A science journal pulled a controversial study about a bizarre life form against the authors' wishes
Scientists said they'd discovered bacteria that used the element arsenic — poisonous to life as we know it — to grow. If true, it expanded the possibilities for where life could exist on Earth — or on other worlds .
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Firefly Awarded $177 Million NASA Contract for Mission to the Moon's South Pole
Company's fourth lunar mission and fifth NASA CLPS award utilizes Firefly's Elytra orbital vehicle and Blue Ghost lunar lander to operate two rovers and three scientific instruments Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 4 - Lunar OrbitCEDAR PARK, Texas, July 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Firefly Aerospace, a market leading space and defense technology company, was awarded a $176.7 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract to deliver five NASA-sponsored payloads to the Moon's south pole in 2029. The mission will utilize Firefly's Elytra orbital vehicle and Blue Ghost lunar lander to enable payload operations that include evaluating the Moon's south pole resources, such as hydrogen, water, and other minerals, and studying the radiation and thermal environment that could affect future astronauts and lunar infrastructure. 'Firefly is honored to support another NASA CLPS task order as a proven, reliable partner for robotic missions to the Moon,' said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. 'Following our first Blue Ghost mission that made history just a few months ago, this bold Firefly team proved we have the right mix of grit, innovation, and dedication to not only stick the landing, but also complete all scientific objectives for our payload partners. We've set the bar high, and we aim to continue setting new records in our missions to come with our active production line of Blue Ghost landers.' During Blue Ghost Mission 4 operations, Firefly's Elytra Dark transfer vehicle will first deploy the Blue Ghost lander into lunar orbit and remain on orbit to provide a long-haul communications relay for the mission. Blue Ghost will then land in the Moon's south pole region, deploy the rovers, and enable payloads operations with data, power, and communications services for more than 12 days on the lunar surface. The NASA-sponsored payloads onboard Blue Ghost include two rovers – the MoonRanger rover and a Canadian Space Agency rover – as well as a Laser Ablation Ionization Mass Spectrometer (LIMS), a Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA), and the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS), which also flew on Blue Ghost Mission 1. These payloads will help uncover the composition and resources available at the Moon's south pole, advance lunar navigation, evaluate the chemical composition of lunar regolith, and further study the effects of a lander's plume on the Moon's surface during landings. Following Blue Ghost Mission 4 operations, Elytra Dark will remain operational in lunar orbit for more than five years in support of Firefly's Ocula lunar imaging service. The mission enables a third Elytra Dark in Firefly's growing constellation to provide customers with faster revisit times for lunar mapping, mission planning, situational awareness, and mineral detection services. The first two Elytra Dark vehicles will launch as part of Blue Ghost Mission 2 to the far side of the Moon in 2026 and Blue Ghost Mission 3 to the Gruithuisen Domes in 2028. 'Firefly's Elytra Dark spacecraft are great companions for Blue Ghost – they're highly maneuverable vehicles built with the same flight-proven components and propulsion system that successfully landed Blue Ghost on the Moon,' said Chris Clark, Vice President of Spacecraft. 'As our Elytra constellation continues to grow in lunar orbit, Firefly is in a unique position to provide lunar imaging services and a communications relay for missions anywhere on the Moon's surface. And with extra payload capacity on both Elytra and Blue Ghost, we invite additional government and commercial customers to join our fourth mission that's built upon the same reliable architecture and led by the same trusted team.' Customers interested in joining Blue Ghost Mission 4 can find more information at and those interested in Firefly's Ocula lunar imaging services can find more details at About Firefly AerospaceFirefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables government and commercial customers to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. As the partner of choice for responsive space missions, Firefly is the only commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with approximately 24-hour notice. Firefly is also the only company to achieve a fully successful landing on the Moon. Established in 2017, Firefly's engineering, manufacturing, and test facilities are co-located in central Texas to enable rapid innovation. The company's small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles are built with common flight-proven technologies to enable speed, reliability, and cost efficiencies for each mission from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. For more information, visit Media Contactpress@ Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
NASA taps Firefly for 2029 Moon South Pole mission with $180 million contract
(Reuters) -Firefly Aerospace said on Tuesday it has secured a $176.7 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract to deliver five NASA payloads to the Moon's South Pole in 2029, marking another step toward expanding private sector participation in U.S. lunar exploration. The mission, dubbed Blue Ghost Mission 4, will use Firefly's Elytra Dark orbital vehicle and Blue Ghost lunar lander to deploy two rovers and three scientific instruments aimed at evaluating lunar resources, radiation and thermal conditions critical for future human exploration. In a pivotal shift for U.S. space policy, NASA has been increasingly turning to private companies such as Firefly to deliver critical payloads and technologies to the Moon, a strategy designed to accelerate deep space exploration by leveraging commercial efficiency and cost savings. The Elytra Dark vehicle will first deploy the Blue Ghost lander into lunar orbit and then remain in orbit for over five years. The lander will operate on the Moon's surface for more than 12 days, providing power, data and communications for the payloads, which include the MoonRanger rover, a Canadian Space Agency rover, and other instruments. Firefly Aerospace's first Blue Ghost mission successfully landed on the Moon in March. The mission, named "Ghost Riders in the Sky," launched in January, and became the second private firm to score a Moon landing, though it declared itself the first company to make a "fully successful" soft landing. The Texas-based company is also preparing for a U.S. IPO, aiming to capitalize on growing investor interest in commercial space ventures, according to Reuters reporting.
CNET
an hour ago
- CNET
SpaceX's Crew-11 Is Heading to the ISS on July 31. Here's How to Watch
Who's ready for another space launch? The next cohort of astronauts are making their way to the International Space Station on Thursday, and the event will be live streamed in more places than usual. SpaceX is sending up Crew-11 to relieve Crew-10. You may remember Crew-10 as being the crew that relieved Crew-9, which had two stowaways on board who had been stuck in space for months. The launch is scheduled for July 31 at 12:09 p.m. EST from Kennedy's Launch Complex 39A, barring any last-minute delays due to the weather or other factors. NASA has been preparing for the launch for days, getting SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket into place and conducting a launch rehearsal, which includes a "static fire." That's when NASA burns the rockets to make sure they're structurally sound, but keeps them pinned to the ground so they don't fly away. Pre-flight coverage begins on NASA's Kennedy Space Center social media pages. Crew-11 will send US astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke and Kimiya Yui up to space, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. Once launched, the crew will head into Earth's orbit, where they will remain for 39 hours. This is longer than is typical, as most ISS launches are only in orbit for under 24 hours. The reason is so the crew can line up with the ISS' Harmony module precisely, allowing for a smoother docking. Once successfully onboard, the crew will spend a week with Crew-10 before the latter returns to Earth. How do I stream the SpaceX Crew-11 launch? You're in luck there, because it's streaming in quite a few places. You can find the stream on NASA's social media channels as well as NASA Plus. NASA Plus is also on Amazon's Prime Video as part of its FAST selection of channels, so you can watch it there too. Other options include NASA TV's YouTube channel and SpaceX's social media accounts. NASA also recently reached a deal with Netflix to include NASA Plus programming on the streaming giant. So the Crew-11 launch will be available on Netflix as well if you prefer to go that route. The first launch live streamed on Netflix was the Progress 92 cargo mission that launched on July 3. If you're interested, here are the rest of the major spaceflights scheduled for this year.
