What is 3I/ATLAS? All You Need to Know about the Interstellar Object
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India Today
5 hours ago
- India Today
Top 7 discoveries by Nasa in 2025 you should know about
Top 7 discoveries by Nasa in 2025 you should know about 06 Aug, 2025 Credit: Credit Name In April 2025, Nasa coordinated a rare stellar occultation event where Uranus passed in front of a distant star. This enabled detailed study of Uranus' atmosphere, rings, and climate like never before. Nasa's Blue Ghost Mission 1 launched in January 2025 aiming to explore the Moon's near side, specifically Mare Crisium basin. This mission includes groundbreaking experiments that analyze lunar regolith ("moon dust") interactions with landers and payloads, providing vital data to support sustainable future lunar exploration and technology demonstration. In July 2025, Nasa astronomers discovered comet 3I/ATLAS—a rare third interstellar visitor moving rapidly through our solar system at about 58 km/s. This comet offers a unique scientific opportunity to study objects originating from beyond our solar neighborhood, informing understanding of cosmic origins and solar system formation. Throughout 2025, Nasa's ongoing exoplanet research expanded with new findings, including detection of several planets such as super-Earths and sub-Neptunes around distant stars. Spectroscopic studies using JWST and other telescopes refined knowledge about exoplanet atmospheres and system characteristics, sharpening the search for habitable worlds. Nasa announced preparations for the TRACERS mission, designed to study how Earth's magnetic shield protects against space weather effects. This research will enhance understanding of geomagnetic storms and their impact on technology and life on Earth. Nasa actively monitored asteroid 2025 OT7, a 170-feet-wide asteroid safely passing Earth in August 2025. Continuous surveillance of such objects is key to planetary defense and assessing potential impact risks. Nasa's space science instruments have identified energetic particle sources near the Sun, aiding our understanding of solar phenomena that influence space weather and Earth's space environment.
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
NASA's $94 million Lunar Trailblazer mission ends in silence after launch failure
NASA has sent numerous satellites as a part of the ongoing missions to explore the unknown phenomenon in space, and recently, they made the difficult decision to officially terminate its Lunar Trailblazer mission after months of attempts to recover the small orbiter. The mission was designed to find out some valuable facts by mapping and characterizing water reserves on the Moon's surface. However, early on in its journey, the spacecraft lost communication and was presumed to be tumbling without sufficient power to operate. NASA recently announced the mission's end, which came as a disappointing outcome for a project that was supposed to support future lunar missions. What is the Lunar Trailblazer Mission Lunar Trailblazer is a 200‑kg orbiter under NASA's low‑cost SIMPLEx program, which was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 26, 2025, as a rideshare on the IM‑2 mission to the Moon. About 48 minutes into the flight, it separated successfully, and initial contact was made later that evening from Caltech's IPAC in Pasadena. However, by early morning the next day, communication was lost due to intermittent power problems, and engineers soon found out that the spacecraft was spinning and unable to keep its solar panels pointed toward the Sun, according to information by NASA. NASA tried to recover the lost contact NASA worked tirelessly through spring and summer, attempting to reestablish contact in mid‑June and early July. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Susan Boyle Is Now so Thin and Looks Beautiful! Undo Teams from NASA's Deep Space Network and various international observatories monitored the orbiter's trajectory, orientation, and potential sunlight exposure. Scientists hoped that if enough sunlight hit the spacecraft's solar panels, the batteries might get enough charge for the Lunar Trailblazer to wake up and send a signal again. NASA even had backup plans ready in case they managed to reconnect and keep the mission going. Despite these consistent efforts, Lunar Trailblazer drifted beyond the Moon and into deep space, spinning ever more slowly and becoming too distant to command or receive telemetry. Teams at JPL and Caltech finally acknowledged the mission could no longer yield scientific results, leading NASA to officially end it on July 31, 2025. This unsuccessful mission is a lesson for future missions According to reports by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 'At NASA, we undertake high‑risk, high‑reward missions like Lunar Trailblazer to find revolutionary ways of doing new science,' said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. 'While it was not the outcome we had hoped for, mission experiences like Lunar Trailblazer help us to learn and reduce the risk for future, low‑cost small satellites to do innovative science as we prepare for a sustained human presence on the Moon. ' The trailblazer had a companion Lunar Trailblazer shared its ride with the Athena lander, part of Intuitive Machines' IM‑2 mission. Athena successfully touched down near the lunar south pole on March 6, 2025, but shortly thereafter toppled over. In a compromised orientation, its solar panels could not recharge the batteries, ending its surface mission prematurely, delivering only limited data before it went silent the next day.
Hindustan Times
9 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
NASA and Congress Wrestle Over the Space Station—and How to Replace It
The fight over government spending is reaching 250 miles above the Earth's surface. The International Space Station for more than two decades has been the centerpiece of human spaceflight at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Government leaders are now jousting over funding for the ISS, while NASA is signaling it will start pulling back on some station activities ahead of its planned decommissioning in 2030, when private space stations are envisioned taking its place. Last month, NASA directed Boeing to cut back on station-related services that the aerospace giant manages under a longstanding contract, according to a letter viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Officials at the agency are studying sending smaller crews to the ISS instead of the typical four, translating to less onboard research. Sean Duffy, NASA's acting administrator, on Monday laid out a plan that would provide agency support for a wider range of private stations under development. In a memo viewed by the Journal, Duffy said the approach would give NASA and station developers more flexibility. 'It is important to move quickly,' he said in the memo. The order was one of Duffy's first moves since President Trump appointed him to run NASA on a temporary basis in July, a role he is handling in addition to leading the Transportation Department. NASA is famed for sending astronauts to the moon, but the space station has been the focal point of its high-profile human missions in recent decades. NASA and international crews have continuously manned the facility for almost 25 years, the agency has said, pursuing science and studying how humans can live in orbit. The ISS—managed by the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada—is also showing its age. Leaks in part of the station operated by Russia keep occurring. Earlier this year, the White House proposed cutting funding for the ISS, saying in a budget pitch that NASA should focus efforts there on 'very limited' research that is essential to exploration of the moon and Mars. Many members of Congress have pushed back. The ISS received money in the Republicans' landmark tax-and-budget bill, and a recent Senate legislative report said NASA should 'maintain the fullest possible use of ISS through end of life.' U.S. government leaders want to avoid any gap between the ISS and future private facilities—in large part because China has its own station, called Tiangong, now flying. 'We must put the necessary systems in place to support and command American astronauts continually in low Earth orbit,' said Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), chairman of the Commerce Committee, during a hearing in April. 'We cannot surrender low Earth orbit to the Chinese or to the Russians.' U.S. companies aiming to build private facilities in low-Earth orbit include Voyager Technologies, Axiom Space, Vast and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. SpaceX has considered using part of its Starship vehicle as an orbital station as well. Several companies have received NASA funding to help develop commercial stations that could replace the ISS, and the agency has struck unfunded agreements with other firms working on station efforts. Building and deploying a new facility could cost around $3 billion or more, according to station developers. Many executives have expected NASA this year to begin picking one or more station developers to receive bigger contracts, narrowing the field of developers. The directive from Duffy moves away from that approach, instructing staff to instead continue supporting a range of station development work. Duffy on Monday also issued a separate memo calling for NASA to accelerate work to develop nuclear power facilities on the moon and Mars. Politico reported earlier on his memos. Write to Micah Maidenberg at
