TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
May 13, 2025
Gaia Reconstructs a Top View of our Galaxy
What does our Milky Way Galaxy look like from the top? Because we are on the inside, humanity can’t get an actual picture. Recently, however, just such a map has been made using location data for over a billion stars from ESA’s Gaia mission. The resulting featured illustration shows that just like many other spiral galaxies, our Milky Way has distinct spiral arms. Our Sun and most of the bright stars we see at night are in just one arm: Orion. Gaia data bolsters previous indications that our Milky Way has more than two spiral arms. Our Galaxy's center sports a prominent bar. The colors of our Galaxy's thin disk derive mostly from dark dust, bright blue stars, and red emission nebula. Although data analysis is ongoing, Gaia was deactivated in March after a succession mission.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
NASA’s Europa Clipper Captures Mars in Infrared
May 12, 2025
Headed for Jupiter’s moon Europa, the spacecraft did some sightseeing, using a flyby of Mars to calibrate its infrared imaging instrument.
On its recent swing by Mars, NASA’s Europa Clipper took the opportunity to capture infrared images of the Red Planet.
The data will help mission scientists calibrate the spacecraft’s thermal imaging instrument so they can be sure it’s operating correctly when Europa Clipper arrives at the Jupiter system in 2030.
The mission’s sights are set on Jupiter’s moon Europa and the global ocean hidden under its icy surface.
A year after slipping into orbit around Jupiter, Europa Clipper will begin a series of 49 close flybys of the moon to investigate whether it holds conditions suitable for life.
A key element of that investigation will be thermal imaging — global scans of Europa that map temperatures to shed light on how active the surface is.
Infrared imaging will reveal how much heat is being emitted from the moon; warmer areas of the ice give off more energy and indicate recent activity.
The imaging also will tell scientists where the ocean is closest to the surface. Europa is crisscrossed by dramatic ridges and fractures, which scientists believe are caused by ocean convection pulling apart the icy crust and water rising up to fill the gaps.
“We want to measure the temperature of those features,” said Arizona State University’s Phil Christensen, principal investigator of Europa Clipper’s infrared camera, called the Europa Thermal Imaging System (E-THEMIS).
“If Europa is a really active place, those fractures will be warmer than the surrounding ice where the ocean comes close to the surface. Or if water erupted onto the surface hundreds to thousands of years ago, then those surfaces could still be relatively warm.”
Why Mars
On March 1, Europa Clipper flew just 550 miles (884 kilometers) above the surface of Mars in order to use the planet’s gravitational pull to reshape the spacecraft’s trajectory.
Ultimately, the assist will get the mission to Jupiter faster than if it made a beeline for the gas giant, but the flyby also offered a critical opportunity for Europa Clipper to test E-THEMIS.
For about 18 minutes on March 1, the instrument captured one image per second, yielding more than a thousand grayscale pictures that were transmitted to Earth starting on May 5.
After compiling these images into a global snapshot of Mars, scientists applied color, using hues with familiar associations: Warm areas are depicted in red, while colder areas are shown as blue.
By comparing E-THEMIS images with those made from established Mars data, scientists can judge how well the instrument is working.
“We wanted no surprises in these new images,” Christensen said. “The goal was to capture imagery of a planetary body we know extraordinarily well and make sure the dataset looks exactly the way it should, based on 20 years of instruments documenting Mars.”
NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter, launched in 2001, carries a sister instrument named THEMIS that has been capturing its own thermal images of the Red Planet for decades.
To be extra thorough, the Odyssey team collected thermal images of Mars before, during, and after Europa Clipper’s flyby so that Europa scientists can compare the visuals as an additional gauge of how well E-THEMIS is calibrated.
Europa Clipper also took advantage of the close proximity to Mars to test all the components of its radar instrument in unison for the first time.
The radar antennas and the wavelengths they produce are so long that it wasn’t possible for engineers to can do that in a clean room before launch.
The radar data will be returned and analyzed in the coming weeks and months, but preliminary assessments of the real-time telemetry indicate that the test went well.
To leverage the flyby even further, the science team took the opportunity to ensure that the spacecraft’s telecommunication equipment will be able to conduct gravity experiments at Europa.
By transmitting signals to Earth while passing through Mars’ gravity field, they were able to confirm that a similar operation is expected to work at Europa.
Europa Clipper launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 14, 2024, via a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, embarking on a 1.8 billion-mile (2.9 billion-kilometer) journey to Jupiter, which is five times farther from the Sun than Earth is.
Now that the probe has harnessed the gravity of Mars, its next gravity assist will be from Earth in 2026.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/europa-clipper/nasas-europa-clipper-captures-mars-in-infrared/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26566-europa-clipper-captures-infrared-image-of-mars-color-added/
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/
NASA Curiosity Rover
Sol 4525: Right Navigation Camera, Cylindrical Projection
May 12, 2025
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took 34 images in Gale Crater using its mast-mounted Right Navigation Camera (Navcam) to create this mosaic.
The seam-corrected mosaic provides a 360-degree cylindrical projection panorama of the Martian surface centered at 200 degrees azimuth (measured clockwise from north).
Curiosity took the images on April 29, 2025, Sols 4525-4523 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission at drive 1770, site number 115.
The local mean solar time for the image exposures was from 9 AM to 3 PM. Each Navcam image has a 45 degree field of view.
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sol-4525-right-navigation-camera-cylindrical-projection/
Sol 4526: Right Navigation Camera, Cylindrical Projection
May 12, 2025
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took 31 images in Gale Crater using its mast-mounted Right Navigation Camera (Navcam) to create this mosaic.
The seam-corrected mosaic provides a 360-degree cylindrical projection panorama of the Martian surface centered at 182 degrees azimuth (measured clockwise from north).
Curiosity took the images on May 01, 2025, Sol 4526 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission at drive 1980, site number 115.
The local mean solar time for the image exposures was 2 PM. Each Navcam image has a 45 degree field of view.
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sol-4526-right-navigation-camera-cylindrical-projection/
https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/memd/nepa/nasa-balloon-spea/
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/nasa-bpo-pea-public-draft.pdf?
NASA Scientific Balloon Program Draft Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment
May 13, 2025
Background
For over 35 years, the NASA Balloon Program Office (BPO) has launched and monitored the flights of scientific balloons from the BPO facilities at the Fort Sumner Municipal Airport in the Village of Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and at the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas.
Scientific balloons are used to collect data and conduct research in the fields of geoscience, heliophysics, and astrophysics while operating in a near-space environment.
Currently, NASA can conduct up to 31 scientific balloons launches each year: 25 from Fort Sumner and 6 from Palestine. BPO anticipates the maximum number of launches would remain at 31 over the next 10 years from these two existing sites.
To allow for larger cargos and longer float times, which are increasingly in demand, NASA proposes to add a new scientific balloon launch site in Burns, Oregon, and a new tracking station at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Up to 10 scientific balloon flights per year would be launched from the proposed Burns launch site. In addition, construction, demolition, and renovation would take place at the Fort Sumner, Palestine, and proposed Burns launch sites and the Idaho Falls tracking site.
In 2010, NASA prepared the Scientific Balloon Program Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA), to analyze the potential environmental consequences of balloons launched from Fort Sumner and Palestine.
To update the 2010 NASA Scientific Balloon Program Final PEA, NASA has prepared this Supplemental PEA in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, (42 United States Code [U.S.C.] 4321–4370), as amended by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (Public Law [P.L.] No. 118-5, div. C, tit. III, § 321(b), 137 Stat. 10, 40 (amending NEPA § 107) (2023) (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 4336a)); 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1216.3, NASA Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act; and NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) 8580.1, Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act.
The 2010 Final PEA is hereby incorporated by reference with new information and analysis provided as appropriate.
The Draft Supplemental PEA addresses the environmental impacts associated with balloon launch, flight, and recovery operations; the construction and operation of a proposed new launch facility in Burns; the construction and operation of a proposed new tracking station in Idaho Falls; and proposed facility improvements at the existing Fort Sumner and Palestine BPO launch facilities.
Although balloons are typically launched from the launch site facilities, their flight paths are wind-driven, and they could land in adjacent states.
An analysis of past flights launched from Fort Sumner and Palestine indicates that most balloons and payloads are recovered from Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Only a handful of balloons or payloads have landed in the neighboring states of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado.
Models conducted for future flights from Burns indicate that balloons and payloads would overfly and may be recovered from Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska.
NASA has assessed the potential effects of the Proposed Action and the No Action Alternative on physical, biological, and economic resources within these operations areas, and has tentatively concluded those impacts are not significant.
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Intergovernmental Consultation
During the 30-day scoping period for preparation of the Draft Supplemental PEA, NASA requested input from over 425 potentially interested parties, including those in federal, state, and tribal governments.
Through this process, several commenters offered support of the proposal; most did not comment. Appendix A provides the list of federal and state agencies consulted and responses received during scoping.
In accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (36 CFR 800.3(f)(2)) and Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments, NASA is consulting with federally recognized Native American tribes within the BPO operations areas regarding the Proposed Action and environmental impact analysis.
Emails and letters were sent to tribes located within the existing and proposed operations areas seeking comments during the scoping period.
Appendix B provides the list of tribes consulted as well as responses received.
Public Involvement
The Draft Supplemental PEA analyzes the environmental consequences of the Proposed Action and No Action Alternative.
A Notice of Availability (NOA) was placed in the Federal Register notifying the public of the availability of the Draft Supplemental PEA for review.
An advertisement was also placed in the following newspapers: the Palestine Herald (Texas), the DeBaca County News (New Mexico), and the Burns Times-Herald (Oregon).
This 30-day public comment period provides the public and agencies with the opportunity to provide comments on the findings presented.
Written comments on the analysis and findings presented in the Draft Supplemental PEA will be accepted throughout the 30-day public comment period which ends June 16, 2025.
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Jupiter’s Turbulent Atmosphere
May 12, 2025
JunoCam, the visible light imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, captured this view of Jupiter’s northern high latitudes during the spacecraft’s 69th flyby of the giant planet on Jan. 28, 2025.
Jupiter’s belts and zones stand out in this enhanced color rendition, along with the turbulence along their edges caused by winds going in different directions.
The original JunoCam data used to produce this view was taken from an altitude of about 36,000 miles (58,000 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops.
JunoCam’s raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products. Citizen scientist Jackie Branc processed the image.
Since Juno arrived at Jupiter in 2016, it has been probing beneath the dense, forbidding clouds encircling the giant planet – the first orbiter to peer so closely.
It seeks answers to questions about the origin and evolution of Jupiter, our solar system, and giant planets across the cosmos.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/jupiters-turbulent-atmosphere/
https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing
COFFIES Consequences Of Fields and Flows in the Interior and Exterior of the Sun (COFFIES) DRIVE Science Center
May 13, 2025
About COFFIES
The COFFIES (Consequences Of Fields and Flows in the Interior and Exterior of the Sun) DRIVE Science Center advances understanding of the Sun in order to forecast activity cycles and magnetic variability.
Our collaborative science community models the solar cycle and measures flows and fields at the surface and within the Sun to improve physical understanding of what drives activity on the Sun and stars like it.
Expanding Our Understanding of the Sun
Despite improved observations and increasingly realistic modeling, it is still not well understood how the Sun generates, replenishes, and maintains the magnetic field that creates the observed characteristics of the solar cycle.
No supercomputer can come close to modeling the wide range of dynamical temporal and spatial scales present on the Sun – from seconds to centuries or from the 200,000 km depth of the convection zone to the 100 km elements of magnetic flux observed at the surface.
COFFIES poses four basic science questions that can be addressed by linking observations, modeling, and theory.
What drives variable large-scale plasma motions, e.g. meridional flow and differential rotation?
How do flows interact with magnetic fields to create varying solar activity cycles?
What causes active regions to emerge when and where they do during the solar cycle?
How is our understanding of solar activity informed by fields and flows on other stars?
To address these questions COFFIES is organized around three major themes. Two are mysterious layers — the Tachocline and the Near-Surface Shear Layer.
The tachocline, located about a third of the way toward the solar core, is an inexplicably thin region at the very bottom of the convecting part of the Sun.
The Sun’s rotation rate suddenly changes character at the tachocline — and also in the near-surface shear layer, which lies at just a few percent of the depth of the convection zone. Those dynamic layers amplify and process the magnetic field.
The third theme - Flux Transport & Emergence - investigates how those magnetic features move and ultimately rise to the visible surface.
Physical understanding of stellar activity has important implications for the development of life on exoplanets around other stars, as well as for mitigating societal impacts of variability in our own terrestrial environment on yearly and decadal time scales.
COFFIES science engages the public, attracts students to STEM fields, and develops the next generation of heliophysicists.
Solar and stellar activity stems from complex interactions of the magnetic field with small- and large-scale flows within their interiors, i.e., a dynamo.
One Consequence Of Fields and Flows in the Interior and Exterior of the Sun (COFFIES) is the roughly 11-year quasi-periodic solar magnetic activity cycle.
This varying magnetic field drives the dynamic environment in which the Earth resides, producing both impressive auroras and hazardous radiation.
Understanding this variability, leading ultimately to reliable space weather and space climate forecasts, is of paramount importance and great interest.
The Sun's Interior
The Sun's dynamic activity arises from several interconnected processes.
Active regions, marked by strong magnetic fields and sunspots, are sources of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, often forming due to the emergence of magnetic flux from the solar interior.
The Sun's differential rotation, where the equator spins faster than the poles, stretches and twists these magnetic fields.
Meridional circulation, a north-south plasma flow, further transports these fields across the solar surface. Convection, the heat transfer mechanism in the Sun's interior, creates crucial plasma movements.
Near the surface, a shear layer exhibits changing rotation speeds with depth, influencing magnetic field dynamics.
Deep within, the tachocline, a transition zone between uniform and differential rotation, is vital for the generation of the Sun's magnetic field.
Finally, acoustic waves, generated by surface turbulence, allow scientists to probe the Sun's internal structure.
https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/dsc/coffies/
NASA Goes Live on Twitch: Design Artemis II Moon Mascot
May 12, 2025
NASA will host a live Twitch event to highlight the ongoing Moon Mascot Challenge, which invites the public to design a zero gravity indicator for the agency’s Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon.
Viewers will have the opportunity to provide real-time input to an artist who will create an example of a zero gravity indicator during the livestream.
Zero gravity indicators are small, plush items carried aboard spacecraft to provide a visual indication of when the crew reaches space.
The event will begin at 3 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 13, on the agency’s official Twitch channel:
https://www.twitch.tv/nasa
The contest invites global creators of all ages to submit design ideas for a zero gravity indicator that will fly aboard the agency’s Artemis II test flight, the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign.
Up to 25 finalists, including entries from a K-12 student division, will be selected. The Artemis II crew will choose one design that NASA’s Thermal Blanket Lab will fabricate to fly alongside the crew in the Orion spacecraft.
During this Twitch event, NASA experts will discuss the Moon Mascot Challenge while the artist incorporates live audience feedback into a sample design.
Although the design example will not be eligible for the contest, it will demonstrate how challenge participants can develop their own zero gravity indicator designs.
The example will be shared on the @NASAArtemis social media accounts following the Twitch event.
The Artemis II test flight will take NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back.
The mission is another step toward missions on the lunar surface to help the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-goes-live-on-twitch-design-artemis-ii-moon-mascot/
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2025/05/13/nova-explosion-new-star-nasa-ohio-us-t-coronae-borealis/83578776007/
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/whats-up-may-2025-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/
https://twitter.com/NASAUniverse/status/1799177535474847982
Will nova explosion 'star' shine over Ohio soon? Why NASA is excited about T Coronae Borealis
May 13, 2025, 3:54 a.m. ET
Astronomers have been patiently waiting for a "new star" to glow in the skies above Ohio and across the world.
That "new star" will appear when the star T Coronae Borealis goes nova. It was originally expected to happen last year, but there are now signs that the explosion is nearing, according to NASA.
T Coronae Borealis, a binary star system about 3,000 light years away, is usually far too dim to see with the naked eye. However, after the star goes nova, the system is expected to be as bright as the North Star, Polaris.
The star goes nova every 80 years or so, and last exploded in 1946, per NASA.
When is the rare T Coronae Borealis nova explosion date in 2025?
The star could go nova at any time in the next few months, according to the May 2025 skywatching guide produced by NASA.
"Predicting exactly when novas or any sort of stellar outburst will happen is tricky," the guide states. It was originally expected to go nova between February and September 2024.
However, excitement about the nova has grown since astronomers observed the star suddenly dim, per NASA, much as it did right before its previous nova.
Why does the star T Coronae Borealis go nova every 80 years?
T Coronae Borealis is a binary star system made up of a red giant and a white dwarf.
According to NASA, the white dwarf orbits the red giant closely enough that it continually grabs hydrogen from the bigger star.
When the white dwarf has accumulated enough of the other star’s hydrogen, it ignites a thermonuclear explosion, causing the nova. This happens every 80 years or so.
Where to see the T Coronae Borealis when it goes nova, creates 'new star'
T Coronae Borealis is located in the constellation Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown, between the two bright stars Arcturus and Vega.
Use the Big Dipper's handle to point you to the correct part of the sky.
The star is normally far too faint to see with the unaided eye. But its nova will be as bright as the constellation’s brightest star.
Try looking for it on clear, dark nights before the nova happens, so you’ll have a comparison when a new star suddenly becomes visible there.
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What is a nova?
The word "nova" comes from the Latin word meaning "new." In astronomical terms, it can seem like there's a new star in the heavens even though that star might be very old and at the end stages of its life.
During a nova event, explains NASA, energy explodes from a white dwarf star.
Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said white dwarf stars aren't much larger than planet Earth but are much more massive.
Usually, they're too dim to see at night, but when a nova happens, the sudden explosion can make the star shine brightly enough to be viewed with the naked eye from trillions of miles away.
What causes a star to go nova?
Stars don't always play nice with each other, say experts. Most stars are bound by gravity to one or more companion stars, and things can get interesting — or violent — if these stars get too close.
Sometimes when a small white dwarf star orbits a regular star, it can siphon off the larger star's energy. That's because a white dwarf star has about the same mass as Earth's sun, Hounsell said.
Its gravity is extremely powerful, not as strong as a black hole, according to Chicago's Adler Planetarium, but roughly 100,000 to 300,000 times the gravity on Earth.
"So material is being pulled away from the companion star by the gravity of the white dwarf," Hounsell said.
"This material builds up in layers onto the white dwarf's surface and the layers get really, really hot, but the material can't expand."
Eventually, the pressure and heat trigger a massive thermonuclear explosion, Hounsell said, which is called a nova.
What's the difference between a nova and a supernova?
A supernova is the final, fiery explosion that can destroy a dying star. It can briefly outshine entire galaxies, writes Space.com, and radiate more energy than our sun will produce in its entire lifetime.
But while supernovas occur only once, a nova can happen again and again.
After a nova explosion, the dwarf star remains intact and the cycle triggering another explosion starts over, which NASA says can take tens, hundreds or even thousands of years.
How long will the nova last?
The nova should last roughly a week, Hounsell said, reaching peak brightness in its first few days before fading away.
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NASA's new test tech enables unified collection of data
May 12, 2025
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - Just as a steady heartbeat is critical to staying alive, propulsion test data is vital to ensure engines and systems perform flawlessly.
The accuracy of the data produced during hot fire tests at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, tells the performance story.
So, when NASA needed a standardized way to collect hot fire data across test facilities, an onsite team created an adaptable software tool to do it, NASA reports.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
13 May 2025 - "The NASA Data Acquisition System (NDAS) developed at NASA Stennis is a forward-thinking solution," said David Carver, acting chief of the Office of Test Data and Information Management.
"It has unified NASA’s rocket propulsion testing under an adaptable software suite to meet needs with room for future expansion, both within NASA and potentially beyond."
Before NDAS, contractors used various proprietary tools for propulsion test data, hindering collaboration. NDAS, developed in 2011 by a NASA-contractor team, standardizes data collection with a modular, scalable system built in LabVIEW.
It works with any test hardware, streamlining operations and enabling seamless transitions between test areas. The software captures and converts sensor data for real-time and post-test analysis, also monitoring system health during non-test times.
https://www.militaryaerospace.com/test/article/55289674/nasas-new-test-tech-enables-unified-collection-of-data
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/stennis/stennis-tool-enables-unified-collection-of-test-data/
Tough microbes found in NASA cleanrooms hold clues to space survival and biotech
May 12, 2025
A new study by scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and several institutes across India and Saudi Arabia has reported 26 novel bacterial species growing inside cleanrooms associated with NASA space missions.
These unknown and newly described species carry genetic traits associated with resilience to extreme environments such as those found in space, highlighting the importance of rigorous contamination control to prevent unintentional microbial transfer during space missions.
Spacecraft are assembled in cleanrooms, which are highly specialized facilities engineered to maintain exceptionally low levels of dust and microorganisms.
These controlled environments are extreme in their own right, with tightly regulated airflow, temperature, and humidity that inhibit microbial survival. However, some microorganisms—extremophiles—thrive in such environments.
"Our study aimed to understand the risk of extremophiles being transferred in space missions and to identify which microorganisms might survive the harsh conditions of space.
This effort is pivotal for monitoring the risk of microbial contamination and safeguarding against unintentional colonization of exploring planets," explained King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Professor Alexandre Rosado, the lead KAUST researcher on the project and a contributor to several NASA working groups on planetary protection and space microbiology.
The scientists did a comprehensive analysis of the microorganisms growing in the NASA cleanrooms, finding that many of the new species possessed genes that made them resilient to decontamination and radiation.
Some of the discovered genes were associated with DNA repair, the detoxification of harmful molecules, and improved metabolism, all of which increased the species' survivability.
Moreover, these genes could lead to new biotechnologies that benefit food preservation and medicine.
"These findings not only raise important considerations for planetary protection but also open the door for biotechnological innovation," said Junia Schultz, a postdoctoral fellow at KAUST who was the first author of the study.
"Space travel provides an opportunity to study microorganisms that possess relevant stress-resistance genes.
The genes identified in these newly discovered bacterial species could be engineered for applications in medicine, food preservation, and other industries."
In addition, the study assists NASA with anticipating the type of bacteria astronauts will encounter on their space missions and in developing strategies to mitigate microbial contamination in cleanrooms.
"KAUST's collaboration with NASA represents a groundbreaking alliance driving the frontiers of space science and astrobiology," said Dr. Kasthuri Venkateswaran, retired Senior Research Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a lead author of the study.
"Together, we are unraveling the mysteries of microbes that withstand the extreme conditions of space—organisms with the potential to revolutionize the life sciences, bioengineering, and interplanetary exploration."
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-tough-microbes-nasa-cleanrooms-clues.html
https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-025-02082-1
New NASA mission captures a gorgeous cosmic rainbow
May 13, 2025 6:34 AM
A new NASA mission is already collecting data and producing striking images of the solar system.
Launched in March, the PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission aims to study the sun’s corona and how the sun interacts with the wider environment of the solar system.
Made up of four small suitcase-sized satellites, the mission is able to capture a continuous view of the entire inner solar system thanks to a camera placed on each satellite.
Before PUNCH can start doing science though, its instruments need to be brought online. As part of that process, PUNCH’s Wide Field Imager 2 captured an image of the zodiacal light coming from the sun.
This faint glow, often seen before sunrise and known as false dawn, is a result of sunlight being scattered by the dust which floats through the solar system.
In the full image below, you can see a rainbow of zodiacal light, with the position of the sun marked by a star.
The image uses color to represent features of the light: the hue of the light represents its direction, and the amount of saturation represents the degree of polarization.
This data also shows background stars in white, like the Pleiades star cluster above the center of the image and the Hyades star cluster, a V-shaped cluster located toward the upper left.
Other instruments on board PUNCH also collected early data, including one which captured a striking view of the moon.
This image was taken by the Narrow Field Imager (NFI), which is a type of instrument called a coronagraph that has a dark disk that is used to block out light from the sun.
That allows less bright objects to be seen — in this case, the moon.
The NFI will be used to study the sun’s corona, so the purpose of this image was to check whether the moon would obscure the view — and the good news is that the moon won’t interfere with the science data, as it isn’t too bright compared to the background light being studied.
PUNCH will now continue collecting data, with two more instruments to be commissioned within the next few weeks before full science operations begin in June.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/space/nasa-punch-rainbow/
Axiom-4 astronauts to study cancer tumour growth in space
UPDATED: May 13, 2025 11:38 IST
India could be part of a major experiment being launched to the International Space Station to study early warning signs of cancer and develop advanced therapeutics for patients on Earth.
The experiment will be launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of the Axiom-4 mission on May 29, piloted by India's Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.
The study has been developed in collaboration with the Sanford Stem Cell Institute at UC San Diego and the JM Foundation.
MICROGRAVITY: A UNIQUE LABORATORY
The microgravity environment of space offers a unique setting to study cancer cell behaviour.
Previous missions have shown that cancer stem cells can regenerate more easily and become more resistant to standard therapies in low-Earth orbit.
Notably, tumour organoids have been observed to triple in size within just 10 days in space, providing a compressed timeline to study cancer progression and potential interventions.
TARGETING TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER
Building on earlier findings, the Cancer in LEO-3 investigation will focus on triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form with limited treatment options.
Researchers plan to test the efficacy of two ADAR1 inhibitors: fedratinib, an anti-cancer medication used to treat myeloproliferative diseases including myelofibrosis, and rebecsinib, an experimental anticancer medication derived by modification of the natural product Pladienolide B.
This study aims to determine if these drugs can reverse malignant regeneration and prevent cancer progression in microgravity conditions.
MONITORING ASTRONAUTS STEM CELL HEALTH
In addition to studying cancer cells, the project includes a longitudinal study monitoring astronauts’ blood stem cells before, during, and after spaceflight.
This research aims to understand how microgravity affects stem cell aging and immune function, potentially leading to insights into immune dysfunction-related diseases and cancer development.
IMPLICATIONS FOR EARTH-BASED TREATMENTS
The insights gained from these space-based experiments could revolutionise cancer treatment on Earth.
By understanding how cancer cells behave in microgravity, scientists hope to develop predictive models for cancer and immune dysfunction-related diseases, leading to the development of new drugs to prevent or treat these conditions.
https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/shubhanshu-shukla-axiom-4-cancer-study-isro-axiomspace-2723623-2025-05-13
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Satellite_navigation/Thank_you_for_your_service_Galileo_GSAT0104
https://www.usegalileo.eu/accuracy-matters/
Thank you for your service, Galileo GSAT0104
13/05/2025
On 12 March 2013, Galileo satellite GSAT0104, alongside its fellow In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites, made history by enabling the first position fix by Europe’s independent satellite navigation system Galileo.
Now, after 12 years of service mostly in the area of Search and Rescue, GSAT0104 makes history again by becoming the first satellite in the Galileo constellation to be decommissioned.
For a large and long-lasting constellation like Galileo, which serves as a critical public infrastructure and aims to deliver uninterrupted services over decades, decommissioning activities are as essential as launches.
To run smoothly, the fleet needs continuous replenishment, and therefore disposing of satellites is not only about making space safer, but about making space for new satellites.
In October 2023, a board chaired by the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC) concluded for the first time to retire a Galileo satellite.
Decommissioning activities for GSAT0104 began in March 2024 and were completed in April 2025.
GSAT0104 is one of the 38 Galileo First Generation satellites designed, developed and tested by ESA, together with manufacturers EADS Astrium (4 In-Orbit Validation satellites) and OHB (34 Full Operational Capability satellites).
After this decommissioning, the constellation provides same level performance services with active satellites in all its prime slots, plus three active spare satellites.
Additionally, new satellites will continue to join the fleet, with six First Generation satellites ready to launch and twelve Second Generation ones in development.
Protecting space environment
Sustainability in and from space is a core priority for ESA, that promotes a responsible use of space to benefit both society and the environment.
Central to this commitment is reducing space debris, a serious global hazard threatening current and future missions, and the essential services they provide.
To address the growing space debris issue, ESA has set an ambitious goal of net zero space pollution for new missions by 2030.
This target is backed by sustainable design practices, rigorous debris mitigation policies and end-of-life satellite disposal protocols.
ESA, as system development prime and design authority for Galileo, has aligned Galileo’s space segment management with the agency's Space Debris Mitigation Policy and Requirements, showing dedication to sustainable space activities and setting an example as a key European flagship programme.
Galileo satellite decommissioning operations are coordinated by EUSPA.
When a Galileo satellite reaches end of service, it is to be moved to a higher and safe orbit and passivated by depleting all its sources of energy.
Galileo’s graveyard orbits are located at least 300 km above the active constellation and are designed to remain stable for a very long time.
This is a vast region that does not interfere with Galileo, geostationary satellites or any other constellation for hundreds of years.
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Thanks to the propellant reserves in GSAT0104, it was possible to place it 700 km above the Galileo operational constellation on a very stable disposal orbit.
Then, the satellite tank was depleted and the satellite passivated by removing all internal energy, such as battery charge.
Future decommissioned Galileo satellites will be disposed at slightly different altitudes to maintain a safe distance between them.
Graveyard orbits are the standard disposal strategy for satellites in medium Earth and geostationary orbits, where Earth re-entry is generally not feasible.
Tidying up the constellation
Protecting space environment is only one of the reasons to properly dispose of satellites that no longer serve the constellation or are at risk of failure.
“In Galileo we need to keep our orbits clear and safe to support the continuous renewal of the fleet.
A healthy constellation is required to ensure optimal performance and reliable service provision for billions of users worldwide,” explains Riccardo Di Corato, Head of the Galileo Constellation Analysis Unit.
All satellites have a design lifetime after which their systems are expected to be less reliable or effective (12 years in the case of Galileo First Generation and 15 years for Second Generation satellites).
Galileo partners assess the condition and contribution of older Galileo satellites annually and determine either to extend service by one year or to decommission.
“It is crucial to ensure that the removal of a satellite from the constellation can take place while key components like attitude control, thrusters and telecommunication systems are still available.
If we are confident that the disposal of the satellite can be performed successfully later in the future, we extend its use for as long as possible”, adds Di Corato.
A last service by historic GSAT0104
GSAT0104 was launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 12 October 2012. It was the fourth and last Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellite, enabling the first determination of a ground location using only Galileo satellites.
This satellite provided navigation services during years before shifting to serve Search and Rescue after a malfunction in the L-band antenna.
In 2021, it was relocated from a prime to a spare slot to make room for one of the new satellites launched in April 2024. It continued providing service from this position until decommissioning activities started.
GSAT0104 is again involved in a Galileo ‘first’. Its decommissioning has served as a model of responsibility in space activities for constellations to follow.
Moreover, it has provided programme partners essential experience that will prove crucial as decommissioning efforts become more frequent in the years to come.
The 2024 satellite end-of-life review board for the remaining three Galileo IOV satellites resolved to extend their lifetime by at least one year, until October 2025.
Two Galileo IOV satellites have already exceeded their design lifetime by one year and the third has just reached it. All of them are still providing excellent navigation performance.
The service performance of Galileo satellites is independently monitored by the Galileo Reference Centre (GRC) and can be consulted at GNSS Service Centre (GSC).
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Q-KON and Rivada Space Networks Partner for Next-Gen Secure Connectivity in Africa
May 13, 2025
Q-KON, a leading provider of satellite solutions and services, and Outernet provider Rivada Space Networks have signed an MoU to provide next-generation connectivity to power network expansion and digital transformation across Africa and beyond.
Q-KON will leverage Rivada’s Outernet to provide resiliency for specialized data networks across Africa and a new level of cybersecurity to enterprises that require secure infrastructure, such as banking and financial services.
The Outernet’s fast, seamless and secure connectivity will ramp up network performance and enable true digital transformation and new business opportunities through multi-gigabit bi-directional performance, combined with worldwide reach.
Data sovereignty and data resiliency are becoming paramount and whilst the availability of LEO satellite services are now coming of age in the African connectivity landscape in terms of high-speed, low-latency connectivity, the Outernet will now deliver a unique layer of resiliency and security for data communications providing a future-ready infrastructure that adheres to the highest standards of safety and privacy and enhancing trust in these networks and applications.
The Rivada Outernet is a next-generation Low-Earth Orbit satellite constellation designed to provide gigabit-speed connectivity to any point on the globe, without needing to touch the public internet or any third-party infrastructure.
Combining inter-satellite laser links with advanced onboard processing and unique routing and switching capabilities, this optical mesh network, in which data stays in space from origin to destination, creates an ultra-secure network with pole-to-pole coverage, offering end-to-end latencies much lower than terrestrial fiber over similar long distances.
We are pleased to start working with Rivada to develop specialized LEO solutions for the advanced enterprise, industry and government markets in Africa and to complement our growing Twoobii LEO Smart Satellite Services portfolio.
We view the Outernet as an evolution on the LEO architecture roadmap that will follow-on and advance the industry from the classic broadband LEO services currently being deployed in Africa, to unlock bespoke applications and high security service-specific user applications.
– Dr Dawie de Wet, Group CEO, Q-KON
We are delighted to be partnering with Q-KON supporting the development of communications across Africa.
Rivada’s Outernet is what data communications has been waiting for – a game-changing constellation which re-defines connectivity in terms of security, latency, capacity, efficiency, and coverage.
As a completely new type of LEO constellation, the Outernet can provide Africa with a next-generation digital infrastructure for secure, resilient communications and network expansion.
– Declan Ganley, CEO, Rivada Space Networks
Rivada will be at CabSat from 13-15 May 2025.
Meet us at stand S3-C45 and come along to the conference session during SatEXPO on May 14th at 11:00am, where Joe Apa, VP Sales for EMEA will present a keynote on “The Future of LEO Services”.
https://techafricanews.com/2025/05/13/q-kon-and-rivada-space-networks-partner-for-next-gen-secure-connectivity-in-africa/
https://www.qkon.com/
https://rivadaspace.com/solutions
Live 4K video from space! See Earth from the ISS with sharp-eyed Sen cameras
May 13, 2025
Click play, go full-screen, lean back and enjoy. That's how easy it is now to get lost in the absolutely stunning scape that is our planet Earth from space as it streams live before your eyes.
Sen, a company based in London, provides views of Earth from orbit, with the hopes of making an experience usually reserved for astronauts a little more accessible to the rest of humanity.
The overview effect is a phenomenon known to occur for those lucky enough to travel beyond the bounds of our gravity well, in which the view of our planet from space changes one's perception of his or home planet and humanity. Apollo 14 astronaut Ed Mitchell described it as "an instant global consciousness," accompanied with "an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world and a compulsion to do something about it."
Sen launched three Ultra High Definition 4k cameras to the ISS on SpaceX's CRS-30 cargo mission to the space station in March 2024.
The trio, collectively called SpaceTV-1, are mounted to the Bartolomeo platform on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus module to create three unique views of Earth and the space station.
One camera is oriented to capture the long curve of Earth's horizon, and the repeatedly rising and setting sun is visible as the ISS completes another orbit every 90 minutes.
Another focuses directly on Earth below, showing a stretch about 155 miles (250 kilometers) across.
The third camera looks at the space station's forward docking port, connected to the the Harmony module, and any visiting spacecraft that are docked there.
Who is Sen? Here is Sen's vision, in the company's own words:
Sen’s vision is to democratize space using video to inform, educate, inspire and benefit all humanity.
To do this, the company is streaming real-time videos from space to billions of people, gathering news and information about Earth and space and making it universally accessible and useful.
Sen is a data business using its own micro satellites and hosted cameras to stream real-time videos and information about Earth direct to individuals, creating a unique dataset for all humanity, empowering people and inspiring global change.
Sen’s vision is a humanitarian one — to help raise awareness about planetary changes and to support those directly affected by events on Earth, and to help inform people about the reality of our existence in space.
Sen will give people videos of Earth, other worlds and space. Augmented Reality will be used to overlay the story-telling power of video with additional information, providing multi-world data and unique new perspectives for humanity.
Sen provides its streams from space for free. You can download Sen's mobile app or watch the company's stream directly on Sen.com or its YouTube channel.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/live-4k-video-from-space-see-earth-from-the-iss-with-sharp-eyed-sen-cameras
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO9e9jnhYK8
Watch the sun unleash 600,000-mile-long eruption in fiery outburst
May 13, 2025
A massive solar filament erupted in dramatic fashion last night (May 12-13) around 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT), hurling a surge of material across the sun's northern hemisphere.
Stretching nearly 600,000 miles (1 million kilometers) — more than twice the distance between Earth and the moon — the event was as vast as it was striking! Data suggests Earth is not in the eruption's path.
"Not sure what to call this eruption, maybe the "bird-wing" or "angel-wing" event? Either way, it is truly something to witness!", aurora chaser Vincent Ledvina wrote in a post on X.
"Look at how large the blast is off the sun's northern hemisphere. I could watch this animation loop for hours!"
The filament, a long, dark ribbon of solar plasma suspended by magnetic fields, had been hanging above the sun's surface before destabilizing.
"WOW! There is an absolutely enormous filament erupting right now! It dwarfs all the filament eruptions we have seen recently," aurora chaser Jure Atanackov wrote in a post on X.
These filament structures are cooler and denser than their surroundings, making them appear as dark threads against the bright solar disk.
When a filament erupts, it can trigger a coronal mass ejection (CME), hurling a vast plume of plasma and magnetic field into space. And this particular filament did just that.
"What a spectacular CME from the huge filament eruption earlier today! Unfortunately, it is directed north and will miss us.
A direct hit from a CME like this can be high-end G4 storm material, maybe even G5," Atanackov wrote in a later post on X.
While solar storms can sometimes spark dazzling auroras and even disrupt satellite communications or power grids when directed at Earth, preliminary models suggest this CME will likely miss our planet. Still, scientists are watching closely.
You can keep up to date with the latest northern lights forecasts, alerts and geomagnetic storm warnings with our aurora forecast live blog.
https://www.space.com/watch-sun-unleash-600000-mile-long-eruption-video
https://twitter.com/Vincent_Ledvina/status/1922255037234839879
https://twitter.com/JAtanackov/status/1922169941022634357
To infinity 8's, and beyond
Coronal Hole, Sun Impacts the Heart, Suspicious Observers News
May.13.2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F97iBoEqsYs
May's full Flower Moon delights skywatchers worldwide with stunning lunar display
May 13, 2025
May's full 'Flower Moon' bloomed brightly on May 12, dazzling stargazers with a spectacular display of reflected luminance.
Named for the colorful wildflowers that bloom across North America and Europe this time of year, the May full moon is also known as the Milk Moon, Hare's Moon, or Corn Moon over the centuries, according to NASA.
Regardless of what you call it, a full moon is catnip to the astrophotography community — and his one was no exception.
Photographers around the world turned out in force to capture stunning compositions of the May 2025 full moon, blending Earthly landmarks with our glowing lunar neighbor.
Many shots highlighted the golden hues just after moonrise, when the full moon sheds its usual silver-white tone in favor of a warm yellowish glow.
Astrophotographers used a tried and tested technique: framing foreground objects in front of the moon and zooming in on both subjects using a long lens.
This approach creates the illusion of a massive lunar disk, mimicking the well-known "moon-illusion" — a trick of the eye that makes the moon look bigger when it's close to the horizon.
Read on to see a selection of the most spectacular shots of the 2025 Flower Moon, courtesy of the global astrophotography community.
If you missed the moon last night, don't worry, it'll still look almost completely full for the nights surrounding peak illumination on May 12, so get out there and capture a Flower Moon of your own!
Views of the moon from around the world
Gary Hershorn staked out the perfect spot in Jersey City to capture a phenomenal view of the Flower Moon rising behind the Statue of Liberty during an atmospheric, cloud-strewn sunset on May 11.
The image creates the illusion that the statue has left its perch on Liberty Island to march towards the rising moon.
Vladimir Medvinsky captured a mesmerizing view of the moon setting behind Point Loma peninsula in California during a Mother's Day weekend getaway with his wife Rosie.
Medvinsky had packed his camera out of habit with no intention of snapping the Flower Moon, but happened to wake up at 4:30 a.m. on the morning of May 11 to find that the fog of the previous day had cleared.
"I grabbed my camera and headed to the strand. The full moon was still visible but veiled by clouds," Medvinsky told Space.com in an email.
"Within minutes of scouting for a spot that aligned with the point, the moon broke through and lit up the sky as it descended toward the ocean. I captured a few quick shots before it disappeared."
Medvinsky captured the scene by snapping 0.5-second exposures with his Canon R5 camera, fitted with a RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM telephoto lens. The shots were then processed in Adobe Lightroom.
"Looking east, I noticed some interesting cloud formations that hinted at a colorful sunrise. I jumped in the car and made my way to the east side of Coronado," Medvinsky continued.
Just as I arrived and set up along San Diego Bay at low tide, the sky ignited with color — I managed to capture a few beautiful sunrise photos.
cont.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/mays-full-flower-moon-delights-skywatchers-worldwide-with-stunning-lunar-display-photos
https://spacenews.com/altimeter-problems-lighting-challenges-caused-im-2-lunar-lander-to-fall-on-its-side/
Altimeter problems, lighting challenges caused IM-2 lunar lander to fall on its side
May 13, 2025
Problems with laser altimeters along with lighting and terrain challenges caused Intuitive Machines’ second lunar lander to fall on its side when it landed on the moon in March.
Company executives said in a May 14 earnings call that three factors contributed to the “landing anomaly” on its IM-2 mission.
On that mission the Nova-C lander fell on its side in a crater when it touched down in the south polar region of the moon March 6.
The lander was not able to generate sufficient power from its solar panels, leading to an end of the mission barely 12 hours after touchdown.
One factor was an issue the company previously discussed with the lander’s laser altimeters.
Steve Altemus, chief executive of Intuitive Machines, said there was “signal noise and distortion” from the altimeters during the lander’s final descent “that did not allow for accurate altitude readings.”
A second factor was conditions at the south polar region of the moon, where low sun angles cause long shadows that “challenged the precision capability of our landing system.”
A third, related factor, is that craters appeared differently at lower altitudes, given those lighting conditions, than they did in reference images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, affecting the lander’s optical navigation system.
Altemus said the company is incorporating the lessons learned from IM-2 into its next lander mission, IM-3, scheduled for next year.
That lander will include dissimilar and redundant altimeters, which will go through more “flight-like” testing ahead of launch.
The lander will also have a new lighting-independent sensor to measure surface velocity, and will have an enhanced crater database for improved optical navigation.
Those changes, he said, will not delay the mission. There will be a “slight” increase in cost because of the additional sensors, but he did not quantify the increase.
Altemus said the company is in negotiations with NASA and other customers on the IM-2 mission about up to $14 million in success payments.
Some of the payloads were able to carry out limited tests on the moon: a NASA drill, for example, was able to test its mechanisms but was not able to drill into the lunar surface as planned.
Altemus said the company wants to complete those negotiations by the end of the quarter or early the following quarter.
Diversification and Artemis changes
Intuitive Machines emphasized in the earnings call its efforts to diversify beyond lunar lander.
Altemus highlighted efforts such as design of an orbital transfer vehicle based on the Nova-C lander being done with an unnamed government customers, as well as ongoing work with the Air Force Research Lab’s JETSON project for a spacecraft that uses nuclear electric propulsion.
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The company also won in February a $10 million grant from the Texas Space Commission to support work on a lifting body reentry vehicle.
Intuitive Machines is working with Rhodium Scientific on ways the vehicle could be used to conduct microgravity research, returning biomedical or other experiments to Earth.
“This diversification and execution builds on our core strengths and positions us as a broader infrastructure and data services provider across the space economy,” he said.
That diversification comes as NASA’s approach to lunar exploration faces potential major changes.
The administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal would cancel the lunar Gateway and phase out the Space Launch System and Orion after the Artemis 3 mission, replacing those vehicles with commercial capabilities.
Altemus said Intuitive Machines does not expect any near-term impacts of those changes on programs like Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), the primary customer of the company’s first lunar lander missions, or the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) Services program to develop a commercially provided rover for later Artemis crewed missions.
“We do not see a direct impact into the CLPS budget,” he said, with the agency expected to award two task orders for missions later this year.
Likewise, he said NASA has not signaled any plans to delay the selection in November of a company to develop the LTV as Intuitive Machines and two competitors, Astrolab and Lunar Outpost, complete preliminary design reviews under awards NASA made last April.
One potential change, he said, may be in the awards made in that next phase.
NASA previously stated it planned to select just one of the three companies for funding to develop the LTV.
The agency is considering a scenario where it may also select a second company to advance their rover design through a critical design review.
Changes to the overall Artemis architecture, he said, could create new opportunities for the company.
He mentioned testimony he and executives of other lunar lander developers gave to the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee in April, where they called for an expansion of the CLPS program.
That included more frequent missions and larger landers, along with bulk buys of missions.
“With the reformulation of Artemis, there’s a place for heavy cargo delivery to put infrastructure on the surface of the moon,” he said, along with commercial communications and navigation networks.
“We’re playing right into that reformulation with these capabilities.” Intuitive Machines reported $62.5 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, a 14% increase from the fourth quarter of 2024.
The company reported an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $6.6 million in the quarter, although the company said it was on track for positive “run-rate” adjusted EBITDA by the end of the year.
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