TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture pf the Day
June 5, 2025
Savudrija Star Trails
Savudrija lighthouse shines along the coast near the northern end of the Istrian peninsula in this well-composed night skyscape. A navigational aid for sailors on the Adriatic Sea, the historic lighthouse was constructed in the early 19th century. But an even older aid to navigation shines in the sky above, Polaris, alpha star of the constellation Ursa Minor and also known as the North Star. In this scene Polaris forms the shortest bright arc near the North Celestial Pole, the extension of Earth's axis of rotation into space. Of course, the North Celestial Pole lies exactly at the center of all the concentric startrails. The composite image is a digital stack of 400 exposures, each 30 seconds long, taken with camera and tripod fixed to a rotating planet.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Cosmic Dawn - The Untold Story of the James Webb Telescope Trailer
June 5, 2025
Cosmic Dawn is the incredible true story of the James Webb Space Telescope – humanity’s largest and most powerful space telescope – on a mission to unveil the early universe, against all odds.
The documentary brings viewers on an unprecedented journey through Webb’s delicate assembly, rigorous testing, and triumphant launch, showcasing the sheer complexity and breathtaking risks involved in creating a telescope capable of peering billions of years into the past.
Follow the telescope from an idea developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center all the way to the launchpad in French Guiana, with never-before-seen footage captured by the Webb film crew offering intimate access to the challenges and triumphs along the way.
https://www.nasa.gov/cosmicdawn/
https://www.nasa.gov/podcasts/curious-universe/cosmic-dawn-with-nobel-laureate-john-mather/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37168576/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk1vR7BdTno
https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/jack-kaye-retires-after-a-storied-career-at-nasa/
Jack Kaye Retires After a Storied Career at NASA
Jun 05, 2025
Jack Kaye [NASA HQ—Associate Director for Research, Earth Science Division (ESD)] has decided to retire on April 30, 2025, following 42 years of service to NASA – see Photo 1.
Most recently, Kaye served as associate director for research of the Earth Science Division (ESD) within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD).
In this position, he was responsible for the research and data analysis programs for Earth System Science that addressed the broad spectrum of scientific disciplines from the stratopause to the poles to the oceans.
A New York native, Kaye’s interest in space was piqued as a child watching early NASA manned space launches on television. He would often write to NASA to get pictures of the astronauts.
In high school, he started an after school astronomy club. Despite a youthful interest in Earth science, as he explained in a 2014 “Maniac Talk” at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Kaye pursued a slightly different academic path.
He obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in chemistry from Adelphi University in 1976 and a Ph.D. in theoretical physical chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in 1982.
For his graduate studies, he focused on the quantum mechanics of chemical reactions with an aim toward being able to understand and calculate the activity.
Following graduate school, Kaye secured a post-doctoral position at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, where he studied the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere with a focus on stratospheric ozone.
It was while working in a group of meteorologists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center that Kaye returned to his roots and refocused his scientific energy on studying Earth.
“NASA had a mandate to study stratospheric ozone,” Kaye said in an interview in 2009. “I got involved in looking at satellite observations and especially trying to interpret satellite observations of stratospheric composition and building models to simulate things, to look both ways, to use the models and use the data.”
Kaye has held numerous science and leadership positions at NASA. He began his career at GSFC as a researcher for the Stratospheric General Circulation and Chemistry Modeling Project (SGCCP) from 1983–1990 working on stratospheric modeling.
In this role, he also worked on an Earth Observing System Interdisciplinary proposal. His first role at NASA HQ was managing as program scientist for the Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling and Analysis Program (ACMAP), as well as numerous other missions.
In this role, he was a project scientist for the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS) series of Shuttle missions. While managing ATLAS, Kaye oversaw the science carried out by a dozen instruments from several different countries.
He also managed several other Earth Science missions during this time. See the link to Kaye’s “Maniac Talk.”
Kaye entered the Senior Executive Service in 1999, where he continued to contribute to the agency by managing NASA’s Earth Science Research Program.
In addition, Kaye has held temporary acting positions as deputy director of ESD and deputy chief scientist for Earth Science within SMD.
Throughout his career he has focused on helping early-career investigators secure their first awards to establish their career path—see Photo 2.
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On numerous occasions, Kaye spoke to different groups emphasizing the agency’s unique role in both developing and utilizing cutting-edge technology, especially remote observations of Earth with different satellite platforms – see Photo 3.
With the launch of five new NASA Earth science campaigns in 2020, Kaye stated, “These innovative investigations tackle difficult scientific questions that require detailed, targeted field observations combined with data collected by our fleet of Earth-observing satellites.”
Kaye has also represented NASA in interagency and international activities and has been an active participant in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), where he has served for many years as NASA principal of the Subcommittee on Global Change Research.
He served as NASA’s representative to the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology and chaired the World Meteorological Organization Expert Team on Satellite Systems.
Kaye was named an honorary member of the Asia Oceania Geoscience Society in 2015. He previously completed a six-year term as a member of the Steering Committee for the Global Climate Observing System and currently serves an ex officio member of the National Research Council’s Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability and the Chemical Sciences Roundtable, as well as a member of the Roundtable on Global Science Diplomacy.
NASA has honored Kaye with numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal in 2022 and the Meritorious Executive in the Senior Executive Service in 2004, 2010, and 2021.
In 2024 he was awarded the NASA-USGS Pecora Individual Award honoring excellence in Earth Observation. He was named a Fellow by the American Meteorological Society in 2010 and by the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2014.
Kaye was elected to serve as an office of the Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Science section of the AAAS (2015–2018). AGU has recognized him on two occasions with a Citation for Excellence in Refereeing.
Over the course of his career Kaye has published more than 50 papers, contributed to numerous reports, books, and encyclopedias, and edited the book Isotope Effects in Gas-Phase Chemistry for the American Chemical Society.
In addition, he has attended the Leadership for Democratic Society program at the Federal Executive Institute and the Harvard Senior Managers in Government Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
“The vantage point of space provides a way to look at the Earth globally, with the ability to observe Earth’s interacting components of air, water, land and ice, and both naturally occurring and human-induced processes,” Kaye said in a November 2024 article published by Penn State University.
“It lets us look at variability on a broad range of spatial and temporal scales and given the decades of accomplishments, has allowed us to characterize and document Earth system variability on time scales from minutes to decades.”
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NASA Curiosity Rover
Sol 4558: Right Navigation Camera, Cylindrical Projection
June 4, 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 111 degrees azimuth (measured clockwise from north).
Curiosity took the images on June 02, 2025, Sol 4558 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission at drive 1890, site number 116.
The local mean solar time for the image exposures was from 2 PM to 3 PM. Each Navcam image has a 45 degree field of view.
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sol-4558-right-navigation-camera-cylindrical-projection/
Sols 4559-4560: Drill Campaign — Searching for a Boxwork Bedrock Drill Site
Jun 04, 2025
Earth planning date: Monday, June 2, 2025
Now that Curiosity has spent a few sols collecting close-up measurements of the rocks in the outer edge of the boxwork-forming geologic unit, the team has decided that it's time to collect a drill sample.
The geochemical measurements by APXS and ChemCam have shown changes since we crossed over from the previous layered sulfate unit, but we can't figure out the mineralogy from those data alone.
As we've often seen before on Mars, the same chemical elements can crystallize into a number of different mineral assemblages.
That's even more the case in sedimentary rocks such as we are driving through, in which different grains in our rocks may have formed in different times and places.
This also means that when we do get our mineral data, those minerals will tell us a lot about the history of these new-to-us rocks.
On board Curiosity, that mineral analysis is the job of the CheMin instrument, which uses X-ray diffraction to identify minerals.
CheMin shines a narrow X-ray beam through a powdered sample in order to generate the diffraction pattern, which means that it needs a drilled sample. So the team today was busy looking for a drillable spot.
Unfortunately the rover's drill reach from today's parking spot included only rocks that were too fractured or had too much debris sitting on them to be considered likely to produce a good drilled sample, so we will have to move, or “bump,” at least one more time before progressing to the drill preload test, which is the next step in drilling.
In the meantime, we are taking more measurements to understand the range of compositions that can be found in this rock layer.
Dust removal (DRT) + APXS + LIBS + MAHLI were all planned for target “Holcomb Valley,” while a short distance away a second DRT/APXS/MAHLI measurement was planned for “Santa Ysabel Valley” and in another direction, a second LIBS for “Stough Saddle.”
One long-distance ChemCam remote imaging mosaic was planned to cover a boxwork structure off in the distance.
Mastcam had a relatively light day of imaging, with just a couple of small mosaics covering a nearby trough feature, and providing context for the RMI of the boxwork structure, in addition to documenting the two LIBS targets.
The modern Mars environment was also recorded with a couple of movies to look for dust-devil activity, a measurement of atmospheric opacity, and a pair of suprahorizon observations to look for clouds, plus the usual passive observations by DAN and REMS to monitor the neutron environment, temperature, and humidity.
I'll be on rover planning Wednesday as Geology and Mineralogy Science Theme Lead and looking forward to what we find — hopefully some drillable boxwork-unit bedrock!
https://science.nasa.gov/blog/sols-4559-4560-drill-campaign-searching-for-a-boxwork-bedrock-drill-site/
Galaxy Clusters on Course to Crash Again, NASA’s Chandra Finds
Jun 04, 2025
New observations from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes have captured a rare cosmic event: two galaxy clusters have collided and are now poised to head back for another swipe at each other.
Galaxy clusters are some of the largest structures in the Universe. Held together by gravity, they are monster-sized collections of hundreds or thousands of individual galaxies, massive amounts of superheated gas, and invisible dark matter.
The galaxy cluster PSZ2 G181.06+48.47 (PSZ2 G181 for short) is about 2.8 billion light-years from Earth. Previously, radio observations from the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), an antenna network in the Netherlands, spotted parentheses-shaped structures on the outside of the system.
In this new composite image, X-rays from Chandra (purple) and ESA’s XMM-Newton (blue) have been combined with LOFAR data (red) and an optical image from Pan-STARRs of the stars in the field of view.
These structures are probably shock fronts — similar to those created by jets that have broken the sound barrier — likely caused by disruption of gas from the initial collision about a billion years ago.
Since the collision they have continued traveling outwards and are currently separated by about 11 million light-years, the largest separation of these kinds of structures that astronomers have ever seen.
Now, data from NASA’s Chandra and ESA’s XMM-Newton is providing evidence that PSZ2 G181 is poised for another collision. Having a first pass at ramming each other, the two clusters have slowed down and begun heading back toward a second crash.
Astronomers made a detailed study of the X-ray observations of this collision site and found three shock fronts. These are aligned with the axis of the collision, and the researchers think they are early signs of the second, oncoming crash.
The researchers are still trying to determine how much mass each of the colliding clusters contains. Regardless, the total mass of the system is less than others where galaxy clusters have collided.
This makes PSZ2 G181 an unusual case of a lower-mass system involved in the rare event of colliding galaxy clusters.
A paper describing these results appears in a recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ) and is led by Andra Stroe from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and collaborators.
It is part of a series of three papers in ApJ. The second paper is led by Kamlesh Rajpurohit, also of CfA, and the third paper is led by Eunmo Ahn, from Yonsei University in the Republic of Korea.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program.
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
Visual Description
In this release, a composite image illustrates a dramatic cosmic story unfolding 2.8 billion light years from Earth. Presented both with and without labels, the image details the fallout when two galaxy clusters collide.
At the center of the image are the colliding galaxy clusters, which together are known as PSZ2 G181. This combined cluster somewhat resembles an irregular violet peanut shell, with bulbous ends linked by a tapered middle.
Inside each bulbous end are several glowing dots; some of the galaxies within the clusters. The violet peanut shape is tilted at a slight angle, surrounded by a blue haze of X-ray gas.
Far from the bulbous ends, at our upper left and lower right, are two blotchy, thick red lines. These are probably shock fronts, similar to those created by jets that have broken the sound barrier.
Bracketing the combined galaxy cluster, these shock fronts were caused by the initial collision about a billion years ago. They are currently separated by 11 million light-years.
New data from the Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories suggests that PSZ2 G181 is poised for another powerful cosmic event. Having already taken one swipe at each other, the two clusters within are once again on a collision course.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/galaxy-clusters-on-course-to-crash-again-nasas-chandra-finds/
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/adb731
NASA, ISRO Research Aboard Fourth Private Astronaut Mission to Station
Jun 04, 2025
NASA and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) are collaborating to launch scientific investigations aboard Axiom Mission 4, the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.
These studies include examining muscle regeneration, growth of sprouts and edible microalgae, survival of tiny aquatic organisms, and human interaction with electronic displays in microgravity.
The mission is targeted to launch no earlier than Tuesday, June 10, aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Regenerating muscle tissue
During long-duration spaceflights, astronauts lose muscle mass, and their muscle cells’ regenerative ability declines.
Researchers suspect this may happen because microgravity interferes with metabolism in mitochondria, tiny structures within cells that produce energy.
The Myogenesis-ISRO investigation uses muscle stem cell cultures to examine the muscle repair process and test chemicals known to support mitochondrial function.
Results could lead to interventions that maintain muscle health during long-duration space missions, help people on Earth with age-related muscle loss and muscle-wasting diseases, and assist athletes and people recovering from surgery.
The Sprouts-ISRO investigation looks at the germination and growth in microgravity of seeds from greengram and fenugreek, nutritious plants commonly eaten on the Indian subcontinent.
Bioactive compounds in fenugreek seeds also have therapeutic properties, and the leaves contain essential vitamins and minerals.
Learning more about how space affects the genetics, nutritional content, and other characteristics over multiple generations of plants could inform the development of ways for future missions to reliably produce plants as a food source.
Microalgae growth
Space Microalgae-ISRO studies how microgravity affects microalgae growth and genetics. Highly digestible microalgae species packed with nutrients could be a food source on future space missions.
These organisms also grow quickly, produce energy and oxygen, and consume carbon dioxide, traits that could be employed in life support and fuel systems on spacecraft and in certain scenarios on Earth.
Tiny but tough
Tardigrades are tiny aquatic organisms that can tolerate extreme conditions on Earth.
Voyager Tardigrade-ISRO tests the survival of a strain of tardigrades in the harsh conditions of space, including cosmic radiation and ultra-low temperatures, which kill most life forms.
Researchers plan to revive dormant tardigrades, count the number of eggs laid and hatched during the mission, and compare the gene expression patterns of populations in space and on the ground.
Results could help identify what makes these organisms able to survive extreme conditions and support development of technology to protect astronauts on future missions and those in harsh environments on Earth.
Improving electronic interactions
Research shows that humans interact with touchscreen devices differently in space.
Voyager Displays – ISRO examines how spaceflight affects interactions with electronic displays such as pointing tasks, gaze fixation, and rapid eye movements along with how these interactions affect the user’s feelings of stress or wellbeing.
Results could support improved design of control devices for spacecraft and habitats on future space missions as well as for aviation and other uses on Earth.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/iss-research/nasa-isro-research-aboard-fourth-private-astronaut-mission-to-station/
https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/astrophysics/3-black-holes-caught-eating-massive-stars-in-nasa-data/
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt0074
3 Black Holes Caught Eating Massive Stars in NASA Data
Jun 04, 2025
Black holes are invisible to us unless they interact with something else. Some continuously eat gas and dust, and appear to glow brightly over time as matter falls in. But other black holes secretly lie in wait for years until a star comes close enough to snack on.
A new study using space and ground-based data from NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), and other institutions describes three extreme examples of supermassive black holes feasting on massive stars.
These events released more energy than 100 supernovae, and represent the most energetic type of cosmic explosion since the big bang discovered so far.
Each supermassive black hole sits at the center of a distant galaxy, and suddenly brightened when it destroyed a star three to 10 times heavier than our Sun.
The brightness then lasted for several months. Scientists describe these rare occurrences as a new category of cosmic events called “extreme nuclear transients.”
Looking for more of these extreme nuclear transients could help unveil some of the most massive supermassive black holes in the universe that are usually quiet.
“These events are the only way we can have a spotlight that we can shine on otherwise inactive massive black holes,” said Jason Hinkle, graduate student at the University of Hawaii and lead author of a new study in the journal Science Advances describing this phenomenon.
These events unleash enormous amounts of high-energy radiation on the central regions of their host galaxies. "That has implications for the environments in which these events are occurring,” Hinkle said.
“If galaxies have these events, they’re important for the galaxies themselves.”
The stars’ destruction produces high-energy light that takes over 100 days to reach peak brightness, then more than 150 days to dim to half of its peak.
The way the high-energy radiation affects the environment results in lower-energy emissions that telescopes can also detect.
One of these star-destroying events, nicknamed “Barbie” because of its catalog identifier ZTF20abrbeie, was discovered in 2020 by the Zwicky Transient Facility at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in California, and documented in two 2023 studies.
The other two black holes were detected by ESA’s Gaia mission in 2016 and 2018 and are studied in detail in the new paper.
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory was critical in confirming that these events must have been related to black holes, not stellar explosions or other phenomena.
The way that the X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical light brightened and dimmed over time was like a fingerprint matching that of a black hole ripping a star apart.
Scientists also used data from NASA’s WISE spacecraft, which was operated from 2009 to 2011 and then was reactivated as NEOWISE and retired in 2024.
Under the WISE mission the spacecraft mapped the sky at infrared wavelengths, finding many new distant objects and cosmic phenomena. In the new study, the spacecraft's data helped researchers characterize dust in the environments of each black hole.
Numerous ground-based observatories additionally contributed to this discovery, including the W. M. Keck Observatory telescopes through their NASA-funded archive and the NASA-supported Near-Earth Object surveys ATLAS, Pan-STARRS, and Catalina.
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“What I think is so exciting about this work is that we're pushing the upper bounds of what we understand to be the most energetic environments of the universe,” said Anna Payne, a staff scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute and study co-author, who helped look for the chemical fingerprints of these events with the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter Telescope.
A Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) grant from the agency helped enable Hinkle to search for these black hole events.
“The FINESST grant gave Jason the freedom to track down and figure out what these events actually were,” said Ben Shappee, associate professor at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, a study coauthor and advisor to Hinkle.
Hinkle is set to follow up on these results as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign through the NASA Hubble Fellowship Program.
“One of the biggest questions in astronomy is how black holes grow throughout the universe,” Hinkle said.
The results complement recent observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope showing how supermassive black holes feed and grow in the early universe.
But since only 10% of early black holes are actively eating gas and dust, extreme nuclear transients — that is, catching a supermassive black hole in the act of eating a massive star — are a different way to find black holes in the early universe.
Events like these are so bright that they may be visible even in the distant, early universe. Swift showed that extreme nuclear transients emit most of their light in the ultraviolet.
But as the universe expands, that light is stretched to longer wavelengths and shifts into the infrared — exactly the kind of light NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was designed to detect.
With its powerful infrared sensitivity and wide field of view, Roman will be able to spot these rare explosions from more than 12 billion years ago, when the universe was just a tenth of its current age.
Scheduled to launch by 2027, and potentially as early as fall 2026, Roman could uncover many more of these dramatic events and offer a new way to explore how stars, galaxies, and black holes formed and evolved over time.
“We can take these three objects as a blueprint to know what to look for in the future,” Payne said.
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https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/japanese-company-ispace-will-attempt-historic-moon-landing-on-june-5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVSMXQPeTcw
Japanese company ispace will attempt historic moon landing today
June 4, 2025
The Japanese private spaceflight company ispace aims to make history on Thursday (June 5) with its second attempt to land on the moon.
The Resilience lander is currently orbiting the moon as it prepares to land within Mare Frigoris ("Sea of Cold") in the northern hemisphere.
The landing is scheduled for Thursday at 3:17 p.m. EDT (1917 GMT; or 4:17 a.m. Japan Standard Time on Friday, June 6), ispace announced today (June 4).
This is seven minutes earlier than previously stated, after engineers fine-tuned orbital calculations.
You'll be able to watch the landing attempt live via ispace, and Space.com will carry the company's livestream.
Should ispace decide to switch to an alternative landing site, the Resilience landing would shift to different landing dates and times, the company stated on social media.
Resilience is ispace's second lunar lander and has been on a long, circuitous route to the moon after launch on Jan. 15 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The mission is a follow-up to the failed Hakuto-R Mission 1 landing attempt back in 2023, and is also part of a wider surge in private lunar exploration efforts that have seen a number of recent commercial landing attempts.
A successful landing would mark Japan's first private spacecraft to safely reach the lunar surface and only the third commercial success globally, signaling growing momentum in commercial exploration of Earth's nearest neighbor.
Ready for descent
Resilience is currently in a circular orbit 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the moon. At around 2:20 p.m. EDT (1840 GMT) on Thursday, an hour before landing, it will automatically fire its main engine, reducing altitude and velocity as it begins its fully autonomous landing attempt.
Resilience, which is 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) tall and 8.5 feet (2.6 m) wide, is targeting Mare Frigoris, a vast, relatively smooth basaltic plain in the moon's northern hemisphere.
Resilience weighed roughly 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) when fully fueled and is based on the same Hakuto-R hardware as Mission 1, but features software updates using lessons learned from the earlier failed landing.
An altitude sensor in Mission 1 mistook the rim of a crater for the lunar surface, causing the lander to shut down its engines early, while it was still, in reality, around 3.1 miles (5 km) above the moon.
Founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada said that ispace stands ready to make history, building on the experience of Hakuto-R Mission 1.
"While the mission achieved significant results, we lost communication with the lander just before touchdown," Hakamada said in a June 4 statement.
"Since that time, we have drawn on the experience, using it as motivation to move forward with resolve. We are now at the dawn of our next attempt to make history."
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Post-landing plans
Resilience is attempting to make more than a statement with its landing. The solar-powered lander carries five science payloads, including a micro moon rover named Tenacious, which was developed by ispace's Luxembourg-based subsidiary, and carries payloads for commercial partners.
Tenacious sports a high-definition, forward-mounted camera and a small shovel for collecting samples. Resilience is also packing a water electrolyzer experiment, an algae-based food production module, and a deep space radiation probe from Taiwan that could contribute to future crewed mission safety.
Also aboard are a commemorative alloy plate based on the "Charter of the Universal Century," a fictional document from the popular Japanese science fiction franchise Gundam; a UNESCO memory disk preserving linguistic and cultural diversity; and a "Moonhouse" artwork aboard Tenacious.
If Resilience lands successfully, it is expected to operate for up to two weeks (one lunar day) on the moon's surface before succumbing to the deep cold of lunar night.
The European Space Agency's ESTRACK ground network will support communication between the lander and ispace's Mission Control Center in Tokyo.
The mission is also part of a grander ispace vision. The pioneering company is focused on developing robotic landers and lunar rovers with the overarching goal of expanding humanity's presence beyond Earth and building a sustainable cislunar economy.
The company was established as White Label Space in 2010 by Hakamada, before changing its name to ispace in 2013.
The company competed in the Google Lunar X Prize competition, and though it did not undertake a lunar mission, it continued its lander work after the X Prize's 2018 end. Headquartered in Tokyo, ispace also operates offices in the United States and Luxembourg.
Resilience is the latest in a flurry of lunar landing activity. Since ispace's first landing attempt in 2023, India's Chandrayaan-3 has successfully touched down, Japan's SLIM lander made a successful yet lopsided landing, China's Chang'e 6 collected the first samples from the far side of the moon, and Russia's Luna 25 crashed into the moon.
While these were national efforts, a series of private landing attempts have also been made, demonstrating a far greater, more competitive context for lunar science and exploration.
In early 2024, Astrobotic's Peregrine lander suffered a mission-ending failure early in its flight, followed by Intuitive Machines' Odysseus landing on the moon but tipping over.
Firefly Aerospace's first Blue Ghost lander — which launched with Resilience on the same Falcon 9 rocket in January — made the second-ever private landing in early March in Mare Crisium.
Intuitive Machines' IM-2 Athena lander made a historic landing near the south pole a few days later but toppled over in doing so.
Whether Resilience lands safely or not, ispace is forging ahead. Its next mission, set for 2026, will debut a larger lander, Apex 1.0, aimed at expanding Japan's role in the growing lunar economy.
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Bennet, Cramer Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Bolster Indo-Pacific Space Cooperation
Jun 5, 2025
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced the Quad Space Act to strengthen space cooperation among the four members of the Quad: Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. Australia, India, and Japan are among the world’s leading space powers and maintain strong governmental and commercial ties with the United States.
“As China and Russia rapidly develop dangerous space capabilities and behave recklessly in space, the United States must bolster cooperation with our Quad partners to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Bennet.
“The Quad Space Act will enhance our collective capacity to address shared challenges by better ensuring safe and secure space missions, tracking objects and activities in space, and fostering shared innovation.”
“Maintaining space dominance is vital to protecting the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region,” said Cramer.
“The Quad’s alignment addresses shared security challenges between our countries, and we recognize the importance of space as a strategic domain.
The Quad Space Act protects our interests by deepening space cooperation with trusted partners and reaffirming our commitment to advancing a free and open region.”
Specifically, the Quad Space Act:
Requires the Secretary of Defense to initiate discussions with Quad partners to identify areas of mutual interest with regard to best practices in space, cooperation on space situational awareness, and space industrial policy; and
Requires the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress on identified areas of cooperation and potential steps to formalize such cooperation.
The Quad evolved from the “Tsunami Core Group,” which the four countries formed in the wake of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to coordinate the emergency response and humanitarian assistance.
The Trump administration revived the Quad in 2017 after nearly a decade of dormancy. The Biden administration then upgraded the Quad to the leaders’ level and expanded the grouping’s work.
The Quad has in recent years cooperated on maritime domain awareness, critical and emerging technology, health, and climate.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s first meeting after taking office on January 21, 2025 was with the Quad foreign ministers.
Bennet is a leading advocate of continued U.S. and allied space superiority. He has since 2022 supported the Space National Guard Establishment Act to create a Space National Guard.
In 2023, he passed a measure, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), to protect funding for the U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado Springs.
In 2024, Bennet secured over $216 million for research, development, and deployment of national defense and aerospace technology to improve U.S. military readiness and capabilities in the space domain.
As part of the NDAA, Bennet also secured passage of the Coordinating AUKUS Engagement with Japan Act, which requires the Department of Defense and State Department to determine how Japan, a crucial U.S. ally, can contribute to the AUKUS partnership between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Additionally, Bennet played a leading role in passing the April 2024 national security aid package, which included $8.13 billion for Indo-Pacific partners including Taiwan and the Philippines.
That month, he also traveled to Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines to underscore the unwavering U.S. commitment to our allies and partners and discuss areas of future cooperation.
In late 2023, Bennet visited India to strengthen U.S.-India ties through meetings with External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and then-Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2025/06/05/bennet-cramer-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-bolster-indo-pacific-space-cooperation/
https://www.bennet.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/QUAD-Space-Act.pdf
Marc Garneau, 1st Canadian astronaut in space, dead at 76
June 5, 2025 6:30 AM
Garneau also held a number of cabinet positions as a Liberal MP from Montreal. Former astronaut and cabinet minister Marc Garneau has died. He was 76.
A statement from his wife, Pam Garneau, says he passed away peacefully after a short illness, surrounded by his family.
Marc faced his final days with the same strength, clarity and grace that defined his life, the statement says.
She says the family is grateful for the outpouring of support, concern and kind words received over the past few days and also asks for privacy as we grieve this profound loss and take time to reflect and heal.
Garneau was born on Feb. 23, 1949, in Quebec City. He studied engineering physics at the Royal Military College of Kingston, graduating in 1970, and he earned a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London in 1973.
He then began his career by enlisting in the Canadian Navy, where he served from 1974 to 1983. After that, Garneau became the first Canadian to travel to space as part of a NASA mission in 1984.
After holding various positions at the Canadian Space Agency, he became its first vice-president, then its president, from late 2001 until 2005.
Marc was my role model, mentor, 30-plus-year close friend and an exemplary Canadian for us all, said former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield in a statement. My heart goes out to his family. The world lost a very good man.
In 2008, Garneau was elected as a Liberal in what was then the Quebec riding of Westmount–Ville-Marie. In 2013, ridings were redrawn, and he was elected to represent Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount.
He served as minister of transport in Justin Trudeau's government from 2015 to 2021, and then as minister of foreign affairs from January to October 2021.
Garneau resigned from the House of Commons in March 2023. On X Wednesday, Trudeau says he was in school in the early 1980s when he first met Garneau.
I was in awe of his service and courage then, and continued to be so when I had the privilege of serving alongside him in Parliament and in government, says Trudeau.
Throughout his life, Marc truly embodied and radiated the greatness of Canada.
Garneau was well known in the community
Westmount Mayor Christina Smith remembers volunteering on Garneau's campaigns before he took office, and served on his riding association.
He was so incredibly generous with his time with people, and especially kids, said Smith, recalling him visiting a robotics summer camp or reading Hadfield's book to children last summer.
Everywhere he went, kids wanted to talk to him, she said.
And not only was Garneau working to keep local organizations funded and attending events, he was also a Westmounter whom people would see walking down Sherbooke Street, stopping by the pharmacy or grocery shopping, she said.
People got to see him. They got to know him, said Smith. He was so respected. All the tributes you're going to see, they're so genuine.
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/2169939/marc-garneau-1st-canadian-astronaut-in-space-dead-at-76
https://www.businessdurham.co.uk/post/north-east-space-conference-2025-shaping-the-future-of-space-innovation
North East Space Conference 2025: Shaping the Future of Space Innovation
June 5, 2025
The North East Space Conference 2025, taking place on 25th June at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Durham, promises to be an unmissable event for anyone interested in the rapidly evolving space sector.
Bringing together the brightest minds in space innovation, the conference will explore the latest advancements, trends, and opportunities within the industry.
Whether you're an established player or a newcomer, the conference offers a valuable opportunity to gain insights from industry experts, network with key stakeholders, and learn about the cutting-edge technologies driving the space economy forward.
Keynote Speakers: Leading Voices in Space Innovation
The conference will feature incredible keynote speakers who are shaping the future of space.
Matthew Archer, Director of Launch at the UK Space Agency, will deliver a keynote outlining the UK’s national launch strategy and its emerging commercial opportunities.
With a focus on small satellite launches, Matthew will explore how the UK is positioning itself as a global leader in space operations, from design and manufacturing to launch logistics.
His talk will highlight the North East’s role in this dynamic sector, focusing on the region’s engineering, manufacturing, and chemical processing strengths, and the collaborative work of industry clusters such as Space North East England and NEAME.
Matthew will also explore how the UK Space Agency supports innovation and investment in space, fostering international collaboration through clear regulatory frameworks and targeted funding.
The second keynote, Ian Carnelli from the European Space Agency (ESA), will discuss ESA’s ScaleUp Programme, which provides funding and technical support to help European companies grow from small-scale prototypes to large-scale manufacturing.
His talk will highlight ESA's efforts to support space hubs like the North East and will showcase how UK companies can access ESA’s resources to boost their growth.
Panel Discussions: Diverse Insights on the Space Industry
The conference will also feature a series of expert-led panel discussions, where some of the leading minds in the industry will delve into the key issues facing the space sector today.
Panel 1: The Business of Space Launch
This session will explore the commercial opportunities and challenges within the space launch sector.
Chaired by Dr. Jo North, an expert in innovation strategy, the panel will feature industry leaders such as Andy Bradford (CTO, Orbex), Charlie Young (Co-Founder, Plastron UK), Matthew Archer (UK Space Agency), and Isabelle Valentin (COO, Latitude), who will discuss topics like small satellite capabilities, innovation in launch infrastructure, and the UK’s position in the global launch market.
Panel 2: How Did Your Business Pivot into Space?
For businesses looking to transition into the space sector, this panel will explore how companies from diverse industries have successfully pivoted into space.
Panellists will include Aidan Wigham (Managing Director, MSP), Tudor Williams (CTO, Filtronic), and Yuri Andersson (CEO, Angoka).
They will share their experiences of adapting existing skills and technologies for space applications, providing valuable insights into overcoming the challenges of entering this high-tech industry.
Panel 3: Why Are We in Space, What Are Our Key Capabilities?
This panel will focus on the North East’s growing contribution to space research and innovation.
Leading academic figures from Sunderland University, Northumbria University, Durham University, Teesside University, and Newcastle University will discuss the region’s capabilities in space research, technological advancements, and academic-industry collaborations that are shaping the future of space science and technology.
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Panel 4: Manufacturing of the Future, or is it of the Now?
As space manufacturing technologies continue to evolve, this panel will examine the present and future of manufacturing in space.
With experts such as Samuel Moorcroft of BioOrbit Sam Adlen (Co-CEO & Co-Founder, Space Solar), Dr Rajan Bedi of SpaceChips and Rory Holmes - Clear Space this session will explore the role of commercial companies in developing manufacturing solutions in orbit, the impact of space manufacturing on satellite systems, and the challenges of creating sustainable space-based industries.
Panel 5: What Does Safer Space Mean?
Space safety is an increasingly critical issue as more entities launch and operate in space.
This panel, chaired by Gemma Wilson (UK Space), will explore the technologies, strategies, and collaborations required to ensure the safety and security of space operations.
Panelists like Ben Shaw (Senior Director of Space Systems, Lockheed Martin), Lee Jackson (Space Situational Awareness, Raytheon), John Worthy of FieldFisher and Dinz Dinsley (CEO, 3S Northumbria) will discuss the growing challenges of space debris management, collision avoidance, and the importance of creating a sustainable, secure space environment.
Get Ready for an Inspiring Line-Up of Exhibitors
We are delighted to bring together some of the most innovative companies in the space sector, showcasing their ground-breaking technologies and solutions.
Whether you're a startup, an academic, or a seasoned professional, these exhibitors are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in space research, technology, and sustainability.
From cutting-edge satellite systems to groundbreaking advancements in space safety, manufacturing, and education, this conference will highlight the incredible talent and vision driving the future of space.
Get ready to explore the latest developments and meet the minds shaping the space industry!
Here’s a preview of the exhibitors who you’ll meet at the conference:
Nano Electronic Services Ltd
3S Northumbria Ltd
AmbaSat
NETPark
Durham University
Teesside University
Sunderland University
Northumbria University
Newcastle University
Filtronic
Telespazio UK
Plastron
Nascent Semiconductor
Muckle LLP
Technia
Raytheon
Business Durham/DBG
CyberNorth
aXenic
Invest North East England
North East Combined Authority
Mowden Controls
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with these leaders in the space sector, share ideas, and discover the technologies that will shape the future of space.
Book your place now at North East Space Conference 2025.
Why Attend?
The North East Space Conference 2025 is more than just a conference—it’s an opportunity to be at the forefront of space innovation.
With diverse panel discussions, engaging keynote addresses, and a chance to network with industry leaders and academic experts, attendees will walk away with a deeper understanding of the space industry’s present and future.
Whether you're a business leader, an entrepreneur, an academic, or just passionate about space, this conference will provide you with the knowledge and connections you need to navigate and contribute to the ever-growing space economy.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to be part of this exciting event. Register now and join us on 25th June 2025 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Durham for a day that will shape the future of space innovation.
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https://www.spacenortheastengland.com/event-details/north-east-space-conference-2025-the-new-frontier-of-space-and-manufacturing
ESA’s new asteroid hunter opens its eye to the sky
05/06/2025
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) newest planetary defender has opened its ‘eye’ to the cosmos for the first time.
The Flyeye telescope’s ‘first light’ marks the beginning of a new chapter in how we scan the skies for new near-Earth asteroids and comets.
Inspired by an insect’s compound eye, ESA and OHB Italia designed Flyeye to capture a region of the sky more than 200 times as large as the full Moon in a single exposure – much larger than a conventional telescope.
It will use this wide field of view to automatically survey the sky each night independent from human operation and identify new asteroids that could pose a hazard to Earth.
“In the future, a network of up to four Flyeye telescopes spread across the northern and southern hemispheres will work together to further improve the speed and completeness these automatic sky surveys and to reduce the dependence on good weather at any individual site,” says ESA's Ernesto Doelling, Flyeye Project Manager.
“The earlier we spot potentially hazardous asteroids, the more time we have to assess them and, if necessary, prepare a response,” says Richard Moissl, Head of ESA’s Planetary Defence Office.
“ESA’s Flyeye telescopes will be an early-warning system, and their discoveries will be shared with the global planetary defence community.”
ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (NEOCC) will verify any potential new asteroid detections made by the Flyeye telescopes and submit the findings to the Minor Planet Center, Earth’s hub for asteroid observational data.
Astronomers, including experts from the NEOCC, will then carry out follow-up observations to further assess the hazard that the object may pose to our planet.
“The unique optical design of the Flyeye telescope is optimised for conducting large sky surveys while maintaining high image quality throughout the wide field of view,” says Roberto Aceti, Managing Director at OHB Italia.
“The telescope is equipped with a one metre primary mirror, which efficiently captures incoming light. This light is then divided into 16 separate channels, each equipped with a camera capable of detecting very faint objects.
This enables simultaneous high-sensitivity observations over a large region of the sky.”
During operations, Flyeye’s observation schedule will be optimised to consider factors such as Moon brightness and the work of other survey telescopes such as the NASA-funded ATLAS telescopes, the Zwicky Transient Facility and the upcoming Vera Rubin Telescope.
These images of the sky above the ancient stone hills of Matera, Italy, are more than just a test – they are proof that Flyeye is ready to begin its mission.
The telescope will soon leave the Space Geodesy Centre of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and be transported to Monte Mufara, in Sicily, where it will join the global effort to keep watch over Earth’s skies.
https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Planetary_Defence/ESA_s_new_asteroid_hunter_opens_its_eye_to_the_sky
>You are being forced to take notice.
They're shoving it up everyone's ass and down their throats sideways at the same time.
Watching others go through it from an outside orbit is… interesting.
>It had to be this way.
>Peace will win.
>God will win.
Cheers to that.
Striking satellite images show Mount Etna's eruption from space
June 5, 2025
Mount Etna's violent eruption on Monday morning (June 3) could be seen from space as striking satellite images photographed the event on the Italian island of Sicily.
Etna is the largest and most active volcano in Europe, and with this latest eruption, tourists could be seen running away as the volcano was spewing out smoke.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) had noted Mount Etna was experiencing “intense and almost continuous” strombolian explosions.
“The INGV-Osservatorio Etneo informs that over the last few hours, the eruptive activity already mentioned in the previous statement has continued with strombolian explosions of increasing intensity that, at the moment, are to be considered to be very intense and almost continuous,” the research institute said on Monday.
The photographs taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-2C satellite were captured "just minutes after the onset of the eruption", sending a massive plume of ash four miles (6.5km) into the sky.
(The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre had issued a brief red warning for this, but no flights were been disrupted in the end.)
"Copernicus data is key to tracking global volcanic activity, helping communities to assess hazards, support emergency response operations, and monitor long-term changes to landscapes," Copernicus said in a post, alongside the satellite images.
A pyroclastic flow also occurred (a fast-moving combination of hot gas and volcanic matter) that was seen falling down one of the mountain faces following the collapse of material from a part of the crater, and also produced hot molten lava plumes as a result.
To understand the danger of pyroclastic flows, on average, they travel 60 miles per hour (100 kmph) and can reach temperatures up to 1,000°C (1,800°F).
Where did this cloud from Mt Etna travel?
According to INGV, the water and sulphur dioxide cloud was "drifting towards the southwest" at the start of the eruption, and then it noted "the falling of a little thin ash has been flagged" in the Piano Vetore area, where there is a wildlife park.
Thankfully, the flow didn't cause any harm in this instance. Renato Schifani, President of the Sicily region, said experts had assured him there was "no danger for the population" as the flow didn't go past the Valley of the Lions, a tourist area.
As seen in the images, a "fine reddish material" was also produced by the pyroclastic flow over the northwest.
What is the Mount Etna situation as of now?
According to the latest statement by INGV, the eruption activity has ceased.
The last time Mount Etna violently erupted was on 14 August last year, and resulted in airport closures nearby after the eruption sent a smoke plume 5.9 miles (9.5 kilometers) high.
https://www.indy100.com/news/mount-etna-eruption-italy-striking-satellite-images-space
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1133558248813152&set=a.295220785980240&type=3
Astronomers stunned as giant planet challenges what we know about space
Wednesday 04 June 2025 16:49 EDT
Astronomers have been left puzzled by the discovery of an unusually large planet orbiting a remarkably small star, a cosmic pairing that defies existing theories of planetary formation.
The star, named TOI-6894, is located approximately 240 light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo. It is only about one-fifth the mass of our sun. According to current models, stars of this size should typically host smaller planets, similar to Earth or Mars.
However, the planet found orbiting TOI-6894 is as large as Saturn, the second-largest planet in our solar system.
This discovery marks the smallest-known star to host such a large planet, being about 40% smaller than the previous record holders. The mismatch challenges our understanding of how planets form around stars.
"The question of how such a small star can host such a large planet is one that this discovery raises - and we are yet to answer," said astronomer Edward Bryant of the University of Warwick in England, lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Planets beyond our solar system are called exoplanets. The one orbiting TOI-6894 is a gas giant, like Saturn and Jupiter in our solar system, rather than a rocky planet like Earth.
The birth of a planetary system begins with a large cloud of gas and dust - called a molecular cloud - that collapses under its own gravity to form a central star.
Leftover material spinning around the star in what is called a protoplanetary disk forms planets. Smaller clouds yield smaller stars, and smaller disks contain less material to form planets.
"In small clouds of dust and gas, it's hard to build a giant planet," said exoplanet scientist and study co-author Vincent Van Eylen of University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
"This is because to build a giant planet, you need to quickly build a large planet core and then quickly accrete (accumulate) a lot of gas on top of that core.
But there's only so much time to do it before the star starts shining and the disk rapidly disappears. In small stars, we think there's simply not enough mass available to build a giant planet quickly enough before the disk disappears," Van Eylen added.
No known planet is larger than its host star, and that is the case here as well, though the two are much closer in size than usual.
While the sun's diameter is 10 times larger than our solar system's largest planet Jupiter, TOI-6894's diameter is just 2.5 times greater than its only known planet.
The star is a red dwarf, the smallest type of regular star and the most common kind found in the Milky Way galaxy.
"Given these stars are very common, there may be many more giant planets in the galaxy than we thought," Bryant said.
The star is about 21% the mass of the sun and much dimmer. In fact, the sun is about 250 times more luminous than TOI-6894.
"These findings suggest that even the smallest stars in the universe can in some cases form very large planets. That forces us to rethink some of our planet formation models," Van Eylen said.
The planet is located about 40 times closer to its star than Earth is to the sun, completing an orbit in approximately three days.
Its proximity to the star means the planet's surface is quite hot, though not as hot as gas giants called "hot Jupiters" detected orbiting similarly close to bigger stars.
Its diameter is slightly larger than Saturn and a bit smaller than Jupiter, though it is less dense than them. Its mass is 56% that of Saturn and 17% that of Jupiter.
The main data used in studying the planet came from NASA's orbiting Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, and the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope, or VLT.
https://www.the-independent.com/space/toi-6894-planet-star-orbit-b2763902.html
https://www.myscience.org/news/wire/giant_planet_discovered_orbiting_tiny_star-2025-ucl
2 workers killed in crane collapse along Florida's Space Coast as state sees days of storms, winds near 50 mph
June 4, 2025 5:38pm EDT
MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. – Two workers were killed Wednesday afternoon in an industrial accident involving a construction crane on Florida’s Space Coast, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene shortly before 2 p.m. following reports of a crane collapse at a construction site on Merritt Island.
First responders confirmed that two workers were transported to a nearby hospital, where they were later pronounced deceased.
Authorities have not yet released the identities of the victims, and details about what led to the collapse remain unclear.
The accident will now be the subject of a lengthy investigation by local and possibly federal officials.
The region had been under a tropical envelope for days, meaning the recent string of wet weather likely resulted in unsteady terrain.
Additionally, the National Weather Service said there were wind gusts of 30-50 mph along the coast, but values were well below what is considered to be damaging or severe.
Officials have also not stated whether the crane was in operation at the time of the incident or if there were any warning signals before the collapse.
Photos and videos from the scene showed a large crane mangled at the construction job site, with workers and law enforcement on the periphery of the collapse.
According to emergency management, workers have been constructing a new hospital, which is expected to open in 2027.
Once completed, the 267,900-square-foot facility will have 120 private patient rooms, 25 emergency department treatment rooms, four emergency treatment bays and six operating rooms.
Due to the future hospital’s proximity to the coastline, the medical center is being built to withstand the strength of a Category 4 hurricane.
Inquiries to the health system were unanswered as of Wednesday evening.
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/crane-florida-space-coast-crash
'Joy,' a plush baby swan, will launch with Axiom Mission-4 crew as zero-g indicator
June 4, 2025
When an international astronaut crew lifts off on a commercial space mission this month, they will be joined by a स्वैन, a łabędź or a hattyú. Or, in English, a swan.
The Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) astronauts, including American commander Peggy Whitson, Indian pilot Shubhanshu Shukla and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary, chose a small plush swan named "Joy" as their zero-gravity indicator.
The doll, attached to a tether, will be released to float aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule, signaling that the Ax-4 crew safely made it into low Earth orbit.
"Joy, the baby swan, embodies the shared pursuit of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Hungarian to Orbit program (HUNOR) to soar high above our home planet," reads Axiom Space's description of the zero-g indicator.
"In this way, Joy represents cultural unity as three nations realize the return to human spaceflight, together as one crew."
The Ax-4 crew chose a swan because it symbolizes similar characteristics across their different countries.
"'Joy' represents the shared aspirations of three nations united in their return to human spaceflight," said Whitson as she revealed the zero-g indicator during the crew's pre-launch press briefing on Tuesday (June 3).
"This one is rich in cultural symbolism. It stands for wisdom in India, resilience in Poland and grace in Hungary. Through 'Joy,' we'll celebrate our diversity and our unity in the shared journey of space exploration."
"In Indian culture, the swan is the vehicle of Goddess Saraswati, symbolizing wisdom, learning and purity," said Shukla.
"It is said to have the rare ability to separate milk from water, a symbolism that is a powerful reminder of discernment in an age of distraction.
To carry the symbol is to carry the essence of our mission: pursuit of knowledge, clarity of purpose and grace under pressure."
"The biggest journey is about to start in just couple of days. I still do not realize how big this moment will be," said Uznański-Wiśniewski.
"This will be such a joy, just as the name of our extra passenger in our Dragon and on the ISS."
The Ax-4 crew arrived at a baby swan after deciding they wanted it to be an animal, as inspired by the interests of one of their children.
"We wanted to go with with a dinosaur or a lion, but we just couldn't find the right one," said Kapu. "We were extremely happy when we found 'Joy.'"
"Joy," as named by Kapu, is otherwise known as "Alina Swan," a part of Aurora's "Adorable Palm Pals" line of pocket-size play dolls.
Measuring all of 5 inches tall (12.7 centimeters), Joy/Alina is fluffy to the touch and is filled with bean pellets, such that (in a gravity environment) it sits in your hand or wherever you chose.
Flying zero-g indicators is a tradition that can be traced back to the first human spaceflight in 1961.
Soviet-era cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin brought a small doll with him on his Vostok mission to see it float. Since then, the Russian crews that followed Gagarin into Earth orbit flew small dolls, often chosen by their children.
The custom reached the United States with the introduction of crewed capsules after the end of the space shuttle program.
Now, commercial spaceflights operated by SpaceX and Boeing, as well as NASA Artemis flights, include zero-g indicators.
Once at the International Space Station, Joy will join the Expedition 53 dolls, including "Droog," a crocheted origami crane, flown by SpaceX's Crew-10 and an angel blowing a horn selected by Russia's Soyuz MS-27 crew.
"A team that has joy is a team that is healthy," said Kapu. "That has become my personal motto, because it captures the essence of this crew.
We are focused, we are committed, but above all, we are joyful, and the joy is a sign of trust, resilience, and in my mind, friendship.
So, in the spirit of sharing that joy, we wanted to bring one more crew member with us, a symbol of what holds us together.
It is believed that "Joy" is the first swan to be used as a zero-g indicator. Northrop Grumman, an aerospace company that resupplies the space station for NASA, had swan dolls made in reference to its Cygnus series of cargo vehicles, but they were not used for the same purpose.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/joy-a-plush-baby-swan-will-launch-with-axiom-mission-4-crew-as-zero-g-indicator
https://spacenews.com/nasa-withdraws-support-for-conferences/
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2026/
NASA withdraws support for conferences
June 5, 2025
A space station research conference has been canceled and the future of a long-running planetary science conference is in doubt as NASA pulls back support for those events.
The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the organization that operates the International Space Station National Lab, announced June 4 that it was cancelling the upcoming ISS Research and Development Conference that was scheduled for the end of July in Seattle.
“The International Space Station National Laboratory, in close consultation with NASA, has determined that the current regulatory and budgetary environment does not support holding the International Space Station Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC) in 2025,” the organization stated.
It didn’t elaborate on the decision, but industry sources said in recent days that NASA had decided to withdraw its support for the conference.
The event, which had been run annually for more than a decade, was used by both NASA and CASIS to highlight research opportunities on the station and provide updates on station activities and future plans, such as the transition to commercial stations.
CASIS suggested that ISSRDC may not continue as a standalone conference after this year’s cancellation.
It noted that it has been in discussions with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) to incorporate the content from ISSRDC into AIAA’s ASCEND space conference.
AIAA announced May 29 it was working with several other organizations on a revamped version of ASCEND that will be held in Washington in May 2026.
The announcement comes as NASA proposes scaling back its use of the ISS, citing budget pressures that predate the agency’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.
Dana Weigel, NASA ISS program manager, said at a May 20 briefing that NASA was considering reducing the crew on the U.S. segment from four astronauts to three because of “a cumulative multi-year budget reduction” that created resource challenges to the agency.
At the time, she said those concerns were not linked to proposed cuts to ISS operations in the high-level “skinny” budget proposal released in early May for fiscal year 2026.
“When we see the full president’s budget request, we’ll take a look at those details to really understand what changes or adjustments will need to be made,” she said then.
The more detailed 2026 budget proposal, released May 30, proposed reducing the budget for ISS operations by a quarter, from $1.24 billion to $920 million.
“The budget significantly reduces research and other activities on board the ISS,” the document stated.
“ISS is replanning with a focus on maintaining minimal safe operations and very limited research essential to support Moon and Mars exploration until its retirement in 2030.”
The budget also reduces funding for crew and cargo transportation services needed to support the ISS, with an emphasis on funding a separate U.S. Deorbit Vehicle needed to safely reenter the ISS at the end of its life.
“ISS is evaluating reducing U.S. crew and crew/cargo vehicle cadence,” the document stated.
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The document added that the proposed budget “will limit future vehicle changes and could impact NASA’s ability to maintain two crew transportation providers.”
That could imperil the future of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, which has yet to enter service after suffering problems during a crewed test flight launched a year ago.
LPSC’s uncertain future
A separate NASA announcement June 4 also put into question the future of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), an annual conference on planetary science research.
The conference, which dates back to a 1970 event to discuss science from the Apollo 11 mission, has long been a joint effort between NASA and the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). NASA had been working for some time to revise that arrangement for LPSC.
It issued a request for information (RFI) in November 2024 seeking input on an alternative partnership for a “Conference on Lunar, Planetary and Space Sciences” that would require the partnering organization to shoulder the cost of the conference, rather than sharing it with NASA.
“In this arrangement, NASA pays for its own contributions to the partnership, while the partner covers the other conference costs, including providing the venue,” NASA stated in the RFI.
It added in a later document that “NASA will not be providing any financial support to the partner.”
NASA had been expected to release in early 2025 a formal solicitation, known as an Announcement for Partnership Proposals, that would lead to a partnership for a future version of LPSC.
However, in the June 4 announcement, NASA said it would not release that solicitation and appeared to be dropping plans to be involved in LPSC at all in the future.
“The Planetary Science Division is studying options for future support of community-led and community-driven topical workshops, symposiums, and conferences,” NASA stated. It did not otherwise elaborate on its decision not to pursue a partnership.
The news has alarmed many planetary scientists, who consider LPSC as one of the major events in the field.
The conference has attracted more than 2,000 people in recent years, making it one of the largest standalone planetary science conferences.
Their concern is how to make up the NASA funding that had traditionally supported LPSC.
“I don’t think it’s the worst thing insofar as having more independence from NASA will enable the community to be more self-directed,” said Paul Byrne, a planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, on social media.
“The problem is that NASA paid for much of LPSC, so how that shortfall is made up is the biggest issue to overcome for any future community-led meeting.”
LPI, in a June 5 statement, said it would run LPSC next year on its own. The institute said it would provide more details about its plans for the conference later this year, and the statement said nothing about the future of the conference after 2026.
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https://spacenews.com/isaacman-people-with-axes-to-grind-about-musk-caused-withdrawn-nasa-nomination/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YdOjoaQTOQ
Isaacman: people with ‘axes to grind’ about Musk caused withdrawn NASA nomination
June 4, 2025
Jared Isaacman made clear he believes his nomination to be administrator of NASA was pulled by the White House because of his ties to Elon Musk.
Appearing on an episode of the All-In Podcast published June 4, Isaacman said he was informed by the White House May 30 that President Trump was withdrawing his nomination to lead the space agency, a move that became public the next day.
The podcast appearance provided his first public comments about the withdrawn nomination other than social media posts.
“I got a call Friday of last week that the president decided to go in a different direction,” he recalled. “It was a real bummer.”
He added that he did not expect the decision to become public until after the weekend in order to notify “a number of parties in government.”
Isaacman said that the unnamed individual who called him to with the news said only that the president “decided to go in a different direction” but that he assumed he lost the nomination because he was associated with Elon Musk.
Isaacman had been a customer of SpaceX, commanding two private astronaut missions, and Musk is widely understood to have advocated for him to lead NASA during the presidential transition last fall.
“I don’t need to play dumb on this,” he said. “I don’t think that the timing was much of a coincidence, that there were other changes going on the same day.”
Musk marked his formal end as a “special government employee” serving as de facto head of the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency on May 30.
The relationship between Trump and Musk had reportedly become strained before Musk’s formal departure, and since then Musk has been critical of a budget resolution bill backed by President Trump that is currently being considered by the Senate.
Musk argues the bill would result in a major increase in the national debt. “There were some people that had some axes to grind, I guess, and I was a good, visible target,” Isaacman added.
He rejected one explanation that Trump decided to withdraw the nomination after learning that Isaacman had, in the recent past, donated to Democratic candidates and offices.
“That was not a new development. You just Google and they’re all public,” he noted. Those donations were publicly known for many months and, he noted, included in responses to a Senate Commerce Committee questionnaire about his nomination.
Asked by the podcast’s host, David Friedberg, if the withdrawn nomination was a “shot at Elon,” Isaacman responded that “people can draw their own conclusions.”
However, he added, “I think the direction people are going, or thinking on this, seems to check out to me.”
The White House has not provided more details on its decision to withdraw Isaacman’s nomination.
Asked about the decision at a June 3 press conference, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president had the right to remove nominees “if he so chooses” but did not elaborate.
“The president wants to ensure that all of his nominees are aligned fully with the America First mission of this administration. And again, he will be announcing a replacement very soon,” she said.
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Plans for NASA
The hour-long interview also discussed what Isaacman had hoped to accomplish had he been confirmed by the Senate.
He said that when he was being considered for the NASA nomination last fall, he prepared a one-page document outlining his goals.
“It centered on, in this kind of environment, budgets aren’t getting bigger. We do have to do more with less.
The agency is doing a lot of ‘littles’: a lot of things that other agencies, departments, companies are capable of doing,” he said.
“That’s not why the taxpayers fund NASA. NASA is funded to do the near impossible that no one else can do.”
He said he wanted NASA to focus on “needle-mover” programs. “That’s leading in the high ground of space. Let’s complete our lunar obligations, because that’s a whole other story with China.
At the same time, parallel the capabilities to get to Mars, help commercial industry develop the rapidly reusable heavy-lift capability that allows us to go anywhere.
Pivot from competing with industry to doing what no company would ever do, which is build nuclear spaceships.”
He also said he wanted to cut back the agency’s bureaucracy. “You have dozens of layers of leadership. Everybody’s got a deputy,” he said. “I would have deleted all of that.”
He made clear he was not a supporter of the Mars Sample Return program, which has suffered from cost and schedule overruns. “The best thing to do is, when the astronauts get there, to bring the samples home,” he said.
“Why would we send billions to send a robotic mission when we can put that into commercial industry and accelerate their timeline?”
He added he was a “big fan” of NASA science in general but wanted to push towards smaller missions that would be faster to develop.
“Give me 10 $100 million missions a year. Let’s try that, and let’s accept that three fail,” he said. “I was going to introduce ‘time to science’ as a KPI,” or key performance indicator, for those missions.
The scientific community, through the decadal survey process, has generally recommended a mix of small and large missions, arguing that some scientific topics require larger, flagship class missions.
Isaacman, though, was critical of the decadal survey process itself, arguing that its 10-year time horizon “is kind of insane.”
Isaacman said in the interview that he has not decided if he will return to spaceflight now that he will no longer lead NASA.
The Polaris Dawn mission he commanded last year was intended to be the first of a three-mission program culminating in a Starship flight, but Isaacman said during the confirmation process he would cancel the contracts.
“This is like the first time in 26 years that I’ve really been out of work,” he said. He had stepped down as chief executive of Shift4, the payment processing company he founded, but said he may return in some role, such as executive chairman.
“I’ll find something to contribute to, and, man, I love flying and I love space.”
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Watch an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier make a close pass of Earth on June 5
June 5, 2025
A potentially hazardous asteroid roughly the size of an aircraft carrier is due to pass within 2.8 million miles (3.5 million km) of Earth on June 5 and you can watch it happen live online.
NASA and its partners have been tracking the potentially hazardous asteroid 2008 DG5 ever since its discovery in (you guessed it) 2008 by the Catalina Sky Survey.
The Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) estimates it to have a diameter ranging between 1,049-2,296 ft (320-700 meters) - roughly the equivalent of the length of a Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier.
The asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth at 7.59 p.m. ET (2359 GMT) on June 5, at which time it will pass 2,170,309 miles (3,492,787 kilometers) from our planet, over nine times the Earth-moon average orbital distance.
At this range 2008 DG5 will be visible as a solitary point of light to powerful Earthbound telescopes.
How to watch 2008 DG5 make a close approach to Earth in real-time
The Virtual Telescope Project will host a livestream of the flyby starting at 6 p.m. ET (2200 GMT) on June 5, featuring real-time views of 2008 DG5 captured by its suite of robotic telescopes.
June 3 saw the project release an image of the asteroid captured from a distance of 2.2 million miles (3.6 million km) using the 17-inch PlaneWave telescope located in Manciano, Italy, as the asteroid cruised closer to Earth.
2008 DG5 can be picked out as a bright speck of light, with short star lines acting as a tell-tale sign of its movement against the static starfield beyond, created as the telescope tracked its position over a 120-second exposure.
NASA classifies an asteroid as potentially hazardous based on a number of factors including its size and whether it will pass within 0.05 astronomical units of Earth - the equivalent of around 4,650,000 miles (7,480,000 km), according to the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Over 1,784 PHAs are being actively tracked by the CNEOS, none of which are predicted to strike Earth and cause widespread damage in the coming century.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/watch-an-asteroid-the-size-of-an-aircraft-carrier-make-a-close-pass-of-earth-on-june-5
https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2025/06/04/potentially-hazardous-asteroid-424482-2008-dg5-close-encounter-a-new-image-3-june-2025/
https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u636Zkfg2Mg
Aurora alert: Incoming solar storm could spark auroras as far south as New York and Idaho this weekend
June 5, 2025
A coronal mass ejection (CME) from a solar filament eruption on June 3 is on its way to Earth and could give aurora chasers a treat.
The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) says Earth could receive a glancing blow from the CME by mid to late June 7 (UTC), while the UK Met Office places the arrival time slightly earlier, on Friday night (UTC).
If the CME arrives, it's expected to stir up geomagnetic activity. Both NOAA SPWPC and the U.K. Met Office predict minor (G1) geomagnetic storm conditions but there's potential for isolated moderate (G2) storms if the CME combines with the ongoing high-speed solar wind from an Earth-facing coronal hole.
Geomagnetic storms occur when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's magnetosphere, potentially causing disruptions in satellite communications, power grid fluctuations, and — most excitingly — enhanced auroral activity.
During G1 conditions, auroras can be visible across high latitudes, including Michigan and Maine. But if G2 conditions are reached, auroras could stretch as far south as New York and Idaho.
What Is the Kp Index?
The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center projects that the Kp index will peak at 4.67 on June 7. For the latest breakdown, check out NOAA's 3-day forecast.
The Kp index is a scale from 0 to 9 that measures geomagnetic activity — the higher the number, the stronger the disturbance. Aurora visibility typically increases with higher Kp values, extending farther south from the poles.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/auroras/aurora-alert-incoming-solar-storm-could-spark-auroras-as-far-south-as-new-york-and-idaho-this-weekend
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/forecast-discussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w83iwM9SdmA (Disaster Chart, Solar Storm Pole Flips, MagNav Paper | S0 News Jun.5.2025)
Starlink Mission
June 4, 2025
On Wednesday, June 4 at 4:40 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched 27 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This was the 26th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, NROL-113, NROL-167, NROL-149, and 18 Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-11-22