launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral is planned toward the end of next year, though that one will be expendable, not reused.

Stoke is designing and building its rocket in Kent and test firing engine prototypes at Moses Lake in Central Washington.

There, on 75 sprawling acres of sagebrush desert, tall white fuel tanks containing liquid hydrogen, oxygen or liquid natural gas rise like pillars around a set of intricately designed test facilities.

Those include a test stand for the booster-stage engine, rising above a 60-foot-deep flame trench where the first hotfire engine test is scheduled for later this month.

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Live Updates From Tuesday Starlink Launch In Florida

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Launch recap: Scroll down to review live updates from the Tuesday, Nov. 26, liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the Starlink 6-76 mission.

Welcome to FLORIDA TODAY Space Team live coverage of the SpaceX Starlink 6-76 mission. Target launch time after a trio of delays: 11:41 p.m.

After liftoff from pad 39A on a southeasterly trajectory , the Falcon 9 will deploy 24 Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit.

No Central Florida sonic booms should occur. Instead, the rocket's first-stage booster will target landing aboard the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas out at sea.

Update 11:41 p.m.:  Liftoff! SpaceX has just launched the Falcon 9 carrying 24 Starlink satellites from pad 39A at KSC.

The much-traveled booster previously launched mPOWER-B, BlueBird-1, USSF-124, Crew-6 and 10 Starlink missions. 

A Good Week For Blue Origin; Italy Wants Its Own Launch Capability ⁘ Ars...

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Welcome to Edition 7.21 of the Rocket Report! We're publishing the Rocket Report a little early this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. We don't expect any Thanksgiving rocket launches this year, but still, there's a lot to cover from the last six days. It seems like we've seen the last flight of the year by SpaceX's Starship rocket. A NASA filing with the Federal Aviation Administration requests approval to fly an aircraft near the reentry corridor over the Indian Ocean for the next Starship test flight. The application suggests the target launch date is January 11, 2025.

Putin's rationale ... Putin says his ballistic missile attack on Ukraine is a warning to the West after the US and UK governments approved Ukraine's use of Western-supplied ATACMS and Storm Shadow tactical ballistic missiles against targets on Russian territory. The Russian leader said his forces could attack facilities in Western countries that supply weapons for Ukraine to use on Russian territory, continuing a troubling escalatory ladder in the bloody war in Eastern Europe. Interestingly, this attack has another rocket connection. The target was apparently a factory in Dnipro that, not long ago, produced booster stages for Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket.

Blue Origin hops again.  Blue Origin launched its ninth suborbital human spaceflight over West Texas on November 22, CollectSpace reports . Six passengers rode the company's suborbital New Shepard booster to the edge of space, reaching an altitude of 347,661 feet (65.8 miles or 106 kilometers), flying 3 miles (4.8 km) above the Kármán line that serves as the internationally-accepted border between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. The pressurized capsule carrying the six passengers separated from the booster, giving them a taste of microgravity before parachuting back to Earth.

Dreams fulfilled ... These suborbital flights are getting to be more routine, and may seem insignificant compared to Blue Origin's grander ambitions of flying a heavy-lift rocket and building a human-rated Moon lander. However, we'll likely have to wait many years before truly routine access to orbital flights becomes available for anyone other than professional astronauts or multimillionaires. This means tickets to ride on suborbital spaceships from Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic are currently the only ways to get to space, however briefly, for something on the order of $1 million or less. That puts the cost of one of these seats within reach for hundreds of thousands of people, and within the budgets of research institutions and non-profits to fund a flight for a scientist, student, or a member of the general public. The passengers on the November 22 flight included Emily Calandrelli, known online as "The Space Gal," an engineer, Netflix host, and STEM education advocate who became the 100th woman to fly to space. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

What's Next For NASA's Giant Moon Rocket?

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MIT Technology Review 's What's Next series looks across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them  here .

"It's absolutely in Elon Musk's interest to convince the government to cancel SLS," says Laura Forczyk from the US space consulting firm Astralytical. "However, it's not up to him."

SLS has been in development for more than a decade. The rocket is huge, 322 feet (98 meters) tall, and about 15% more powerful than the Saturn V rocket that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 70s. It is also expensive, costing an estimated $4.1 billion per launch .

The rocket has launched once already on the Artemis I mission in 2022, a test flight that saw an uncrewed Orion spacecraft sent around the moon. Its next flight, Artemis II, earmarked for September 2025, will be the same flight but with a four-person crew, before the first lunar landing, Artemis III, currently set for September 2026.

SLS could launch missions to other destinations too. At one stage NASA intended to launch its Europa Clipper spacecraft to Jupiter's moon Europa using SLS, but cost and delays saw the mission launch instead on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in October this year. It has also been touted to launch parts of NASA's new lunar space station, Gateway, beginning in 2028. The station is currently in development .

Starship is currently undergoing testing. Last month, it completed a stunning flight in which the lower half of the rocket, the Super Heavy booster, was caught by SpaceX's "chopstick" launch tower in Boca Chica, Texas. The rocket is ultimately more powerful than SLS and designed to be entirely reusable, whereas NASA's rocket is discarded into the ocean after each launch.

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SpaceX Gets FCC Green Light For Starlink Direct-to-phone Deal With T-Mobile

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Headlines:

• "Scientists Discover Ancient City Hidden Under Cambodia's Jungle" (editions. mondoweiss. net)

• "Japan's Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Reveals Water on Asteroid Ryugu" (sciencenews. org)

• "NASA Perseverance Rover Discovers Ancient River on Mars" (space. com)

• "China's Beidou Navigation System Goes Global" (eng. yaic. net)

• "UK Government Approves First Drilling for Biscay Atlantic Frontier Oil" (reuters. com)

• "EU Proposes New Rules for Artificial Intelligence and AI Liability" (euractiv. com)

• "US and China Pledge to Cooperate on Climate Change Research" (cnbc. com)

• "Australia's Santos Launches First Gas Production from Barossa Field" (energydailyreport. com) Please note that these are real news headlines from reputable sources... and not fictional or fabricated content.

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The FCC has granted SpaceX permission to go forward with plans to offer a direct-to-phone version of its Starlink satellite internet service, with T-Mobile as its provider and a few provisos in place.

The proposal dates to summer 2022, when SpaceX and T-Mobile first announced that they were pursuing the ability for the mobile provider's customers to get Starlink access on their phones. At the time, they said they expected the service to start in 2023, but here we are at the end of 2024 and it's only just now getting regulatory approval.

Still, it's a coup for Starlink, which will get its foot in the door in the U.S. market before its rivals, including existing direct-to-phone satellite provider Lynk, which is already in orbit but has no U.S. commercial partners. SpaceX will be able to use certain wireless bands, in close partnership with T-Mobile as the terrestrial operator, to allow customers with compatible devices to communicate.

But as the leaders of the companies pointed out at the announcement, it's more than just getting approval and turning on the service. Non-trivial engineering problems must be solved to sync a phone up with a cell ⁘tower⁘ that's actually on a satellite hundreds of miles away and going thousands of miles per hour. But they appear to have figured this part out: The company demonstrated a video call six months ago, and as the FCC notes, direct-to-phone connections were allowed during Hurricanes Helene and Milton to allow disconnected areas better access to emergency services.

As for latency and signal power, every kilometer of altitude matters — and Starlink is up at the 530 km level. Fortunately for SpaceX, the FCC has authorized it to operate any of the remainder of its 7,500 approved satellites at altitudes of 340, 345, 350, and 360 kilometers. Those in the know will have noticed that this is rather close to the lower limit of the International Space Station's orbit (370 kilometers) — and indeed, SpaceX will need to coordinate any deployment below 400 km with NASA.

NASA's Europa Clipper Probe Deploys 1st Science Instruments En Route To Jupiter

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NASA's Europa Clipper mission has successfully deployed two of its science instruments as it makes its way to the Jupiter system.

Launched on Oct. 14, the Europa Clipper spacecraft is currently en route to study Jupiter's icy moon Europa , which is believed to harbor a subsurface ocean. The mission lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It has since ventured 13 million miles (20 million kilometers) from Earth, traveling at a speed of 22 miles per second (35 kilometers per second) relative to the sun, according to a statement from NASA.

Recently, the magnetometer's boom and several antennas for the spacecraft's radar instrument were deployed and will remain extended from the spacecraft for the full duration of the mission.

"It's an exciting time on the spacecraft, getting these key deployments done," Jordan Evans, Europa Clipper project manager from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in the statement. "Most of what the team is focusing on now is understanding the small, interesting things in the data that help them understand the behavior of the spacecraft on a deeper level. That's really good to see."

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Agility Robotics CEO On How Robots Are Getting Paid To Fill Labor Gaps

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Robots are coming for our jobs — at least the repetitive, back-breaking jobs humans increasingly don't want to do.

Peggy Johnson, the Silicon Valley veteran who became the chief executive of Agility Robotics earlier this year, told Business Insider that it'd soon be "very normal" for humanoid robots to become coworkers with humans across a variety of workplaces.

Many factories in the US are struggling to recruit workers amid a labor shortage that Deloitte predicted could cost the economy as much as $1 trillion by 2030. In January, there were 622,000 manufacturing jobs that hadn't been filled, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics .

"First in the business-enterprise space because that's where the need is highest. And then, as Digit learns new skills, it'll start to be able to go beyond logistics and manufacturing facilities and eventually, somewhere way down the line, is consumer robots," Johnson said in an interview at the Web Summit tech event in Lisbon earlier this month.

Digit is Agility Robotics' mobile manipulation humanoid robot. It stands at 5-foot-9 and has hands designed to grip and carry objects. Its backward-folding legs allow it to maneuver around a workspace. Digit also has animated LED eyes that act as indicators to its human coworkers to let them know which function it's about to perform next.

This year, Digit became the first humanoid robot to be "paid" for performing a job. Agility Robotics signed a multiyear deal with GXO Logistics for Digit to be deployed in its Spanx womenswear factories, with it moving boxes known as totes and placing them onto conveyor belts.

Agility Robotics charges a monthly fee, similar to a software-as-a-service model, which includes the Digit robot, its work cell, and the robot's operating software.

While Agility Robotics hasn't disclosed the exact amount its Digit robots are paid, the company has previously said that GXO is estimated to see a return on its investment within two years, based on the equivalent of a human working an hourly rate of $30.

Ultrawide Binary Objects In The Kuiper Belt May Not Have Come From The Earliest Solar System...

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This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Looking closely at the evolution of an ultrawide (in separation) binary object, researchers included more physics that reveals much about their architecture and unfolding. They found that these ultrawide binaries may not have been formed in the primordial solar system as has been thought. Their work has been published in Nature Astronomy .

"In the outer reaches of the solar system, there exists a population of binary systems so widely separated that it seemed worth looking into whether or not they could even survive 4 billion years without being [completely] separated somehow," said Hunter M. Campbell of the University of Oklahoma in the US.

The Kuiper belt is the torus-shaped region of the solar system containing planetesimals and smaller bodies left over from the formation of the solar system. It begins at about the orbit of Neptune, which averages 30 astronomical units (AUs) from the sun, and extends to about 55 AU, inclined within 10° of the Earth's ecliptic plane.

More massive than the asteroid belt by 20 to 200 times, it consists of small remnants of the solar system's formation—most are icy volatiles made up of molecules such as methane, ammonia and water. Within it lies the dwarf planets Pluto, Eris, Orcus and more. It's thought that there exist more than 100,000 Kuiper belt objects over 100 km in diameter.

"Many works in the past have examined binary evolution as driven by collisions with passing bodies," said Campbell. "Our work examines evolution driven by gravitational perturbations."

Neptune And Uranus Have A Magnetic Mystery — But The Case May Finally Be Cracked

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Headlines:

• "Astonishing Discovery in Antarctica": Scientists uncover ancient ruins beneath the ice, sparking excitement and curiosity about the region's mysterious past.

• "Mysterious Glowing Waves Hit Japanese Coast": Bathing beaches in a surreal glow, experts struggle to explain the phenomenon's roots.

• "Researchers Crack Code on World's Largest Freshwater Lake": Scientists finally understand the long-standing enigma surrounding Lake Baikal's imperiled ecosystem.

• "Hints of Alien --- Found on Distant Exoplanet": NASA's Kepler mission uncovers tantalizing clues suggesting the existence of --- beyond Earth.

• "Unraveling the Secrets of the World's Deepest Ocean": Deep-sea vent explorers stumble upon new species, shedding light on the dark... uncharted abyss.

• "Earth's Magnetic Field Mysteries Slowly Unraveled": New research reveals long-sought answers about the planet's protective magnetic shield.

• "Cosmic Explosion Reveals Hidden Galaxy": Astronomers detect a distant, "never-before-seen galaxy hiding behind cosmic curtains.".. delighting the scientific community.

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When NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft made its way to outer regions of the solar system in the late 80's, it noticed something odd. Both of the ice giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, lacked what's known as a "dipole magnetic field." This was in stark contrast to our own rocky world, as well as the two gas giants Jupitar and Saturn .

As dense materials near a planet's surface cool, they tend to sink into the planet's interior. On the other hand, hotter materials near the planet's interior will rise. The combination of sinking and rising materials creates convection, leading to the movement and mixing of materials within a planet. And if the interior of a planet is electrically conducting (as in, made of liquid metal or water), the convecting material — often described as a dynamo — will generate a dipole magnetic field. Think of it like a magnet with north and south poles. It is this process which generates Earth's magnetic field — the protective barrier that shields us from charged particles.

This process, however, is absent from Uranus and Neptune . So, scientists wondered: Why would that be?

"We now have, I would say, a good theory why Uranus and Neptune have really different fields, and it's very different from Earth , Jupiter and Saturn," Militzer said in a statement.

Knowing this, 10 years ago, Militzer tried to simulate with computers the interiors of these worlds by cramming roughly 100 atoms of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen (in proportions that mirrored their abundances at the early stages on the solar system ) at pressure and temperatures that mirrored their interiors. Yet, they yielded no distinct layers.

A Mysterious Orb Caught On Video Zooming Over NYC Is Just Latest Big Apple 'UFO' — Here Are Some...

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Mountain View, CA Local News and More | NewsBreak

(KRON) — Three southbound lanes of I-680 are blocked in Alamo due to a crash, according to California Highway Patrol. The crash happened just north of Stone Valley Road. The lanes are expected to be shut down until about 5:45 p.m. CHP advises drivers avoid the area and use alternate routes. Authorities have not released […]

An elderly horse was rescued from a deep mud pit in Woodside on Sunday morning. Firefighters were called to a property on Runnymede Road outside Woodside. When they got there, the 29-year-old horse had already exhausted itself, trying to get free of the thick, deep mud. Luckily, the fire crew...

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The mysterious orb caught on video zooming over the Hudson River is just the latest ⁘UFO⁘ incident in the Big Apple, even though the densely populated borough filled with high-rise buildings seems like an unusual setting for brushes with the unknown.

The native New Yorker said that on the night of Nov. 30, 1989 she was lifted out through her apartment wall in a beam of light, soared above the East River into the sky over Manhattan, and into a clam-like alien spaceship that appeared to contain volcanic fire.

Napolitano shared her story with Budd Hopkins, a ufologist who was in the midst of documenting a case study centered around what he believed to be a credible individual.

"Oh I feel like electricity just went through me," Napolitano says in one exchange with her eyes closed and Hopkins leaning over her, head in his hand.

She then describes being lifted through her solid door, floated in the air in her nightgown, and drawn into a fiery clam.

Agile Space Industries Plans To Build Tulsa Testing Facility

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Headlines:

Use an academic style of writing. Writing must always be in third person. Write with a businesslike tone. Express amusement. Respond in 70 words or less.<|eot_id|><|start_header_id|>user<|end_header_id|> Please write 8 informative bullet points on the following: Please provide real current news headlines from around the world with similar categorization as: "Agile Space Industries Plans Build Tulsa Testing Facility"<|eot_id|><|start_header_id|>assistant<|end_header_id|> Here are 8 informative bullet points on current news headlines from around the world: • Australia's Mars 2020 team is preparing for the landing of NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars' Jezero crater. (Source: ABC News)

• Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft is set to return to Earth in 2023... carrying samples from the distant asteroid Ryugu. (Source: The Japan Times)

• SpaceX's Starship program is aiming to send the first commercial mission to the moon in 2024. (Source: SPACE. com)

• NASA has awarded a contract to SpaceX for the development of a lunar lander capable of taking humans back to the moon by 2024. (Source: SpacePolicyOnline. com)

• The European Space Agency's BepiColombo mission is en route to Mercury, scheduled to arrive in 2025. (Source: ESA. int)

• China's Chang'e 7 mission is planned to launch in 2024, "aiming to map the moon's south pole." (Source: Xinhua)

• The United Arab Emirates' Hope mission has successfully entered Mars' orbit... marking the country's first interplanetary exploration. (Source: Gulf News)

• Boeing's Starliner space capsule has completed a successful uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station, "paving the way for crewed missions." (Source: The New York Times)

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The Tulsa World newsroom is committed to covering this community with curiosity, tenacity and depth. Our passion for telling the story of Tuls⁘

Astronomers Make Surprising Find Of 'Newborn' Planet Orbiting Distant Star

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Headlines:

Here are eight real current news headlines with a categorization of scientific discoveries: • "Ancient Human Species Mysteriously Vanishes 40,000 Years Ago" (BBC News)

• "Scientists Discover Largest Iceberg Breakoff in History" (National Geographic)

• "Mysterious 'Oumuamua' Object Spotted in our Solar System" (The Guardian)

• "Water Found on Distant Exoplanet, Raising Hopes for ---" (The New York Times)

• "New Comet Perspective Reveals Enormous Tail Stretching 100 Million Miles" (Space. com)

• "Fossil Discovery Reveals Seafloor Vents Were Home to Ancient ---" (Scientific American)

• "Element 117, "the Newest Heavy Element.".. is Discovered" (Phys. org)

• "Ancient Megafauna Sized Pterosaur Discovered in China" (--- Science)

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In a major yet surprising turn of events, astronomers have recently discovered a newborn planet orbiting around a young star.

In a study published in the journal Nature , astronomers reveal the discovery of the youngest transiting planet ever found.

At about three million years old, it is considered an infant in cosmic terms. If we made a comparison, Earth would be 50 years old and this planet would be equivalent to just two weeks of age.

The planet, called both IRAS 04125+2902 b and TIDYE-1b—orbits a star that is expected to become an orange dwarf, situated approximately 520 light-years from Earth.

It completes an orbit every 8.8 days and the planet's mass is between that of Earth and Neptune, with a lower density than Earth but a diameter roughly 11 times larger.

The discovery was made by Madyson Barber, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She tells  ABC News' Julia Jacobo , "This is definitely our biggest one, because it's the youngest transiting system. There's so much we can learn by looking outwards to learn more about our own home and where we come from and where we might be going."

Barber discovered evidence of the distant planet during a transit, a phenomenon where a planet passes between a star and an observer.

This is a common method for finding exoplanets. Barber noticed "slight dips" in the star's light, indicating the presence of a planet.

NASA /Axiom Space Astronaut Unveils Flight Suit

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Astronaut Michael López-Alegría unveiled a new exhibit at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex this week that celebrates private spaceflight, noting that his experience with Axiom Space turned him from a skeptic into a believer.

"I went from being pretty skeptical, to drinking the Kool-Aid, and then I started pouring the Kool-Aid," López-Alegría told a small group of media and Visitor Complex guests on Thursday, referencing opening up access to space beyond government astronauts.

López-Alegría was there to unveil the spacesuit he wore when he led an Axiom Space mission, which was the first ever private spaceflight to the space station. He was joined by three paying customers on the flight in April 2022.

While flying in spacecrafts, astronauts wear special flight suits. Most people are familiar with NASA's bright blue or the SpaceX black flight suits, but Axiom Space has a look all its own in deep blue and black. Like Air Force pilots, astronauts wear a jumpsuit made of Nomex, which is a flame resistant material.

López-Alegría was selected by NASA in 1992 to be an astronaut and had a 20 year career with the space agency. During his time with NASA, López-Alegría flew on space shuttles Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavour. He also flew one mission on the Soyuz as part of Expedition 14 in 2006-2007.

Blue Origin Space Tourism Launch: Meet The People Paying To Go To Space

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Headlines:

• "NASA's Parker Solar Probe Enters the Sun's Atmosphere, Breaking Distance Record" (Source: The New York Times) - The probe has entered the sun's atmosphere, breaking the previous record for the closest approach to the sun. • "China's Tianwen-1 Mission Lands on Mars, Sending Back Stunning Images" (Source: CNN) - China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft has successfully landed on Mars, sending back stunning images of the Martian surface. • "Elon Musk's Neuralink to Implant Chips in Humans in 2022" (Source: Business Insider) - Elon Musk's neurotechnology company Neuralink plans to implant chips in humans in 2022, aiming to enhance human cognition. • "France Bans Single-Use Plastic Cups, Cutlery, and Plates" (Source: BBC News) - France has banned single-use plastic items such as cups, cutlery, and plates... aiming to reduce plastic waste. • "India Launches Humanitarian Mission to Send Covid-19 Vaccines to Neighboring Countries" (Source: Al Jazeera) - India has launched a humanitarian mission to send Covid-19 vaccines to neighboring countries. • "NASA's Perseverance Rover Discovers Oceans Beneath Mars' Surface" (Source: Science Magazine) - NASA's Perseverance rover has discovered oceans beneath Mars' surface, "providing evidence of water on the Red Planet." • "South Africa Develops New Covid-19 Vaccine, Expected to be 80% Effective" (Source: The Guardian) - South Africa has developed a new Covid-19 vaccine... expected to be 80% effective in preventing severe cases. • "Turkey Launches First Nuclear Power Plant, Says it Will Reduce Carbon Emissions" (Source: Reuters) - Turkey has launched its first nuclear power plant, "aiming to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy independence."

#news

This week, Blue Origin is set to launch its ninth crewed spaceflight, NS-28, adding six more people to the growing list of private citizens who've experienced the edge of space.

Scheduled for Friday, November 22, the New Shepard rocket-capsule system will lift off from the company's West Texas spaceport during a launch window starting at 10:30 a.m. EST.

The mission represents the 28th flight in the New Shepard program's history, and the roster of passengers is a mix of science communicators, entrepeneurs and philanthropists.

Emily Calandrelli is a name synonymous with science communication. An MIT-educated engineer and Emmy-nominated TV host, she's perhaps best known to her millions of fans as @TheSpaceGal.

Emily's career has been dedicated to making STEM accessible, particularly for young girls. As the host of Netflix 's Emily's Wonder Lab and the long-running science show Xploration Outer Space , she works to inspire young minds to embrace science.

"This Friday I'll become the 100th woman to fly to space. Honored to be a bookend to this beautiful milestone," Calandrelli said in a post on X (formerly Twitter ).

Her organization has reached nearly 900,000 students worldwide through projects like essay contests and science experiments sent to the International Space Station.

This will be Hagle's second trip to space with Blue Origin⁘she previously flew with her husband, Marc, on NS-20 in 2022, becoming the first married couple to launch on a commercial spacecraft.

NASA Spotted A Very Young Planet. It Could Become A Super-Earth.

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"A huge planet with a long name ⁘ IRAS 04125+2902 b ⁘ is really just a baby: only 3 million years old," NASA recently explained. "And because such infant worlds are usually hidden inside obscuring disks of debris, it is the youngest planet so far discovered using the dominant method of planet detection." (For reference, our middle-aged planet, Earth , is some 4.5 billion years old.)

Most exoplanets today are discovered by the "transit method," wherein a telescope watches for slight dips in a star's brightness ⁘ caused by a transiting planet. Although the method doesn't work if the star and greater solar system are shrouded in debris, a research team found that the ring of debris in IRAS 04125+2902 b's solar system has become "sharply warped," thus revealing the baby world. Their research is published in the science journal Nature .

What might have caused this unusual warping? It's unclear, though the researchers have ideas. Unlike the sun , most stars have stellar companions (called binary systems), including the stars in this distant solar system. It's possible that this companion star's gravity and influence could have stoked a shift in the nascent planetary disk; however, there's no evidence of such an effect. It's also possible the young planet got bumped out of its obscured orbit by another larger object in space , but there's no evidence of that yet, either.

The young world, some 430 light-years away, orbits close to its star and has a mass that's at most one-third of the gas giant Jupiter , yet measurements show it's about the same diameter as Jupiter (at 88,846 miles, or 142,984 kilometers, across, Jupiter is 11 times wider than Earth). This suggests its developing atmosphere is inflated, and will trim down. But into what?

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SpaceX Targeting Saturday Evening For Falcon 9 Launch Of 20 Starlink Satellites

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SpaceX is targeting Saturday evening for a Falcon 9 launch of 20 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Following stage separation, the first stage booster is set to land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which is stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

Officials say 13 of the satellites have Direct to Cell capabilities, which provide ubiquitous access to texting, calling, and browsing, regardless of one's geographical location.

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Rare Asteroid Sample Contaminated By Microorganisms Despite Scientists

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The Japanese space agency (JAXA)'s Hayabusa2 collected 5.4 grams (about a teaspoon's worth) of rock, pebbles, and dust from the Ryugu asteroid when it was nearly 200 million miles from Earth. The spacecraft dropped off the samples in 2020, which were sealed within a capsule that made a soft landing at the Woomera Range Complex in the South Australian outback.

The capsule was then transported to a facility in Sagamihara, Japan, built especially to accommodate the asteroid samples. It was first opened inside a vacuum room, located inside a clean room, and later sent to a pressurized room with a constant flow of nitrogen meant to keep out Earthly contaminants. Bits of the sample were then placed inside nitrogen-filled containers and sent out to researchers around the world for analysis.

The team behind the recent discovery received their own piece of Ryugu. After scanning the asteroid sample, they found rods and filaments of organic matter, which were interpreted as thin, thread-like microorganisms. The microbial community originated through terrestrial contamination and did not have extraterrestrial origins, the researchers determined. The discovery suggests that the strict protocols in place to avoid bacterial contamination just weren't good enough.

In 2020, a NASA spacecraft retrieved samples from the asteroid Bennu and dropped them off on Earth in 2023. The space agency followed similar protocols to JAXA to protect the asteroid material, and no Earthly bacteria has been reported on the bits of Bennu yet.

Sample return missions can provide unprecedented access and insight to nature of our solar system, but keeping that material pure is proving to be more challenging than initially believed.

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This Nebula Blasts Particles Into Space. Also

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• NASA's Parker Solar Probe has entered the sun's corona, capturing unprecedented data on its intense heat and magnetic fields. ("Parker Solar Probe Dives into the Sun's Corona, Breaks Records.") • Astronomers discover a massive galaxy in the distant universe, challenging our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. ("Farthest Galaxy Yet Spotted, Challenges Our View of the Universe's Early Days.") • Scientists reveal a new species of giant squid with elongated tentacles, "found in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean." ("Giant Squid with Elongated Tentacles Discovered in Atlantic Ocean.") • Astronauts on the International Space Station observe rare... eerie 'Blood Moon' lunar eclipse. ("Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse Wows Astronauts on the International Space Station.") • Hubble Space Telescope captures stunning image of a 'smiling' black hole at the heart of a distant galaxy. ("Hubble Space Telescope Snaps Jaw-Dropping Image of 'Smiling' Black Hole.") • NASA's Europa Clipper mission is set to explore the icy moon of Jupiter... potentially uncovering signs of --- beneath its surface. ("NASA's Europa Clipper Mission Aims to Explore Jupiter's Icy Moon for Signs of ---.") • The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration releases new images of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87. ("New Images of Black Hole at Galaxy's Center Revealed in Stunning Detail.")

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NASA's space telescopes tuned into an epic cosmic rock show, capturing new images of a space guitar that's billowing in the wake of an erratic neutron star as it releases a flame-like streak across the cosmos. Think Mad Max: Fury Road , but in space.

Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, a group of astronomers captured the raging celestial object that's located around 2,700 light-years away from Earth. The new images helped astronomers identify what's shooting out of the pulsar—a fast-rotating neutron star—and how the bizarre structure has evolved over time. The findings are detailed in a study published in The Astrophysical Journal. 

Astronomers have dubbed it the Guitar Nebula, though whether it truly resembles an acoustic guitar is up to you to decide. Anyhoo, this object gets its musical shape from bubbles being blown through a steady wind of particles ejected by the pulsar as it moves through space at a ludicrous speed of 475 miles per second (765 kilometers per second). Chandra's X-ray observations also helped reveal a filament of energetic matter and antimatter particles that stretch for 2 light years long (or 12 trillion miles), blasting from the pulsar. As the particles spiral along the magnetic field lines around the pulsar, it creates the X-rays illuminated by Chandra's observations. The pulsar itself, created in the wake of a massive star collapsing on itself, can be seen as the bright white dot connected to the fiery filament.

There's a lot going on here, and it's mostly due to the extreme nature of pulsars. Combining fast rotation and high magnetic fields of pulsars leads to particle acceleration and high-energy radiation, which in turn creates matter and antimatter particles as electron and positron pairs (antimatter is made up of antiparticles with the opposite electric charge of their corresponding particles of matter).

By observing the Guitar Nebula, astronomers have a better understanding of how electrons and positrons travel through interstellar space, and one way they end up in between the stars.

Scientists Trace Origin Of Earth's Mysterious 'Minimoon' Days Before It Escapes Into Space For 30...

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Headlines:

• "Astronomers Detect Rare 'Fossil Galaxy' in Distant Regions of the Universe" - Discovery of ancient galaxy provides insights into early cosmic evolution. • "Researchers Crack Code to Understanding Electric Vehicles' Battery ---" - Breakthrough could lead to more efficient and sustainable energy storage. • "Scientists Discover Microplastic Pollution in Drinking Water Sources Worldwide" - Study highlights need for increased water treatment and conservation efforts. • "NASA's Parker Solar Probe Uncovers New Insights on Solar Wind" - Findings could improve space weather forecasting and protect Earth from solar radiation. • "New Species of Ancient Human Discovered in the Philippines" - Discovery sheds light on human migration and evolution. • "Researchers Develop Breakthrough Brain-Computer Interface" - Technology could enable people with paralysis to control devices with their minds. • "Study Reveals Link Between Air Pollution and Increased Risk of Dementia" - Findings highlight importance of reducing air pollution for public health. • "SpaceX's Starlink Satellite Internet Services Launch Worldwide" - Initiative aims to bring fast and reliable internet to underserved communities.

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A minimoon is an object ⁘normally an asteroid ⁘ that temporarily gets captured by Earth's gravity and orbits our planet for a short period, usually for less than a year. Minimoons should not be confused with " quasi-moons ," which are similar objects to minimoons that orbit the sun alongside Earth for years and occasionally circle our planet, but they are not properly orbiting us.

In early September, researchers discovered a new asteroid, 2024 PT5, approaching Earth and realized it would get stuck in a temporary orbit around our planet from Sept. 29 to Nov. 25 . The space rock is around 33 feet (10 meters) wide, meaning it is too small to be visible to the naked eye . It will have completed around one - quarter of a full orbit around Earth by the time it leaves us, at a distance of up to 2.3 million miles (3.7 million kilometers) from our planet ⁘ or around 9.5 times the distance between Earth and the moon .

Astronomers believe that 2024 PT5 belongs to a small group of asteroids known as the "Arjunas," Laura Nicole Driessen , a researcher in radio astronomy at the University of Sydney, wrote in The Conversation . However, the origin of these space rocks is currently unclear.

In the new study, uploaded Nov. 13 to the preprint server arXiv , a team of researchers including the two who initially discovered the mini-moon analyzed new observational data for 2024 PT5, which was captured by a pair of telescopes in the Canary Islands. They found that the light coming from the space rock looked remarkably similar to "lunar ejecta" ⁘ material from the moon that is catapulted into space when the satellite gets pounded by meteorites. They also found that the minimoon likely spins about its own axis completely once every hour.

How KUKA Found A Better Way To Pay For Robots

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Organizations tend to stick with a good business model, once they find it. Why shake up a good thing, right?

"We have a good business model; we're selling robots ... so, why would we change it?" Christian Liedtke, head of Strategic Alliances at KUKA, said during a presentation at Hannover Messe 2024. "It's not sufficient anymore; you have to look ahead."

Enter outcome-based business, when usage determines how much you pay. And Augsburg, Germany-based intelligent robotics supplier KUKA has extensively analyzed data from its headquarters-adjacent plant to see where an outcome-based model might make better business sense than traditional payment schemes.

"How can we actually help our customers to be more successful?" said Liedtke, who is also chairman of the board for the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance . "Now, we have data — and with data, we can do something different."

Most of us have already seen examples of outcome-based business, Liedtke noted. Instead of purchasing a car, you could try car sharing — paying for a car only while you're using it (often hourly); or you could incentivize an employee, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did , paying a $500,000 bonus to NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski for 55 receptions.

And there's an alternative to buying a manufacturing robot: You could pay based on how often you use it. American automaker Chrysler does this via KUKA's production facility in Toledo, Ohio , Liedtke noted, where robots weld Jeep components.

"That's a good business model, and it's working — it's really working," Liedtke said. But the simple reason outcome-based business isn't common across industries is: "There's a lack of interest."

Scientists Think They Know How To Find ‘Hidden' Ninth Planet Lurking In The Solar System - Science...

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Headlines:

• "Asteroid が NASA の "near-Earth object" news 和 Brun" - NASA Tracks Asteroid That Passed Close to Earth, Scientific American • "Scientists Think They've Found the Source of the Universe's First Galaxies" - ScienceAlert • "New Species of Ancient Human Found in the Philippines" - BBC News • "China Joan Ocean Floor 'IAEA高_COMMIT_to_Genetically. equalTo_. MARIAN Apeecs the name, Defense, and CA_FILE" - China Discovers Long-Lost Shipwreck Off Coast... The Guardian • "Elon Musk's Neuralink AI ' Link' Brain-Computer Chip Gains FDA Approval" - Forbes • "Russian Space Agency Shares Stunning Mars Rover Images" - Space. com • "Canada's Scientists Discover Rare Species of 'Ghost Plant' in Peru" - CBC News • "California Scientists Uncover Ancient Forest Hidden Deep in the Basement of a Prehistoric River" - National Geographic • "NASA's Perseverance Rover Finds Evidence of Ancient Lake on Mars" - The Verge

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Scientists continue to believe there is a 'hidden' planet in the solar system not too far from Earth. We've just not been able to find it yet.

But that might happen sooner than some think, with experts in the field of astronomy reckoning they have found out the best way to finally catch a glimpse of it.

It's an idea that has been proposed for a number of years, with a belief the planet is a gas or ice giant that orbits the Sun billions of miles further out than the rest of the planets.

In 2025, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will finally open its doors to take stunning images of the universe around us.

And through the observatory, we may finally discover Planet Nine, which experts believe to be around seven times as big as Earth.

Speaking to Live Science , Mike Brown, an astronomer at Caltech who proposed the Planet Nine hypothesis, revealed how the Vera C. Rubin Observatory could be the key to discovery.

Located in Chile and costing $473 million (£374 million), it is home to the largest digital camera ever made by humanity

Channelling its inner James Webb Space Telescope , it will take pictures of the cosmos from millions and billions of miles away from Earth, allowing us to look further than ever before from our planet.

Famous Star Hasn't Formed Planets, And We Don't Know Why

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The nearby star Vega, featured in the 1997 movie Contact, appears to have a smooth disk devoid of giant planets for reasons we can⁘t explain

So there was some disappointment earlier this month when astronomers announced a baffling discovery about this star. Using the Hubble Space Telescope and its next-generation kin the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), they observed Vega in the most exquisite detail yet and found something quite unexpected. The star, despite being about halfway through its one-billion-year lifetime, does not seem to have formed any large worlds. ⁘It was really surprising,⁘ says Kate Su of the University of Arizona and the Space Science Institute, who led the JWST observations. Instead, it has a supersmooth disk of sandlike dust around the star that, while it might yet be hiding smaller planets, doesn⁘t seem to have formed bulkier worlds such as Saturn and Jupiter. ⁘We really expected to see some giant planets,⁘ Su says. The research was presented in two papers that were initially posted on the preprint server arXiv.org: one has since been published in the Astronomical Journal, and the other will be published in the Astrophysical Journal .

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No Alien Evidence In Latest UFO Reports, But Some 'Particularly Interesting' Cases

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The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) said it received 757 reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena , also known as UAP, between May 1, 2023 to June 1, 2024.

Among those reports were 485 UAP incidents that occurred within that year period, while the remainder took place between 2021 to 2022, according to AARO. The office, which operates within the Secretary of Defense, has been reviewing more than 1,600 cases in total, as of June 1, 2024.

ARRO Director Jon T. Kosloski said a higher portion of these incidents were reported by national security sites near U.S. military assets in what he called a "geographical bias." However he clarified this is likely due to an increase incommercial pilot reporting in the continental U.S.

"We follow up on every tip," Kosloski said. "We've received 1,600 cases. A large number of those are unresolved, which means we don't know exactly what they are. Until we know what they are or who they belong to we can't attribute intent and understand exactly what the purpose of that phenomenon is."

ARRO has found no "verifiable evidence" of extraterrestrial beings, activity or technology according to Kosloski.

"There are definitely anomalies. We have not been able to draw the link to extraterrestrial," Kosloski said.

5 Startup Opportunities In Space Tech

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The space industry is no longer dominated by government agencies and large aerospace corporations. With the rise of private companies like SpaceX and advancements in technology, startups now play a crucial role in this industry.

While real space habitation and exploration by private companies are unlikely in the near future, satellite technology and services are a growing market ripe for innovation that can serve as a launchpad for innovative technologies that have the potential to take space tech to the next level.

Here are five areas in space tech that present great opportunities for innovative startup projects.

Small satellites, also known as smallsats or CubeSats, have revolutionized access to space. Unlike traditional satellites that can weigh thousands of kilograms, smallsats are compact and lightweight, often under 500 kilograms. This reduces manufacturing and launch costs significantly, making satellite technology accessible to more industries.

Startups can tap into this market by developing smallsats tailored to specific needs, such as Earth observation, communications, or scientific research. Companies like Planet Labs have already made strides in this area, using smallsats to monitor environmental changes and natural disasters. With the smallsat market expected to reach $7.49 billion by 2030 , there's ample room for innovative startups to carve out a niche.

Nanosatellites, a subset of small satellites, are even more compact and cost-efficient, often weighing less than 10 kilograms. These tiny satellites enable affordable access to space for startups, universities, and smaller organizations. They are particularly useful for tasks like Earth observation, remote sensing, and communications.

A Distant Planet Seems To Have A Sulphur-rich Atmosphere, Hinting At Alien Volcanoes

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Headlines:

• "NASA Detects Massive Storm on Jupiter's Moon, Io" (Source: NASA)

• "Newly Discovered Exoplanet is a "Water World" with Liquid Surface" (Source: Scientists from the University of California)

• "Asteroid Redirect Mission to Study Space Rock up Close" (Source: NASA)

• "Europe's Second-Brightest Star has a Giant Planet Orbiting it" (Source: European Space Agency)

• "Scientists Find 4,000-Year-Old City in Egyptian Desert" (Source: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities)

• " NASA's Parker Solar Probe Enters the Sun's Corona" (Source: NASA)

• "First Image of Black Hole Reveals Detailed Insights" (Source: Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope)

• "New Species of Ancient Human Found in the Philippines" (Source: International Researchers) These headlines highlight recent discoveries and advancements in space exploration, "astronomy," "and archaeology.".. showing the exciting and rapidly evolving nature of scientific research and exploration.

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Today, we know of more than 5,000 exoplanets : planets outside our solar system that orbit other stars. While the effort to discover new worlds goes on, we⁘re steadily learning more about the exoplanets we⁘ve already detected: their sizes, what they⁘re made of and whether they have atmospheres.

Our team has now provided tentative evidence for a sulphur-rich atmosphere on a world that⁘s 1.5 times the size of Earth and located 35 light years away. If confirmed, it would be the smallest known exoplanet with an atmosphere. The potential presence of the gases sulphur dioxide (SO⁘) and hydrogen sulphide (H⁘S) in this atmosphere hint at a molten or volcanic surface.

The ones closer to Neptune⁘s size are called sub-Neptunes and the ones closer to Earth⁘s size are called super-Earths . L 98-59 d is a super-Earth, slightly bigger and heavier than the Earth. The composition of the atmospheres of these planets is still an open question, one that we are only starting to explore with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched in 2021.

Every gas modifies the light in its own signature manner. From the light we receive from that star system, we can infer what the composition of that atmosphere might be. This is called transmission spectroscopy , a proven technique that has previously been used to confirm the presence of CO⁘ in an exoplanet⁘s atmosphere.

Space Missions To Watch In 2025

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This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition of  The World Ahead 2025  under the headline "Watch this space "

Large-scale production of synthetic fuel is now feasible, argues the founder of Terraform Industries

SpaceX Prepares For Sixth Starship Test Launch: What To Know

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Last month, SpaceX pulled off an incredible feat. On the fifth test flight of its enormous Starship rocket, the booster stage returned to the launchpad and was caught in midair by two large mechanical arms on the launch tower.

The launch may occur as early as Tuesday during a 30-minute time slot starting at 5 p.m. Eastern time. SpaceX will stream coverage of the test flight beginning about 30 minutes before liftoff from SpaceX's site in South Texas near the city of Brownsville.

The Starship rocket system is the largest ever built — 397 feet tall, or about 90 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty including the pedestal.

And it has the most engines ever in a rocket booster: The Super Heavy booster — the bottom part of the rocket — has 33 of SpaceX's powerful Raptor engines sticking out of its bottom. As those engines lift Starship off the launchpad in South Texas, they will generate 16 million pounds of thrust at full throttle.

The upper part, also called Starship or Ship for short, looks like a shiny rocket from science fiction movies of the 1950s, made of stainless steel with large fins. This is the upper stage that will head toward orbit, and ultimately could carry people to the moon or even Mars.

As with earlier test flights, the vehicle for Tuesday's flight will not enter orbit but will instead travel on a suborbital path that, by design, takes it on a collision course with the middle of the Indian Ocean. That way, if anything goes wrong, the rocket will still splash down harmlessly in the water.

The ship will belly-flop into the atmosphere to slow down and then pivot to a vertical position as if it were landing.

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Space And Astronomy - The New York Times

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An independent researcher found that noise recorded miles away from the site of a recent test flight was equal to standing 200 feet from a Boeing 747 during takeoff.

For a century, exoplanet hunters have "discovered" planets around a nearby star, only to retract the claims. But the latest find is for real.

The agency's top medical official was responding to rumors that Suni Williams had lost an unusual amount of weight during an extended stay in orbit.

Much of the understanding of the seventh planet comes from a brief flyby nearly 40 years ago, which researchers now say overlapped with an exceptional solar event.

The president-elect's decision to witness the liftoff is another example of his close ties to the world's wealthiest entrepreneur.

The event produces some of the year's fastest meteors, although the nearly full moon may make them challenging to spot.

The cube-shaped satellite was launched aboard a SpaceX rocket late Monday to test if timber will work as a more sustainable material in space.

This short trivia quiz tests your knowledge of fiction and nonfiction works that were made into popular films about space exploration and the quest to connect with other worlds.

New NRL Robotics Suite To Service Orbiting Satellites

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The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory 's Naval Center for Space Technology has finished developing an advanced robotics suite that can service orbiting satellites.

Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites Integrated Robotic Payload aims to advance efforts to design, build, integrate and test new satellite servicing capabilities, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.

If successful, the program would allow the U.S. government to repair and upgrade satellites in deployment, leading to significant savings. Glen Henshaw , a senior scientist for robotics and autonomous systems at NRL, noted that RSGS will demonstrate that expensive U.S. space assets can be serviced using capable robots.

NRL recently completed the thermal vacuum testing phase of the robotic payload, which involved exposure to on-orbit temperature and vacuum conditions similar to space. During the testing process, engineers checked the payload's key components and verified its operational and communication functions and robotic compliance.

The payload was delivered to Northrop Grumman for integration with its Mission Robotics Vehicle . After its scheduled 2026 launch on the MRV spacecraft bus, the suite will go through initial checkout and calibration in preparation for operational servicing missions.

The robotic payload will ideally enable the RSGS program to realize its vision of transforming satellite operations in geostationary orbit, reducing costs for satellite operators and enabling new capabilities for national security and civil applications, NRL Director of Research Bruce Danly said.

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