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Hubble Captures New View of Colorful Veil
Mar 05, 2025
In this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, Hubble once again lifts the veil on a famous — and frequently photographed — supernova remnant: the Veil Nebula.
The remnant of a star roughly 20 times as massive as the Sun that exploded about 10,000 years ago, the Veil Nebula is situated about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus.
Hubble images of this photogenic nebula were first taken in 1994 and 1997, and again in 2015.
This view combines images taken in three different filters by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, highlighting emission from hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms.
The image shows just a small fraction of the Veil Nebula; if you could see the entire nebula without the aid of a telescope, it would be as wide as six full Moons placed side-by-side.
Although this image captures the Veil Nebula at a single point in time, it helps researchers understand how the supernova remnant evolves over decades.
Combining this snapshot with Hubble observations from 1994 will reveal the motion of individual knots and filaments of gas over that span of time, enhancing our understanding of this stunning nebula.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/830089/
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/ames-science/farming-with-data-openet-launches-new-tool-for-farmers-and-ranchers/
FARMing with Data: OpenET Launches new Tool for Farmers and Ranchers
Mar 04, 2025
A NASA and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-supported research and development team is making it easier for farmers and ranchers to manage their water resources.
The team, called OpenET, created the Farm and Ranch Management Support (FARMS) tool, which puts timely, high-resolution water data directly in the hands of individuals and small farm operators.
By making the information more accessible, the platform can better support decision-making around agricultural planning, water conservation, and water efficiency.
The OpenET team hopes this will help farmers who are working to build greater resiliency in local and regional agriculture communities.
“It’s all about finding new ways to make satellite data easier to access and use for as many people as possible,” said Forrest Melton, the OpenET project scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.
“The goal is to empower users with actionable, science-based data to support decisions about water management across the West.”
OpenET Data Explorer Tool: The Road to FARMS
The OpenET data explorer tool centers on providing evapotranspiration data.
Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the amount of water leaving Earth’s surface and returning to the atmosphere through evaporation (from soil and surface water) and transpiration (water vapor released by crops and other plants).
Evapotranspiration is an important factor in agriculture, water resource management, irrigation planning, drought monitoring, and fire risk evaluation.
The FARMS resource is the third phase of OpenET’s Data Explorer tool, launched in 2021, which uses satellite data to quantify evapotranspiration across the western U.S.
It starts with using Landsat data to measure patterns in land surface temperature and key indicators of vegetation conditions.
The satellite data is combined with agricultural data, such as field boundaries, and weather data, such as air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, and precipitation.
All of these factors feed into a model, which calculates the final evapotranspiration data.
The new FARMS interface was designed to make that data easier to access, with features that meet specific needs identified by users.
“This amount of data can be complicated to use, so user input helped us shape FARMS,” said Jordan Harding, app developer and interface design leader from HabitatSeven.
“It provides a mobile-friendly, map-based web interface designed to make it as easy as possible to get automated, regular reports.”
“The FARMS tool is designed to help farmers optimize irrigation timing and amounts, simplify planning for the upcoming irrigation season, and automate ET and water use reporting,” said Sara Larsen, CEO of OpenET.
“All of this reduces waste, lowers costs, and informs crop planning.”
Although FARMS is geared towards agriculture, the tool has value for other audiences in the western U.S. Land managers who evaluate the impacts of wildfire can use it to evaluate burn scars and changes to local hydrology.
Similarly, resource managers can track evapotranspiration changes over time to evaluate the effectiveness of different forest management plans.
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New Features in FARMS
To develop FARMS, the OpenET team held listening sessions with farmers, ranchers, and resource managers.
One requested function was support for field-to-field comparisons; a feature for planning irrigation needs and identifying problem areas, like where pests or weeds may be impacting crop yields.
The tool includes numerous options for drawing or selecting field boundaries, generating custom reports based on selected models and variables, and automatically re-running reports at daily or monthly intervals.
The fine spatial resolution and long OpenET data record behind FARMS make these features more effective. Many existing global ET data products have a pixel size of over half a mile, which is too big to be practical for most farmers and ranchers.
The FARMS interface provides insights at the scale of a quarter-acre per pixel, which offers multiple data points within an individual field.
“If I had told my father about this 15 years ago, he would have called me crazy,” said Dwane Roth, a fourth-generation farmer in Kansas.
“Thanks to OpenET, I can now monitor water loss from my crops in real-time. By combining it with data from our soil moisture probes, this tool is enabling us to produce more food with less water. It’s revolutionizing agriculture.”
For those like sixth-generation California pear farmer Brett Baker, the 25-year span of ET data is part of what makes the tool so valuable.
“My family has been farming the same crop on the same piece of ground for over 150 years,” Baker said.
“Using FARMS gives us the ability to review historical trends and changes to understand what worked and what didn’t year to year: maybe I need to apply more fertilizer to that field, or better weed control to another.
Farmers know their land, and FARMS provides a new tool that will allow us to make better use of land and resources.”
According to Roth, the best feature of the tool is intangible. “Being a farmer is stressful,” Roth said.
“OpenET is beneficial for the farm and the agronomic decisions, but I think the best thing it gives me is peace of mind.”
Continuing Evolution of FARMS
Over the coming months, the OpenET team plans to present the new tool at agricultural conferences and conventions in order to gather feedback from as many users as possible.
“We know that there is already a demand for a seven-day forecast of ET, and I’m sure there will be requests about the interface itself,” said OpenET senior software engineer Will Carrara.
“We’re definitely looking to the community to help us further refine that platform.” “I think there are many applications we haven’t even thought of yet,” Baker added.
“The FARMS interface isn’t just a tool; it’s an entirely new toolbox itself. I’m excited to see what people do with it.”
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NASA uses GPS on the moon for the first time
March 4, 2025
On March 2, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost made history, becoming the first commercial lunar lander to successfully touchdown on the moon’s surface. The groundbreaking lander is wasting no time in getting to work.
According to NASA, the joint public-private mission has already successfully demonstrated the ability to use Earth-based GPS signals on the lunar surface, marking a major step ahead of future Artemis missions.
Accurate and reliable navigation will be vital for future astronauts as they travel across the moon, but traditional GPS tools aren’t much good when you’re around 225,000 miles from Earth.
One solution could be transmitting data from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to the lunar surface in order to autonomously measure time, velocity, and position.
That’s what mission engineers from NASA and the Italian Space Agency hoped to demonstrate through the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), one of the 10 projects packed aboard Blue Ghost.
However, LuGRE’s achievements didn’t only begin after touchdown on the moon. On January 21, the instrument broke NASA’s record for highest altitude GNSS signal acquisition at 209,900 miles from Earth while traveling to the moon.
That record continued to rise during Blue Ghost’s journey over the ensuing days, peaking at 243,000 miles from Earth after reaching lunar orbit on February 20.
NASA currently tracks spacecraft using a mix of onboard sensors and Earth-based tracking signals, but these methods generally require oversight from a team of engineers.
Swapping out some of these systems for GNSS data could reduce the need for human operators, since the signals can be autonomously picked up by spacecraft.
“On Earth we can use GNSS signals to navigate in everything from smartphones to airplanes,” Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program, said in a statement.
“Now, LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon.”
LuGRE relied on two GNSS constellations, GPS and Galileo, which triangulate positioning based on dozens of medium Earth orbit satellites that provide real-time tracking data.
It performed its navigational fix at approximately 2 a.m. EST on March 3, while about 225,000 miles from Earth.
Blue Ghost’s LuGRE system will continue collecting information over the next two weeks almost continuously while the lander’s other tools begin their own experiments.
https://www.popsci.com/science/blue-ghost-gps-moon/
NASA Sets Coverage for Intuitive Machines’ Second Private Moon Landing
Mar 04, 2025
Carrying NASA technology demonstrations and science investigations, Intuitive Machines is targeting their Moon landing no earlier than 12:32 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 6.
The company’s Nova-C lunar lander is slated to land in Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau near the Moon’s South Pole, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence.
Watch live landing coverage of the Intuitive Machines 2 (IM-2) landing, hosted by NASA and Intuitive Machines, on NASA+ starting no earlier than 11:30 a.m., approximately 60 minutes before touchdown.
Beginning at 11 a.m. the agency will share blog updates as landing milestones occur.
Following the Moon landing, NASA and Intuitive Machines will host a news conference from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss the mission, technology demonstrations, and science opportunities that lie ahead as lunar surface operations begin.
U.S. media interested in participating in person must request accreditation by 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, by contacting the NASA Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.
A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. To ask questions via phone, all media must RSVP by 4 p.m. March 5 to the NASA Johnson Newsroom, and dial in at least 15 minutes before the briefing begins.
After landing, NASA and Intuitive Machines leaders will participate in the news conference:
Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Clayton Turner, associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Steve Altemus, CEO, Intuitive Machines
Tim Crain, chief growth officer, Intuitive Machines
The IM-2 mission launched at 7:16 p.m. Feb. 26 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The lander is carrying NASA technology that will measure the potential presence of resources from lunar soil that could be extracted and used by future explorers to produce fuel or breathable oxygen.
In addition, a passive Laser Retroreflector Array on the top deck of the lander will bounce laser light back at any orbiting or incoming spacecraft to give future spacecraft a permanent reference point on the lunar surface.
Other technologies on this delivery will demonstrate a robust cellular network to help future astronauts communicate and deploy a propulsive drone that can hop across the lunar surface to navigate its challenging terrain.
NASA continues to work with multiple American companies to deliver technology and science to the lunar surface through the agency’s CLPS initiative.
This pool of companies may bid on contracts for end-to-end lunar delivery services, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth, and landing on the surface of the Moon.
NASA’s CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum value of $2.6 billion through 2028.
The agency awarded Intuitive Machines the contract to send NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon using its American-designed and -manufactured lunar lander for approximately $62.5 million.
Through the Artemis campaign, commercial robotic deliveries will test technologies, perform science experiments, and demonstrate capabilities on and around the Moon to help NASA explore in advance of Artemis Generation astronaut missions to the lunar surface, and ultimately crewed missions to Mars.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-sets-coverage-for-intuitive-machines-second-private-moon-landing/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/artemis/
Blue Ghost Begins Surface Operations, Captures Descent Video, Sunrise
March 4, 2025
Shortly after landing on the Moon March 2, Firefly Aerospace and NASA teams kicked off surface operations for the science and technology instruments on the company’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.
Firefly also captured the lunar sunrise and a video during descent and landing.
All NASA instruments onboard continue to be healthy and several payloads have already collected data, including:
The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) successfully lifted and removed lunar regolith, or dirt, using electrical forces on the glass and thermal radiator surfaces.
The EDS re-duster also demonstrated its ability to move regolith (lunar soil and rock), aiding dust management. While data analysis continues, the dust instrument has fulfilled most of its objectives.
These results confirm EDS as a promising solution for future lunar surface operations.
Shortly after landing, the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) was powered on and began conducting their first science operation and acquired and tracked Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals on the lunar surface for the first time ever — approximately 225,000 miles away from Earth.
The Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) instrument captured images during the spacecraft’s lunar descent and touchdown on the lunar surface.
Although the results are still being analyzed, this data provided by SCALPSS could help shed insight into the effects that engine plumes have on the surface.
Blue Ghost’s Surface Access Arm deployed the Lunar PlanetVac (LPV), which was developed to efficiently collect and transfer lunar soil from the Moon to other science instruments or sample return containers without relying on gravity.
Since deployment, Lunar PlanetVac has begun sampling lunar regolith.
During the 14 days of surface operation, NASA payloads will continue collecting science and data on the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign. Continue to follow along for more CLPS updates nasa.gov/clps.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2025/03/04/blue-ghost-begins-surface-operations-captures-descent-video-sunrise/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpHhEybJdxg
X-ray Signal Points to Destroyed Planet, Chandra Finds
Mar 04, 2025
A planet may have been destroyed by a white dwarf at the center of a planetary nebula — the first time this has been seen.
As described in our latest press release, this would explain a mysterious X-ray signal that astronomers have detected from the Helix Nebula for over 40 years.
The Helix is a planetary nebula, a late-stage star like our Sun that has shed its outer layers leaving a small dim star at its center called a white dwarf.
This composite image contains X-rays from Chandra (magenta), optical light data from Hubble (orange, light blue), infrared data from ESO (gold, dark blue), and ultraviolet data from GALEX (purple) of the Helix Nebula.
Data from Chandra indicates that this white dwarf has destroyed a very closely orbiting planet.
An artist’s concept shows a planet (left) that has approached too close to a white dwarf (right) and is being torn apart by tidal forces from the star.
The white dwarf is in the center of a planetary nebula depicted by the blue gas in the background.
The planet is part of a planetary system, which includes one planet in the upper left and another in the lower right.
The besieged planet could have initially been a considerable distance from the white dwarf but then migrated inwards by interacting with the gravity of the other planets in the system.
Eventually debris from the planet will form a disk around the white dwarf and fall onto the star’s surface, creating the mysterious signal in X-rays that astronomers have detected for decades.
Dating back to 1980, X-ray missions, such as the Einstein Observatory and ROSAT telescope, have picked up an unusual reading from the center of the Helix Nebula.
They detected highly energetic X-rays coming from the white dwarf at the center of the Helix Nebula named WD 2226-210, located only 650 light-years from Earth.
White dwarfs like WD 2226-210 do not typically give off strong X-rays.
A new study featuring the data from Chandra and XMM-Newton may finally have settled the question of what is causing these X-rays from WD 2226-210: this X-ray signal could be the debris from a destroyed planet being pulled onto the white dwarf.
If confirmed, this would be the first case of a planet seen to be destroyed by the central star in a planetary nebula.
Observations by ROSAT, Chandra, and XMM-Newton between 1992 and 2002 show that the X-ray signal from the white dwarf has remained approximately constant in brightness during that time.
The data, however, suggest there may be a subtle, regular change in the X-ray signal every 2.9 hours, providing evidence for the remains of a planet exceptionally close to the white dwarf.
Previously scientists determined that a Neptune-sized planet is in a very close orbit around the white dwarf — completing one revolution in less than three days.
The researchers in this latest study conclude that there could have been a planet like Jupiter even closer to the star.
The besieged planet could have initially been a considerable distance from the white dwarf but then migrated inwards by interacting with the gravity of other planets in the system.
Once it approached close enough to the white dwarf the gravity of the star would have partially or completely torn the planet apart.
WD 2226-210 has some similarities in X-ray behavior to two other white dwarfs that are not inside planetary nebulas.
One is possibly pulling material away from a planet companion, but in a more sedate fashion without the planet being quickly destroyed.
The other white dwarf is likely dragging material from the vestiges of a planet onto its surface. These three white dwarfs may constitute a new class of variable, or changing, object.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/x-ray-signal-points-to-destroyed-planet-chandra-finds/
https://chandra.cfa.harvard.edu/press/25_releases/press_030425.html
https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.07863
DeSantis celebrates SpaceX bringing Starship operations to Florida, calls for NASA HQ relocation
Updated Mar. 4, 2025
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis this week celebrated Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX bringing Starship operations for Florida.
“SpaceX is expanding its Starship operations in Florida, bringing Starship production and launch capabilities to the Space Coast,” the company said on Monday.
“Congratulations to SpaceX on your recently announced plans to bring Starship operations to Florida,” DeSantis said.
“With leading space companies—now including SpaceX—investing in the Free State of Florida, NASA should scrap their expensive new HQ in D.C. and consider moving to Florida as well.”
The governor’s calls for relocation continue as support has mounted at the federal level for NASA’s headquarters moving to the Space Coast.
On the list backing such a move is Sen. Ashley Moody, along with Reps. Mike Haridopolos and Anna Paulina Luna – all Republicans from Florida.
“They have this massive building in Washington, DC, and like nobody goes to it, so why not just shutter it and move everybody down here?” the governor said in January.
“I think they’re planning on spending like a half a billion to build a new building up in D.C. that no one will ever go to either.”
“So hopefully, with the new administration coming in, they’ll see a great opportunity to just headquarter NASA here on the Space Coast of Florida.
I think that’d be very, very fitting,” he said.
https://flvoicenews.com/desantis-celebrates-spacex-moving-starship-operations-to-florida-calls-for-nasa-hq-relocation/
NSSA Issues Official Position Paper Calling for Doubling the U.S. Space Force Budget
March 5, 2025 12:15 PM EST
The National Security Space Association (NSSA) has released its official position paper, "Double Down on the Space Force Budget," calling for Congress to double the U.S. Space Force budget to $60 billion over the FY 2026-2030 Future Years Defense Program (FYDP).
This investment is critical as China and Russia continue to advance counterspace weapons, cyber warfare capabilities, and anti-satellite (ASAT) systems, directly challenging U.S. national security and global stability.
"The establishment of the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command was a groundbreaking step in securing U.S. leadership in space," said Steve Jacques, Executive Director of NSSA.
"We recognize the vision, innovation, and leadership demonstrated by President Trump, senior military officials, and the warfighter in building a service capable of meeting modern space challenges.
However, China's rapid military-civil fusion strategy and Russia's continued investment in space-based threats are eroding U.S. dominance.
We must act decisively to provide the funding, procurement agility, and operational flexibility necessary to ensure the United States of America remains the world's preeminent space power."
The NSSA paper warns that China has deployed hundreds of military satellites, developed hypersonic weapons, and expanded contested cislunar operations, while Russia has launched reconnaissance satellites targeting U.S. military assets and is reportedly developing a nuclear-armed ASAT weapon.
Without urgent action, the U.S. risks falling behind in space, jeopardizing both military and commercial operations.
To counter these threats, NSSA calls for a structured, stair-stepped increase in the Space Force budget to enhance missile warning and tracking, counterspace operations, intelligence and surveillance, secure satellite communications, and rapid launch capabilities.
However, funding alone is not enough—Congress must reform procurement processes to eliminate inefficiencies, streamline acquisitions, and enable rapid deployment of critical capabilities.
Additionally, NSSA recommends that Congress establish mission-focused budget line items and provide greater flexibility in the execution of appropriations to ensure resources can be quickly realigned to meet emerging threats.
The Space Force must also expand partnerships with the commercial space sector to leverage innovation while ensuring that warfighter-driven requirements remain central to all investment decisions.
To sustain U.S. space superiority, NSSA urges Congress and the Executive Branch to integrate these recommendations into the FY 2026 President's Budget Request, secure bipartisan support for long-term Space Force investment, and commit to sustained growth through the FYDP planning process.
https://www.streetinsider.com/PRNewswire/NSSA+Issues+Official+Position+Paper+Calling+for+Doubling+the+U.S.+Space+Force+Budget/24456636.html
https://nssaspace.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Accelerate-or-Lose.pdf
Striking images tell the story of space weather
05/03/2025
A compelling collection of images that illustrates humanity’s efforts to mitigate the far-reaching impacts of violent solar outbursts has been unveiled in London.
The exhibition – created by photographer and storyteller Max Alexander – features photos of instruments that will be carried by ESA’s Vigil mission, which is expected to transform Europe’s ability to forecast space weather following its launch in 2031.
About 150 million km separate Earth from its closest star but the planet is still well within the vast region of space, known as the heliosphere, that is dominated by the huge amounts energetic material and intense radiation emitted by the Sun.
Solar flares, coronal mass ejections, solar wind and geomagnetic storms can cause changes to the space environment, influencing Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field.
Most of the time these phenomena are harmless – and occasionally trigger stunning displays of aurora borealis – but extreme events have the potential to disrupt infrastructure on Earth and in space, including satellite telecommunications, global positioning systems, and power grids.
Max Alexander says, “The Sun gives us life, but it can also expose the vulnerabilities of the increasingly complex, intertwined systems on which we rely.
With the perspectives of leading experts, my aim is to highlight this duality as we build the resilience needed to coexist with the power of our closest star.”
Given the potential economic consequences of extreme solar activity, ESA is expanding Europe’s capability to forecast space weather, as demonstrated by the development of Vigil.
Matthew West, Vigil Mission Scientist at ESA, explains, “From its unique vantage point in deep space, Vigil will detect what happens on the Sun’s surface days before it rotates into view from Earth and satellites on the Sun-Earth line.
“As the first mission to permanently observe the Sun and Earth from the side, its instruments can detect how space weather and the causes of geomagnetic storms move from the Sun towards our planet.
This greatly improves our understanding and provides a much more precise and actionable forecast.”
Airbus UK is the prime contractor for the spacecraft and several of its instruments are being developed under the leadership of British institutes, including its magnetometer and its plasma analyser, both of which are featured in the photography collection.
Vigil will greatly enhance ESA’s existing space weather network, managed from its mission control centre in Germany, which draws on observations from multiple sources to provide actionable information on solar activity.
Giuseppe Mandorlo, Vigil Project Manager at ESA, says, “The recent Lloyds of London report on economic impacts due to a major solar event estimated losses of up to $2.4 trillion over 5 years, which highlights the scale and long-lasting effects of such an event.
“The forecasting and ‘nowcasting’ space weather services that Vigil will enable will be essential if we are to mitigate the impacts to our critical services and daily life.
Vigil is an investment in protecting our infrastructure and people.”
Alexander concludes, “Solar storms have struck our planet before, and we know they will again – it is just a matter of when.
This exhibition tells the story of how humanity is using its ingenuity and knowledge to develop the tools protect itself from such an event.”
‘Life in the Sun’s Atmosphere: from Disruption to Resilience’ is on show in London at Lloyd’s, the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance marketplace, from 3 to 14 March 2025.
https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Exhibitions/Striking_images_tell_the_story_of_space_weather
Maserati MC20 Sets Autonomous Speed Record at Kennedy Space Center
March 5, 2025
Maserati has made history in autonomous driving, as the MC20 Coupe set a new world speed record without a human behind the wheel.
Reaching an impressive 197 mph at the Kennedy Space Center’s Space Florida Launch and Landing Facility (LLF), the AI-driven supercar surpassed the previous record of 192 mph, proving that autonomous racing technology is advancing faster than ever.
This groundbreaking achievement was a collaborative effort between the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), Politecnico di Milano, and Maserati, with the record run taking place during the 1000 Miglia Experience Florida.
By utilizing the same runway that once supported NASA’s Space Shuttle landings, the test provided a real-world proving ground for high-speed autonomous mobility.
The AI Technology Behind the Record
The MC20’s record-setting performance was made possible through advanced artificial intelligence and robotics software, developed by PoliMOVE-MSU, a research team from Politecnico di Milano’s Artificial Intelligence Driving Autonomous (AIDA) division.
This effort wasn’t just about raw speed—it was a critical step toward applying autonomous racing technology to streetcars.
The AI system was engineered to handle extreme velocities with precision, stability, and real-time decision-making, demonstrating how machine learning and self-driving algorithms can adapt to high-performance applications.
The PoliMOVE-MSU system integrates multiple sensor-based technologies, machine learning algorithms, and advanced real-time adjustments, ensuring the vehicle maintains stability while responding dynamically to road conditions.
This level of development brings autonomous mobility closer to widespread adoption in the automotive industry.
The Maserati MC20: A Supercar Pushing Boundaries
Maserati’s MC20 was an ideal choice for this record-breaking run, blending cutting-edge performance with state-of-the-art AI capabilities.
The mid-engine supercar is powered by a twin-turbocharged Nettuno V6 engine, delivering 621 horsepower and 538 lb-ft of torque.
Designed with aerospace-inspired aerodynamics, the MC20 is built for high-speed stability and precision handling, making it a perfect platform for autonomous experimentation.
This project not only showcased the MC20’s engineering excellence but also demonstrated how AI-driven control systems can push modern supercars to their limits.
With active aerodynamics, an advanced carbon-fiber monocoque, and a near-perfect weight distribution, the MC20 provided a highly optimized foundation for AI-driven performance testing.
Bridging Autonomous Racing and Everyday Mobility
The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) has been at the forefront of high-speed autonomous racing, pushing the boundaries of self-driving vehicle capabilities.
By applying their expertise to a production-based supercar, this project marked an important step in translating racing-derived AI innovations to real-world applications.
Paul Mitchell, CEO of the Indy Autonomous Challenge, highlighted the broader significance of this achievement, stating:
“This achievement is about more than just speed — it’s about pushing AI-driven software and robotics hardware to their absolute limits. By doing so with a streetcar, we’re helping advance high-speed autonomous mobility for the real world.”
By proving that AI can handle extreme speeds with precision, this test further supports the potential for self-driving systems in both motorsports and commercial applications.
The advancements demonstrated in the MC20’s autonomous run could one day influence future road-going models, making self-driving technology more efficient, responsive, and adaptable to high-performance scenarios.
The Future of AI in High-Performance Vehicles
While many autonomous vehicle discussions focus on urban mobility and highway driving, this record-breaking test shifts the focus to high-speed capabilities and motorsport-inspired AI applications.
The ability of a machine to adapt to real-time speed changes, aerodynamic fluctuations, and track conditions at nearly 200 mph suggests that autonomous driving is evolving beyond controlled environments.
As automotive brands explore autonomy in performance cars, collaborations between racing engineers, AI specialists, and automakers will continue to drive innovation.
This test underscores that the fusion of racing technology and AI-driven mobility is no longer a distant concept—it’s already reshaping the industry.
https://stupiddope.com/2025/03/maserati-mc20-sets-autonomous-speed-record-at-kennedy-space-center/
https://www.maserati.com/us/en
James Webb Spots Mysterious Object Crossing Space Between Stars
Mar 4, 7:30 PM EST
NASA's groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a mysterious object that's freely floating through interstellar space.
According to NASA, the "planetary-mass" object, dubbed SIMP 0136, is roughly 13 times the mass of Jupiter, and is located just 20 light-years from Earth.
It's also spinning at a breakneck speed, completing a full rotation every 2.4 hours.
Thanks to the JWST's detailed infrared light observations, an international team of researchers detected signs of "complex atmospheric features," including possible cloud layers and temperature shifts in the object's atmosphere, as detailed in a study they published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
It's a fascinating glimpse at an exceedingly rare object.
The researchers suggest in their paper that objects like SIMP 0136 could much in common with cloud giants in the solar system, like Jupiter and Saturn, which "also have multiple cloud layers and high-altitude hot spots" (except that it's floating through space without a star, that is.)
Astronomers also aren't ruling out the possibility that it's a brown dwarf, an object that's between a planet and a star.
The latest research builds on existing observations by NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.
"We already knew that it varies in brightness, and we were confident that there are patchy cloud layers that rotate in and out of view and evolve over time," said lead author and Boston University doctoral student Allison McCarthy in a NASA statement.
"We also thought there could be temperature variations, chemical reactions, and possibly some effects of auroral activity affecting the brightness, but we weren’t sure."
James Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph allowed scientists to observe a much wider spectrum of infrared light, leading to fascinating new insights into the lonely object.
"Until now, we only had a little slice of the near-infrared spectrum from Hubble, and a few brightness measurements from Spitzer," said principal investigator and Trinity College Dublin assistant professor Johanna Vos in the statement.
The researchers ran hundreds of detailed light curves against atmospheric models to get a better sense of what SIMP 0136's atmosphere might look like.
They found evidence for patchy clouds and bright "hot spots," possibly related to auroras, far above the clouds.
"Imagine watching Earth from far away," Boston University scientist and coauthor Philip Muirhead said in a statement.
"If you were to look at each color separately, you would see different patterns that tell you something about its surface and atmosphere, even if you couldn’t make out the individual features."
"Blue would increase as oceans rotate into view," he added. "Changes in brown and green would tell you something about soil and vegetation."
Other light curves observed by the JWST suggest the existence of pockets of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide — but plenty of questions remain.
"We haven’t really figured out the chemistry part of the puzzle yet," Vos said. "But these results are really exciting because they are showing us that the abundances of molecules like methane and carbon dioxide could change from place to place and over time."
"If we are looking at an exoplanet and can get only one measurement, we need to consider that it might not be representative of the entire planet," she added.
https://futurism.com/james-webb-planetary-mass-object
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9eaf
SpaceX plans major expansion on Florida’s Space Coast
Posted: Mar 5, 2025 / 11:17 AM EST
Updated: Mar 5, 2025 / 11:17 AM EST
Aerospace company SpaceX is bringing its Starship operations to Florida’s Space Coast.
SpaceX will erect the 390-foot tall “Gigabay” facility on the grounds of Kennedy Space Center, according to a report from NBC affiliate WESH.
Approximately 600 people will work to construct Starships, Philip Metzger, the director of the Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity and Education at the University of Central Florida, said.
Building more rockets brings the potential for more launches.
“I think it’s crazy exciting,” Metzger told WESH. “Right now, we’re getting about one or even two launches per week. But the goal for SpaceX is to do about 10 launches per day.”
Metzger said that in addition to creating hundreds of manufacturing jobs, “there’s going to be a multiplier effect supporting that manufacturing, the supply chain, and the local economy.”
In a post on X, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis congratulated SpaceX on its plans to bring operations to Florida, adding that NASA should consider doing the same.
However, some Central Florida researchers and conservationists are concerned with potential impacts on the environment.
“Extensive environmental analysis must be done so the lagoon and infrastructure are protected,” research scientist Ken Kremer told WESH.
“SpaceX should pay for all improvements. The FAA should not be bullied by Musk.”
Construction on the Gigabay is set to begin next month, according to documents from the Federal Aviation Administration obtained by WESH.
Pending environmental impact reviews, SpaceX is planning its first Florida Starship launch for late 2025.
https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/spacex-plans-major-expansion-on-floridas-space-coast/
https://www.spacex.com/updates/
The solar system is teeming with 1 million 'alien invaders' from Alpha Centauri
March 5, 2025
One million alien visitors from another star system could already be lurking in the solar system.
We aren't talking about "little green men" here, however — more "little (and not so little) gray rocks," asteroids from the triple star system Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to our own, lying around 4.3 light-years away.
New research has indicated that, if Alpha Centauri ejects as much material as the solar system, then as many as one million space rocks larger than 328 feet (100 meters) wide could be lurking in the Oort Cloud, a band of icy material at the edge of our solar system.
Some of these alien visitors could even make their way into the inner solar system.
The scientists behind the new finding suggest that the amount of material entering the solar system from Alpha Centauri will increase over the next 28,000 years as the neighboring star system makes its closest approach to our own.
"We were a little surprised to find that the amount of material from Alpha Centauri was not completely negligible," team member and University of Western Ontario researcher Paul Wiegert told Space.com.
"Space is 'big,' and so it would not have been a surprise to find that perhaps no material from Alpha Centauri could reach us at all.
The fact that it could be present at levels that we could detect is a pleasant surprise," he added. "These objects really could be anywhere in the solar system at any given time."
Alpha Centauri pelts the solar system like a wet dog
Wiegert and his colleague, University of Western Ontario Ph.D. student Cole Gregg, were inspired to conduct a study of these alien invaders by the first known interstellar visitors.
These were the cigar-shaped 'Oumuamua, which caused a stir when it zipped through the inner solar system in 2017, and the more conventionally shaped comet/asteroid hybrid 2I/Borisov, which was discovered in 2019.
"We will certainly discover more than the two currently known interstellar visitors, 'Oumuamua and comet Borisov," Wiegert said.
"This is an attempt to understand where the interstellar visitors we will discover in the future are likely to arrive from."
Alpha Centauri is home to three stars, including the closest star to Earth other than the sun, Proxima Centauri, and an unknown number of planets.
As these stars and planets whirl around each other, their gravitational interactions perturb the orbits of other smaller objects in Alpha Centauri, ranging from asteroids and comets — planetesimals left over from the formation of our neighboring system — to particles of dust.
Think of Alpha Centauri as a wet dog after a long muddy walk, shaking off a damp spray of dirt, mud, water, and even tiny pebbles.
And just as that dog's owner gets pelted with this material if they stand too close, the solar system is pelted with matter from Alpha Centauri, with the Oort Cloud serving as our unfortunate jacket, catching much of the detritus.
The duo conducted a simulation of the solar system and Alpha Centauri that lasted for over 100 million years. It showed that a significant number of objects can reach the solar system from Alpha Centauri.
"Objects from Alpha Centauri might enter the extreme outer boundaries of our solar system, defined to be the outer edge of the Oort Cloud, at a rate of perhaps 50 per year," Wiegart said.
"But only a very small fraction of these would get close enough to the sun to be visible. We estimated there is only a one-in-a-million chance that an asteroid from Alpha Centauri is currently within the orbit of Saturn."
The researcher added that, because of the high speed at which they enter the solar system, many of these interstellar visitors are unlikely to hang around our cosmic backyard, making fly-through visits just like 'Oumuamua and 2l/Borisov.
"Because they have rather high speeds, they do not get gravitationally captured by our sun but instead simply pass through our system," Wiegart added.
The duo's findings could be useful in the future because the research suggests clues that could be used to indicate interstellar visitors that originate from Alpha Centauri.
"Our study does show that asteroids from Alpha Centauri do have rather specific directions and speeds, and if a new asteroid were discovered traveling in that manner, it would be a strong indicator that it might have Alpha Centauri as its origin," Wiegart said.
"The possibility of studying material from Alpha Centauri is incredibly exciting," Wiegart said.
"Finding an asteroid from there in our solar system would be like getting a sample return mission from another star system, but for free."
https://www.space.com/the-universe/asteroids/solar-system-teeming-with-1-million-alien-invaders-from-alpha-centauri
https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.03224
See Earth shine like a Blue Marble in this stunning photo by Japan's private Resilience moon lander
March 4, 2025
The private Resilience moon lander now has a target touchdown date.
The Tokyo-based company ispace, which built and operates Resilience, announced Monday (March 3) that it's eyeing June 5 for the spacecraft's lunar touchdown attempt.
The current plan calls for Resilience to land that day at 3:24 p.m. EST (2024 GMT) near the center of Mare Frigoris ("Sea of Cold"), a basaltic plain in the moon's northern reaches. But that's not set in stone.
"Should conditions change, there are three alternative landing sites that are being considered with different landing dates and times for each," the company said in a statement on Monday.
"A decision about landing will be made in advance, but the window for landing is open from June 6 through June 8, 2025."
Resilience is ispace's second moon lander. The first reached lunar orbit successfully in March 2023 but crashed during its landing attempt a month later.
Resilience launched Jan. 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which also sent Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander into the final frontier.
Blue Ghost aced its touchdown early Sunday morning (March 2), becoming just the second private vehicle ever to soft-land successfully on the moon.
Resilience is taking a longer, more circuitous path to Earth's nearest neighbor — one that didn't have a target landing date until Monday.
(Previously, ispace had said touchdown was expected sometime in late May or early June.)
Resilience has been performing well in deep space, notching five of the 10 preplanned mission milestones to date.
On Feb. 14, for example, the lander aced a flyby of the moon, zooming within 5,220 miles (8,400 kilometers) of the cratered lunar surface.
"Compared to Mission 1, Mission 2 is progressing as smoothly as can be expected from the moment of launch, which is proof that the mission operation specialists have made meticulous preparations.
I feel that the experience and knowledge from the previous mission have been put to good use," ispace Founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada said in the same statement.
“There are five remaining mission success milestones. We believe that Resilience will achieve them all with a majestic landing on the moon and the Tenacious rover will begin exploration," he added.
"We will work as hard as we can to make that happen."
Tenacious is a microrover built by ispace's European subsidiary. If all goes to plan, the little robot will deploy from Resilience on the lunar surface and collect some dirt and gravel under a contract with NASA.
The lander carries four other science and technology payloads as well, including an instrument that's monitoring radiation levels in deep space and an experiment that will attempt to grow algae — a potential food source for future moon settlers — on the lunar surface.
Resilience will reach lunar orbit on or around May 6, according to Monday's statement.
It won't be the next private vehicle to try its hand at a lunar landing: Houston-based company Intuitive Machines, which pulled off the first-ever private moon touchdown in February 2024 with its Odysseus spacecraft, will try to repeat the feat on Thursday (March 6) with a lander named Athena, which launched on Feb. 26 and arrived in lunar orbit on Monday (March 3).
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/see-earth-as-a-blue-marble-in-this-stunning-photo-by-japans-private-resiliance-moon-lander
https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=7097