Space Exploration

NASA announced on Tuesday that it will pause development of the Gateway lunar space station and repurpose its Power and Propulsion Element for SR-1 Freedom, a nuclear-electric propulsion demonstration mission to Mars launching before the end of 2028. The spacecraft will carry Skyfall helicopters to scout subsurface water ice and landing sites. Officials described the move as leveraging existing hardware to prove nuclear power in deep space.

25 Mwezi wa tatu, 2026 Imeripotiwa na AI

Astronomers have identified a hidden white dwarf companion as the source of extreme X-rays from the naked-eye star Gamma Cassiopeiae. Observations from Japan's XRISM space telescope revealed the companion's orbital motion through shifting plasma velocities. The discovery confirms a long-predicted class of binary star systems.

Researchers at the University of Arizona simulated the formation of a large crater on metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche to predict its internal structure ahead of NASA's arriving spacecraft. The study highlights the role of porosity in crater shapes and tests two possible compositions: a layered metallic core with rocky mantle or a uniform metal-silicate mix. Findings, published in JGR Planets, will aid interpretation of mission data expected in 2029.

17 Mwezi wa tatu, 2026 Imeripotiwa na AI

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured detailed images of Nebula PMR 1, nicknamed the 'Exposed Cranium' for its resemblance to a brain inside a transparent skull. The observations, taken in near- and mid-infrared light, reveal layered gas structures and a dark central lane dividing the nebula. This structure surrounds a star shedding its outer layers in its final life stages.