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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
April 2, 2025
Jupiter and Ring in Infrared from Webb
Why does Jupiter have rings? Jupiter's main ring was discovered in 1979 by NASA's passing Voyager 1 spacecraft, but its origin was then a mystery. Data from NASA's Galileo spacecraft that orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003, however, confirmed the hypothesis that this ring was created by meteoroid impacts on small nearby moons. As a small meteoroid strikes tiny Metis, for example, it will bore into the moon, vaporize, and explode dirt and dust off into a Jovian orbit. The featured image of Jupiter in infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope shows not only Jupiter and its clouds, but this ring as well. Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) in comparatively light color on the right, Jupiter's large moon Europa in the center of diffraction spikes on the left, and Europa's shadow next to the GRS are also visible. Several features in the image are not yet well understood, including the seemingly separated cloud layer on Jupiter's right limb.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
>>22855493 LB
>IT HABBENED - BILL MAHER VISITED THE WHITEHOUSE
Bill Maher posts about dinner with Trump as Kid Rock says 'It could not have been better'
7:56 pm ET April 1, 2025
Following his dinner with President Donald Trump, Bill Maher is teasing that he's got a lot to say about the experience.
The "Real Time with Bill Maher" host, a longtime critic of the businessman-turned two-term president, took to X Tuesday afternoon to report back on the meeting.
"Hey everybody, thank you for all the interest in my dinner with the president last night – I promise, all will be revealed on the next @RealTimers on April 11," Maher wrote.
He added, "As it’s April 1 today, no one would believe what I said today anyway!"
County rock singer and staunch Trump supporter Kid Rock was responsible for setting up the dinner between the two.
Prior to the meeting, Trump expressed doubts about how the encounter would go in a Sunday night Truth Social post, saying Kid Rock suggested they confer, and "I really didn’t like the idea much, and don’t like it much now, but thought it would be interesting."
He added, "The problem is, no matter how much he likes your Favorite President, ME, he will publicly proclaim what a terrible guy I am, etc., … Who knows, though, maybe I’ll be proven wrong?
In any event, I’m doing a favor for a friend. I look forward to meeting with Bill Maher, Kid Rock and, I believe, even the Legendary Dana White will be present. It might be fun or, it might not, but you will be the first to know!"
Kid Rock says Bill Maher, Trump 'talked about things we had in common'
For his part, Rock said Tuesday morning on "Fox & Friends" that "It could not have been better. Everyone was so surprised."
He continued, "The president was so gracious. He took us up to the private residence and we saw the Gettysburg Address and the Lincoln bedroom, and I was like, 'You've never been here, Bill?' … We talked about things we had in common.
Wokeness, securing the border. The president was asking him what he thought about policy going on with Iran and Israel and things."
Rock said, "It blew my mind. I was very proud." Though he told the hosts that the guests checked in their phones, he hoped the White House would release some photos from the meeting.
Bill Maher explains why he 'will talk to anybody'
"There will be lots of people on the left who will be like, 'How you talk to this man?'" Maher said on the March 23 episode of his Club Random podcast. He went on to explain why he found it important to reach across the political aisle.
"I'm not playing this game that you mean girls play where like, 'You know what? You can't sit at my lunch table because I'm just not talking to you.' Not talking to you? You lost the election," he said.
"Who … do you think you have to talk to? It's one thing if you win it; it's another thing if you lose it."
Maher continued, "We've got to get more of this going. This has to become the center. This has to become a real center. Right now, it's a few lonely islands that need to become a bigger … sandbar."
When guest Andrew Schulz asked what Maher planned to wear to the dinner, Maher replied, "I'm not going to dress like (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy. It's not going to be a black T-shirt."
"I am wearing a suit and tie," he said. "It's a sign of respect. It's the White House! … You also have to respect the guy did win. It's more than half the country.
I keep saying it, I'm not going to hate. You can not like Trump; you can hate him, but you can't hate everybody who voted for him. I said it in my last special: I don't hate half the country, and I don't want to hate half the country."
"So yes I will talk to anybody, and it's an honor to be invited to the White House under any circumstance."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/04/01/bill-maher-meets-trump-kid-rock/82765328007/
https://x.com/billmaher/status/1907174972327686481
NASA Research Examines the Multicellular Behavior of Unique Bacteria
Apr 02, 2025
In a recent study, NASA-supported researchers gained new insight into the lives of bacteria that survive by grouping together as if they were a multi-cellular organism.
The organisms in the study are the only bacteria known to do this in this way, and studying them could help astrobiologists explain important steps in the evolution of life on Earth.
The organisms in the study are known as 'multicellular magnetotactic bacteria,' or MMB.
Being magnetotactic means that MMB are part of a select group of bacteria that orient their movement based on Earth's magnetic field using tiny 'compass needles' in their cells.
As if that wasn't special enough, MMB also live bunched up in collections of cells that are considered by some scientists to exhibit ‘obligate’ multicellularity, which is the trait the new study is focused on.
In biology, obligate means that an organism requires something for survival. In this case, it means that single cells of MMB cannot survive on their own.
Instead, cells live as a consortium of multiple cells that behave in many ways like a single multicellular organism.
This requirement to live together means that when MMB reproduce, they do so by replicating all the cells in the consortium at once, doubling the total number of cells.
This large group of cells then splits into two identical consortia.
MMB are the only example of bacteria that are known to live like this. Many other bacteria clump together as simple aggregates of single cells.
For instance, cyanobacteria clump together in colonies and form structures like stromatolites or biofilms that are visible to the naked eye. However, unlike MMB, these cyanobacteria can also survive as single, individual cells.
In the new study, scientists have revealed even more complexity in the relationships between MMB cells. First, contrary to long-held assumptions, individual cells within MMB consortia are not genetically identical, they differ slightly in their genetic blueprint.
Further, cells within a consortium exhibit different and complementary behavior in terms of their metabolism. Each cell in an MMB consortium has a role that contributes to the survival of the entire group.
This behavior is similar to how individual cells within multicellular organisms behave. For example, human bodies are made up of tens of trillions of cells. These cells differentiate into specific cell types with different functions.
Bone cells are not the same as blood cells. Fat cells that store energy are different from the nerve cells that store and transmit information. Each cell has a role to play, and together they make up a single living body.
The evolution of multicellularity is one of the major transitions in the history life on our planet and had profound effects on Earth's biosphere.
In the wake of its appearance, life developed novel strategies for survival that led to entirely new ecosystems.
As the only example of bacteria that exhibit obligate multicellularity, MMB provide an important example of possible mechanisms behind this profound step in life's evolutionary history on Earth.
The study, "Multicellular magnetotactic bacteria are genetically heterogeneous consortia with metabolically differentiated cells," was published in PLOS Biology.
The work was supported through the NASA Exobiology program and the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program.
https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/planetary-science/astrobiology/nasa-research-examines-the-multicellular-behavior-of-unique-bacteria/
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002638
NASA’s SPHEREx Takes First Images, Preps to Study Millions of Galaxies
April 1, 2025
Processed with rainbow hues to represent a range of infrared wavelengths, the new pictures indicate the astrophysics space observatory is working as expected.
NASA’s SPHEREx (short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) has turned on its detectors for the first time in space.
Initial images from the observatory, which launched March 11, confirm that all systems are working as expected.
Although the new images are uncalibrated and not yet ready to use for science, they give a tantalizing look at SPHEREx’s wide view of the sky.
Each bright spot is a source of light, like a star or galaxy, and each image is expected to contain more than 100,000 detected sources.
There are six images in every SPHEREx exposure — one for each detector. The top three images show the same area of sky as the bottom three images.
This is the observatory’s full field of view, a rectangular area about 20 times wider than the full Moon. When SPHEREx begins routine science operations in late April, it will take approximately 600 exposures every day.
“Our spacecraft has opened its eyes on the universe,” said Olivier Doré, SPHEREx project scientist at Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, both in Southern California. “It’s performing just as it was designed to.”
The SPHEREx observatory detects infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye.
To make these first images, science team members assigned a visible color to every infrared wavelength captured by the observatory.
Each of the six SPHEREx detectors has 17 unique wavelength bands, for a total of 102 hues in every six-image exposure.
Breaking down color this way can reveal the composition of an object or the distance to a galaxy.
With that data, scientists can study topics ranging from the physics that governed the universe less than a second after its birth to the origins of water in our galaxy.
“This is the high point of spacecraft checkout; it’s the thing we wait for,” said Beth Fabinsky, SPHEREx deputy project manager at JPL. “There’s still work to do, but this is the big payoff. And wow! Just wow!”
During the past two weeks, scientists and engineers at JPL, which manages the mission for NASA, have executed a series of spacecraft checks that show all is well so far.
In addition, SPHEREx’s detectors and other hardware have been cooling down to their final temperature of around minus 350 degrees Fahrenheit (about minus 210 degrees Celsius).
This is necessary because heat can overwhelm the telescope’s ability to detect infrared light, which is sometimes called heat radiation.
The new images also show that the telescope is focused correctly. Focusing is done entirely before launch and cannot be adjusted in space.
“Based on the images we are seeing, we can now say that the instrument team nailed it,” said Jamie Bock, SPHEREx’s principal investigator at Caltech and JPL.
How It Works
Where telescopes like NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes were designed to target small areas of space in detail, SPHEREx is a survey telescope and takes a broad view.
Combining its results with those of targeted telescopes will give scientists a more robust understanding of our universe.
The observatory will map the entire celestial sky four times during its two-year prime mission.
Using a technique called spectroscopy, SPHEREx will collect the light from hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies in more wavelengths any other all-sky survey telescope.
When light enters SPHEREx’s telescope, it’s directed down two paths that each lead to a row of three detectors.
The observatory’s detectors are like eyes, and set on top of them are color filters, which are like color-tinted glasses.
While a standard color filter blocks all wavelengths but one, like yellow- or rose-tinted glasses, the SPHEREx filters are more like rainbow-tinted glasses: The wavelengths they block change gradually from the top of the filter to the bottom.
“I’m rendered speechless,” said Jim Fanson, SPHEREx project manager at JPL. “There was an incredible human effort to make this possible, and our engineering team did an amazing job getting us to this point.”
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/spherex/nasas-spherex-takes-first-images-preps-to-study-millions-of-galaxies/
https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/#/sc_spherex
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26280-first-images-from-nasas-spherex/
Iceland Space Agency To Host NASA’s Deleted Women Astronaut Comics
April 2, 2025
NASA has removed two comic books about women astronauts from all of its websites.
The removal seems to be part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to purge what it deems “DEI” (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) content from federal agencies.
In response, the Icelandic Space Agency has pledged to host and translate the comics, ensuring they remain available to a global audience.
Daniel Leeb, Executive Mission Director at Iceland Space Agency, voiced his disapproval of NASA’s decision in a LinkedIn post, condemning the censorship and reaffirming the importance of representation in space exploration.
“The Iceland Space Agency will host and post First Woman issue one and two on our website come Monday morning,” Daniel stated.
“We will also start an initiative to have this translated into Icelandic… and to continue the story.”
Daniel further emphasised, “I hope for my daughters and all the daughters on Earth that we can all begin to use our voices to push back and say clearly: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is not the boogeyman some would have you believe.
In fact, it is a foundational strength in geopolitics, economics, and society as a whole.”
https://grapevine.is/news/2025/04/02/icelandic-space-agency-to-host-nasas-deleted-women-astronaut-comics/
Citizen Scientists Use NASA Open Science Data to Research Life in Space
Apr 02, 2025
How can life thrive in deep space? The Open Science Data Repository Analysis Working Groups invite volunteers from all backgrounds to help answer this question.
Request to join these citizen science groups to help investigate how life adapts to space environments, exploring topics like radiation effects, microgravity’s impact on human and plant health, and how microbes change in orbit.
Currently, nine Analysis Working Groups (AWGs) hold monthly meetings to advance their specific focus areas.
Participants collaborate using an online platform, the AWG “Forum-Space”, where they connect with peers and experts, join discussions, and contribute to over 20 active projects.
The AWGs work with data primarily from the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR), a treasure trove of spaceflight data on physiology, molecular biology, bioimaging, and much more.
For newcomers, there are tutorials and a comprehensive paper covering all aspects of the repository and the AWG community.
You can explore 500+ studies, an omics multi-study visualization portal, the environmental data app, and RadLab, a portal for radiation telemetry data. (“Omics” refers to fields of biology that end in “omics,” like “genomics”.)
Each of the nine AWGs has a Lead who organizes their group and holds monthly virtual meetings. Once you join, make sure to connect with the Lead and get on the agenda so you can introduce yourself. Learn more about the AWGs here.
Have an idea for a new project? Propose a new project and help lead it! From data analysis and visualization to shaping data standards and conducting literature meta-analyses, there’s a place for everyone to contribute.
Request to join, and together, we can address a great challenge for humanity: understanding and enabling life to thrive in deep space!
https://science.nasa.gov/get-involved/citizen-science/citizen-scientists-use-nasa-open-science-data-to-research-life-in-space/
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-o8EuXzJ5wrzAzGEBjlHn7yPnZBnSvZuSdoHIMK67sfon4A/viewform?pli=1
Launch of third NASA rocket completes complex aurora mission
April 01, 2025
The third and final NASA sounding rocket in a mission to better understand how the aurora affects the upper atmosphere launched at 1:33 a.m. Saturday and dispersed white vapor tracers high over central Alaska.
The first two rockets launched from Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks on Tuesday, March 25, with one taking a route similar to Saturday’s rocket and the other flying farther north to eject colorful vapor tracers over the Arctic Ocean above Utqiagvik and Kaktovik.
The mission, titled Auroral Waves Excited by Substorm Onset Magnetic Events, or AWESOME, is led by space physics professor Mark Conde of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and UAF College of Natural Science and Mathematics.
The mission included ground observation sites at Utqiagvik, Kaktovik, Toolik Field Station, Venetie, Eagle and Poker Flat.
Ten UAF graduate and undergraduate students, along with staff and research faculty, operated cameras at the sites.
NASA and some of the nation’s top universities also participated.
“The big picture is that things worked, so it’s very gratifying knowing I should have the data to address the questions that we asked,” Conde said.
“Also very gratifying is that the students working at the six ground observation stations did a fantastic job. They all understood what was required. They understood the equipment and supported the mission flawlessly.”
Aly Mendoza-Hill, program executive for sounding rockets in the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., praised the team and the mission.
“The entire team persevered to make these three successful complex launches happen,” Mendoza-Hill said.
”These launches are a great accomplishment in the effort to continue to research the impact of auroras and potentially improve space weather forecasting.”
Vapor tracers from the third rocket appeared quite different from those of the other two rockets, due to a faulty payload valve. The result was a bright white ring that hung in the sky for a short while early Saturday.
“That ring was spectacular. It was extremely bright and absolutely unmissable,” Conde said.
The payload’s tracer release system consisted of two valves: A main valve to initiate releasing the tracer material and a second one to cycle the release on and off in bursts during both the upward and downward portions of the rocket’s flight path.
However, a faulty control circuit in the payload incorrectly kept the second valve permanently open, which allowed the tracer material to flow from the payload faster than intended.
As a result, it was all released early and only during the upward portion of flight. When the excess material re-entered the atmosphere on the way back down, it formed the glowing ring that was seen from the ground.
Conde will now gather the data from the ion gauges and magnetometers sent skyward by the three rockets and collect images made by the students and staff at the ground stations.
“Then I will have to spend many, many hours going through and analyzing the images that we got and doing the triangulations that turn that into measurements of winds,” he said. “So there is months of work ahead.”
The UAF Geophysical Institute owns Poker Flat, located at Mile 30 Steese Highway, and operates it under a contract with NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, which is part of the Goddard Space Flight Center.
https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/launch-third-nasa-rocket-completes-complex-aurora-mission
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQCAsSsU75w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YZ5SaYXsmY
Donalds unveils legislation to move NASA headquarters to Florida’s Space Coast
04/02/25 6:00 AM ET
Florida gubernatorial candidate and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) is set to introduce legislation in the House proposing that NASA headquarters be moved from Washington, D.C. to Florida.
The legislation’s co-sponsors include a bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers, including Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.), Scott Franklin (R-Fla.), Mara Salazar (R-Fla.), Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), John Rutherford (R-Fla.), Cory Mills (R-Fla.), and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.).
The bill, titled Consolidating Aerospace Programs Efficiently at Canaveral Act, is the House version of a Senate bill that was introduced by Florida Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ashley Moody (R-Fla.).
The bill proposes moving NASA headquarters to Florida’s Space Coast in Brevard County within one year of enactment. The space coast is home to Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Hill was the first outlet to report on the House version of the legislation.
Proponents of moving NASA to Florida point to the existing aerospace infrastructure along the Space Coast.
They also note that Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Spaceforce Stations are primary launch sites for NASA and that having headquarters close by would streamline operations.
Florida’s proximity to the equator also makes it a prime location for launches.
The effort from Florida lawmakers comes as the lease on NASA Headquarters in Washington is set to expire in August of 2028.
However, lawmakers from the Sunshine State are not the only ones pushing to relocate NASA to their home state.
Last month, a group of Ohio lawmakers sent a letter to Vice President JD Vance, who is from Ohio, and President Trump’s pick to lead NASA Jared Isaacman, advocating to move the agency’s headquarters to Cleveland.
The letter was signed by Ohio GOP Reps. Max Miller, Troy Balderson, Mike Carey, Warren Davidson, Jim Jordan, Dave Joyce, Bob Latta, Michael Rulli, Dave Taylor and Mike Turner as well as Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur.
Ohio Sens. Bernie Moreno (R) and Jon Husted (R) also signed the letter.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5226759-nasa-headquarters-move-florida/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2422?s=1&r=2
Beautiful moment NASA astronaut is reunited with her DOGS after 288 days stranded in space (and one has an hilarious reaction to seeing her!)
Updated: 08:59 EDT, 2 April 2025
This is the heartwarming moment a NASA astronaut who spent 288 days stranded in space was finally reunited with her pet dogs.
Sunita Williams and her crewmate, Butch Wilmore, returned to Earth on March 18 after spending over nine months stuck on the International Space Station.
Following a medical assessment Mrs Williams was finally allowed to return to her home in Needham, Massachusetts, this week where she shared her heartwarming reunion with her two pet dogs on social media.
In the video, shared on X formerly Twitter, the astronaut can be seen with her dogs on the front lawn of her house.
The excitable labradors can be seen wagging their tails and jumping up and down before Mrs Williams' chocolate labrador has a rather unusual response to the return of his owner.
Mrs Williams keeps saying 'hello and whose here' to her pet pooches which her younger yellow labrador responds to gleefully by running back and forth to her.
However, the older labrador soon loses interest in Mrs Williams and instead seems more interested in a big stick he has acquired.
The canine then starts to strut along the front lawn as Mrs Williams accuses him of 'showing off'.
Despite her attempts to get the dogs attention, he remains disinterested in the owner he hasn't seen in over 200 days.
Mrs Williams eventually acknowledges that her beloved pooch is giving her 'the cold shoulder'.
She is not deprived of affection though as Mrs Williams' yellow labrador continues to lick her face and wag his tail.
When Mrs Williams travelled up to the ISS in June last year she was expecting to be back home with her dogs in a little over a week later.
However, technical issues with the Boeing Starliner - which sent Mrs Williams and Mr Wilmore into space, meant they were stranded in space for 288 days.
The pair were finally brought back to earth last month on a SpaceX shuttle.
Their gaunt appearances when they emerge from the capsule following their prolonged stay in space sparked concern from health expert.
However, in a recent interview with American broadcaster they both looked much better.
Mrs Williams was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1998.
She had already been a member of two space expeditions in 2006 and 2012 - spending 322 days on the ISS before the Crew-9 mission.
Before heading into space, the 59-year-old graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1987 and retired from the service at the rank of captain.
While in the Navy, Mrs Williams was a test pilot and helped certify new systems for aircraft. She logged more than 3,000 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft.
During her distinguished career, she received several honors, including the Legion of Merit, the Navy Commendation Medal twice, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
In 2007, ran Ms Williams ran the first marathon in space. In total she has taken nine spacewalks at a total of 62 hours all together and she is ranked among the most experienced space walkers.
NASA picked her for the Commercial Crew Program in 2015, and by 2018, she was assigned to Starliner's first operational mission.
According to her NASA biography, Mrs Williams was born Euclid, Ohio and now makes her home in Needham, Massachusetts,with her husband Michael.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14563231/NASA-astronaut-reunited-DOGS-stranded-space-hilarious-reaction-seeing-her.html
https://x.com/Astro_Suni/status/1907111525812191323
Miso made in space tastes nuttier, researchers find
April 2, 2025
Miso is a traditional Japanese condiment made by fermenting cooked soybeans and salt.
In a study published in iScience, researchers successfully made miso on the International Space Station (ISS).
They found that the miso smelled and tasted similar to miso fermented on Earth—just with a slightly nuttier, more roasted flavor.
The team hopes this research will help broaden the culinary options available to astronauts, improving the quality of life for long-term space travelers.
"There are some features of the space environment in low Earth orbit—in particular microgravity and increased radiation—that could have impacts on how microbes grow and metabolize and thus how fermentation works," says co-lead author Joshua D. Evans of Technical University of Denmark.
"We wanted to explore the effects of these conditions."
Motivated by curiosity surrounding the food options available to astronauts and how microbial communities evolve in space, the researchers set forth to test whether food fermentation was possible in space and, if so, how foods fermented in space would taste compared to their counterparts on Earth.
The researchers sent a small container of "miso-to-be" to the ISS in March 2020, where it stayed for 30 days to ferment before returning to Earth as miso.
Two other miso batches were fermented on Earth: one in Cambridge, MA, and the other in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Environmental sensing boxes kept tabs on the fermentation environment, closely monitoring temperature, humidity, pressure, and radiation.
Once the ISS miso was back on Earth, the team analyzed its microbial communities, flavor compounds, and sensory properties.
They found that the ISS miso fermented successfully, but that there were notable differences in the bacterial communities present in the misos.
"Fermentation [on the ISS] illustrates how a living system at the microbial scale can thrive through the diversity of its microbial community, emphasizing the potential for life to exist in space," says co-lead author Maggie Coblentz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"While the ISS is often seen as a sterile environment, our research shows that microbes and non-human life have agency in space, raising significant bioethical questions about removing plants and microbes from their home planet and introducing them to extraterrestrial environments."
The team also compared the flavor and scent of the ISS miso with that of the Earth misos. They found that the samples mostly contained the same aroma compounds and similar amino acid profiles.
Also, the researchers who tasted the misos reported that all the samples tasted good, with similar salty umami flavor profiles that were recognizable as miso.
However, they noted that the ISS miso had more of a roasted, nutty flavor than the Earth misos.
"By bringing together microbiology, flavor chemistry, sensory science, and larger social and cultural considerations, our study opens up new directions to explore how life changes when it travels to new environments like space," Evans says.
"It could enhance astronaut well-being and performance, especially on future long-term space missions.
More broadly, it could invite new forms of culinary expression, expanding and diversifying culinary and cultural representation in space exploration as the field grows."
Ultimately, Coblentz says she foresees the impact of this research extending far beyond a single jar of miso made in space.
"We've used something as fundamental as food as a starting point to spark conversations about social structures in space and the value of domestic roles within scientific and engineering fields," she says.
"The way we design systems in space sends a powerful message about who belongs there, who is invited, and how those people will experience space," says Coblentz.
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-miso-space-nuttier.html
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(25)00450-X
Earth dodges massive solar storm, with space experts watching for more activity
April 1, 2025, 9:02 p.m. ET
Stunning imagery from outer space shows the power of the Sun, with a massive solar flare and coronal mass ejection erupting from the giant star’s surface, but space experts say there is no need to worry yet.
According to scientists, the majority of the energy from the solar event did not directly travel towards Earth, limiting the impacts to a few radio blackouts.
The sunspot region known as AR4046 is expected to remain active for at least the next week, and when the Earth and the Sun are in more direct alignment, there could be potential impacts, such as auroras and disruptions to spacecraft and communication equipment.
NOAA’s Space Weather Center classified the recent solar flare as an “X” event, which denotes the most intense level.
Solar flares are categorized based on their strength, with five designated categories: A, B, C, M and X.
Solar flares with ratings between X5 and X8.7 impacted Earth in May 2024, allowing the auroras to be seen as far south as Florida and the Caribbean.
In 2003, a similarly powerful event, dubbed the “Halloween Solar Storm,” affected spacecraft, disrupted satellite TV and radio services and interfered with airline flight communications.
The recent CME and solar flare events occurred while the Sun was on a general downward trajectory in terms of activity after reaching the peak of Solar Cycle 25 in late 2024.
NASA says that during solar maximums, more visible sunspots, such as AR4046, lead to more frequent solar flares and CMEs.
In about five to seven years, the Sun will reach the solar minimum, a period when extreme space weather tends to be less frequent.
Experts from Harvard University anticipate that the Sun will remain in Solar Cycle 25 through at least 2031, before starting the gradual rise of activity again in Solar Cycle 2026.
According to NASA, solar cycles occur because the Sun’s magnetic field flips -during one decade, the north pole will be on the northern side and the south pole will be on the southern side, which reverses during the preceding decade or so.
Significant solar activity is known to persist well beyond the maximum phase, so while the recent X-class solar flare may have been surprising, it is not completely without precedent.
What space experts will be monitoring over the coming weeks is whether sunspot region AR4046 will remain active as it aligns with Earth, potentially directing solar events toward the planet.
According to NOAA, the fastest CMEs can reach Earth in about 15 hours, while slower events take a few days to arrive.
When an event is detected as potentially heading toward Earth, the agency’s Space Weather Prediction Center issues geomagnetic storm watches and warnings based on the level of confidence in the event’s timing and intensity.
https://nypost.com/2025/04/01/world-news/earth-dodges-solar-storm-space-experts-watch-for-more-activity/
Patty Maloney, ‘Far Out Space Nuts’ actress, dies at 89
April 02, 2025 at 8:42 am EDT
Patty Maloney, a 3-foot-11 actress who starred in “Far Out Space Nuts,” appeared with Billy Barty in many projects and also had a role in “Little House on the Prairie,” died on March 31. She was 89.
Maloney, who suffered several strokes through the years, died in hospice care in Winter Park, Florida, a suburb of Orlando, her brother, Dave Myrabo, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“For a little person growing up in a big world, she did everything she wanted to do,” Myrabo said.
Maloney worked with Barty on several projects, including the 1981 film “Under the Rainbow.”
She also was paired with Barty on “Little House on the Prairie,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Love Boat” and “Trapper John, M.D.” She and Barty also were regulars on a 1978-79 NBC variety show hosted by The Bay City Rollers before teaming again on a 1982 CBS special headlined by Cheryl Ladd.
Bailey also played Chewbacca’s son, Lumpy, in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special television movie has died. She was 89.
Bailey starred as Honk in the lone season of “Far Out Space Nuts” (1975-76) with Bob Denver and Chuck McCann. Bailey’s character could not speak but communicated through a horn on top of its head.
She also appeared in television movies such as “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” and “Punch and Jody” and films like “Ernest Saves Christmas,” “The Ice Pirates” and “Swing Shift.”
Patricia Ann Maloney was born on March 17, 1936, in Perkinsville, New York. After her father died when she was 7, she was raised in Winter Park by her mother, Kay, and her stepfather, Jerry.
Before her acting career, Bailey worked in carnivals and with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus until she married Joseph Vitek in 1961.
After Vitek died in 1968, Maloney worked as a puppeteer in “Fol-de-Pol” in 1972.
Maloney began experiencing health issues in 2010 when she was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
According to the National Eye Institute, AMD occurs when aging causes damage to the macula, which controls sharp, straight-ahead vision, making one’s central vision blurry.
https://www.960theref.com/news/trending/patty-maloney-far-out-space-nuts-actress-dies-89/HSVEAAAALRACDPUD5NM33ATMBY/
https://twitter.com/THR/status/1907342313610739849
https://twitter.com/sw_holocron/status/1907187292961427668
Drone pilot who flew over Vandenberg Space Force Base sentenced to 4 months in jail
April 2, 2025
A California man has been sentenced to jail for flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base and photographing the installation.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, Yinpiao Zhou of Brentwood, California flew a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 30, 2024 for nearly an hour and took 13 photographs of the facility.
Vandenberg security forces used detection systems at the base to track the drone to a park close to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away, where law enforcement found Zhou attempting to hide the drone in his jacket, a court affidavit states.
This week, Zhou was sentenced to four months in prison, which he has already served, with a year of supervised release to follow. In addition, Zhou will be required to pay $225 in fines, according to the Orange County Register.
Zhou is a Chinese citizen and a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Authorities arrested him at the San Francisco International Airport as he was attempting to board a flight to China, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The Justice Department also stated that Zhou's mobile phone showed he had previously searched for "Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules" and had "messaged with another person about hacking his drone to allow it to fly higher than it could otherwise."
Zhou's arrest was made just weeks after the U.S. Space Force oversaw the launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg on Nov. 6. 2024.
Drone incursions over sensitive U.S. military facilities have been increasing in recent years, although the U.S. government has yet to publicly attribute them to any particular group or actor.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/drone-pilot-who-flew-over-vandenberg-space-force-base-sentenced-to-4-months-in-jail
Plush polar bear with penguin art floats as Fram2 zero-g indicator in polar orbit
April 2, 2025
The first astronauts to enter a polar orbit around Earth chose the obvious animal to serve as their zero-g indicator — a plush white polar bear.
But given that the four-member Fram2 crew is not only flying over the North Pole, where the cuddly carnivore's real-life (and less cuddly) counterparts can be found, the doll also has an image of an emperor penguin embroidered on its chest, referencing the mission's passes over Antartica and the South Pole as well.
"Fram2's zero-g indicator is symbolic of the beautiful polar regions over which the crew will orbit," a spokesperson for the mission told collectSPACE.com after the toy was revealed — but not identified — on board SpaceX's Crew Dragon "Resilience" spacecraft after its launch on Monday night (March 31).
"Combined, these two majestic animals represent the crew's hope for unity among all species on planet Earth, and beyond."
The Fram2 mission's zero-g indicator was sent floating at the end of a tether by mission commander Chun Wang, a Chinese-born cryptocurrency investor who underwrote the history-making flight.
"This is our zero-g indicator. His name is Tyler," said Jannicke Mikkelsen, Fram2's vehicle commander, the first professional cinematographer and first Norwegian woman to fly into space, in a later video update.
Wang's and Mikkelsen's crewmates are pilot Rabea Rogge, a robotics expert focused on Arctic research and Germany's first woman in space; and mission specialist and medical officer Eric Philips, an Australian professional adventurer who has completed multiple ski expeditions to both of Earth's poles.
Traditionally, the zero-g indicator is the crew's first visual signal that they have entered the weightless environment of outer space.
Modeled after Soviet-era cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's choice to bring a small doll with him on the world's first human spaceflight in 1961, today, both career and commercial astronauts have flown the floating toys as selected by themselves, their children or to signal their support for causes or messages that they champion.
Fram2's polar bear is the not the first zero-g indicator of its "species" to launch into space. At least two other polar bears have flown.
Cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov carried a small plush polar bear that was a gift from his son on both of his flights to the International Space Station, Soyuz TMA-1 in 2002 and Soyuz TMA-13 in 2008.
Another polar bear, one of the three mascots for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, then flew as the zero-g indicator for Roscosmos cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata on board Russia's Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft in 2013.
SpaceX's Crew-2 astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA, Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA and Thomas Pesquet with ESA (European Space Agency) chose as their zero-g indicator "GuinGuin," a fluffy penguin made by the London-based doll maker Jellycat, in 2021.
The Fram2 polar bear with its penguin embroidery will fly with the mission's four astronauts as they span the distance between the North and South poles every 46 minutes.
After spending about three days exploring Earth from a polar orbit and flying over Earth's polar regions for the first time in human history, the astronauts (and zero-g indicator) will return home to a planned splashdown off the coast of southern California.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/plush-polar-bear-with-penguin-art-floats-as-fram2-zero-g-indicator-in-polar-orbit
Longford Estate captured from above by Stunning Drone
April 2, 2025
A DRONE photographer was given the rare opportunity of capturing Longford Escape from the sky.
John Parsons, who works as "Stunning Drone", was granted permission to to take off and land within the estate to take pictures of Longford, something that had never been done before by drone.
He said: "These opportunities don’t come around often, then they do, you grasp them. Being first person in, I wanted to do it justice."
The drone pilot lives in Ringwood, and works capturing 4K cinematic drone footage across the UK.
https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/25055547.longford-estate-captured-stunning-drone/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJpQwvFcogY
Greek tourist islands devastated by floods
02 April 2025 11:44am BST
Floods have struck the Greek tourist islands of Mykonos and Paros, turning roads into rivers and sweeping away cars.
A state of emergency has been declared on both islands, with authorities telling residents to stay at home just as businesses were gearing up for the tourist season.
The severe storms that hit the Aegean also affected Crete and Rhodes, both popular holiday destinations for British holidaymakers.
The storm that hit Paros, during which 70mm of rain fell in two hours, was described as the most intense in 20 years.
In the port of Naoussa, about 40 cars were swept away, according to the mayor of the island, Costas Bizas.
Drone footage showed streets flooded with muddy brown water and vehicles pushed off roads by the force of the flooding.
Mykonos was hit by strong winds and hailstones. On Crete, at least seven people had to be rescued from cars that became trapped in floodwaters.
The heaviest rainfall was reported near Chania, a port city on the north coast famed for its Venetian architecture and colourful harbour.
Rhodes, in the eastern Aegean, was affected by gale force winds which knocked over trees, broke windows and ripped air conditioning units off roofs.
The bad weather affected ferry services between the islands, caused landslides and led to the closure of many schools.
The storms started to sweep the region on Monday and were expected to last into Wednesday, particularly in Crete and the Dodecanese islands, including Rhodes, Samos and Chios.
The intense storms come just a few weeks after thousands of earthquakes shook Santorini and the nearby Cycladic islands of Amorgos, Anafi and Ios.
At the height of the earthquake swarm, about 10,000 inhabitants, or half the population, of Santorini evacuated the island.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/02/greek-tourist-islands-devastated-by-floods-as-storms-batter/