Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
Author: 
October 13th, 2025
Image credit: SpaceX
SpaceX Starship’s eleventh flight test is ready to launch as soon as today, Monday, October 13. The launch window will open at 6:15 p.m. Central “Texas” Time (CT). For live coverage of the launch starting about one-half hour before liftoff, go to:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-11
Go to video clip at:
https://x.com/i/status/1977733468663562742
For launch details, go to:
SpaceX Starship: Flight Test Eleven Details
https://www.leonarddavid.com/spacex-starship-flight-test-eleven-details/
Image credit: SpaceX
Posted in 
Image credit: Mars Guy/NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars Guy looks at the surprising condition of spacesuit materials after 4+ years on Mars, outfitted to NASA’s Perseverance rover now exploring Jezero Crater.
“Every mission to the surface of Mars has in some way helped prepare for the eventual arrival of humans,” explains Mars Guy. “But no mission has gone as far as Perseverance with its effort to test the materials that will keep astronauts alive on the surface.”
Image credit: Mars Guy/NASA/JPL-Caltech
Go to the video at:
Image credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/Orienspace/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Orienspace Technology, a commercial aerospace enterprise, launched on October 11th its Gravity-1 Y2 booster from a sea-launch platform off the coast of Haiyang, east China’s Shandong Province.
Gravity-1 reportedly placed three satellites into their designated orbits: an Earth-remote sensing satellite and two spacecraft built to look for and image orbital debris, from old rocket stages to out-of-service satellites.
Solid-fueled booster
The booster was adorned with the markings of a fashion clothing firm, the HLA Group, in a branding campaign.
Image credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/Orienspace/Inside Outer Space screengrab
A large solid-fueled booster, Gravity-1 can launch payloads of up to 6.5 tons to low-Earth orbit (LEO), up to 4.2 tons to a 500 kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit or up to 3.7 tons to a 700 kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit.
The Gravity-1 carrier rocket made its debut flight in January 2024.
Take a look at these videos at:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/3752089051759776
https://youtu.be/XhakYpGuXg8?list=PLpGTA7wMEDFjz0Zx93ifOsi92FwylSAS3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ox4DKRj_NA&list=PLpGTA7wMEDFjz0Zx93ifOsi92FwylSAS3
Image credit: Robert Hurt and Keith Miller under CC BY-NC 2.0 (Modified)
Our celestial neighbor, the Moon, is a compelling location for large, distributed optical facilities, enabling exquisitely sharp views of the universe.
The increasing knowledge and experience base about lunar surface operations indicates it is not just suitable, but “highly attractive for lunar telescope arrays.”
That finding and others are flagged in a report from the W. M. Keck Institute for Space Studies at the California Institute of Technology.
A study workshop was held last November, focused on astronomical optical interferometry from the lunar surface.
Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI) on mobile platforms. The overall facility could start with a small number of apertures (roughly 6) but then could expand to 15-30 units.
Image credit: Britt Griswold
Unprecedented imaging potential
Astronomical gear placed on the Moon’s surface can provide unprecedented imaging potential. “Combining mature terrestrial optical interferometry with emerging lunar surface technologies could enable optical imaging with far greater resolution and sensitivity than current space or ground-based systems,” the report explains.
Indeed, the lack of atmospheric turbulence means small lunar telescopes can outperform even the largest terrestrial telescopes, the report adds. Lunar-based interferometry can unlock sub-milliarcsecond resolution and sensitivity across ultraviolet to Mid Infrared (MIR) wavelengths.
Emerging reality
“This is not a distant dream—it is an emerging reality made possible by converging technological and programmatic developments,” the study declares. “The Moon is now poised to host observatories capable of achieving imaging resolutions far beyond what is possible from Earth or orbit.”
Moreover, lunar access technology is maturing rapidly, the study points out, in the form of both U.S.-based crewed and uncrewed landers, as well as international efforts.
Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio/Visualizer Ernie Wright (USRA)
When you put something on the lunar surface, the report notes, “it stays put—no complicated formation-flying infrastructure.”
Achievable steps
Detailed in the study is a near-term, small mission that could demonstrate the feasibility and value of lunar-based interferometry, hardware flown onboard a Commercial Lunar Payload system (CLPS) lander.
A medium-class mission could enable precision interferometric methods like astrometry to support exoplanet reconnaissance.
A large-scale mission could be flown for breakthrough science. It would deliver extraordinary sub-milliarcsecond imaging across UV to MIR wavelengths, leveraging future lunar infrastructure for transformative astrophysics.
Creating lunar-based infrastructure will take time, hardware, and political willingness to forge a link between the Moon and Earth.
(Image credit: Lockheed Martin)
“We stand at the intersection of technical readiness and lunar opportunity. By advancing lunar interferometry missions today, we can lay the foundation for a revolutionary new era of astrophysics,” the report concludes. “Seizing this moment now with small, achievable steps can build toward a future where the sharpest eyes in the universe watch from the Moon.”
To access the final report – “Astronomical Optical Interferometry from the Lunar Surface – High Sensitivity at Sub-Milliarcsecond Scales” – go to:
https://www.kiss.caltech.edu/final_reports/KISS_AOILS_Orange_Book__FINAL.pdf
The South Pole-Aitken impact basin on the far side of the Moon formed in a southward impact (toward the bottom in the image). The basin has a radioactive “KREEP-rich” ejecta blanket on one side of the basin (bright red), containing material excavated from the lunar magma ocean. Artemis astronauts will land within this material at the south end of the basin (bottom in image).
Image credit: Jeff Andrews-Hanna/University of Arizona/NASA/NAOJ
Important new research delves into the evolution of Earth’s Moon, focused on the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin.
This new understanding of the basin has important implications for robotic and human exploration of the lunar south pole – a target of choice by multiple countries.
The SPA basin-forming impact occurred during a critical stage in lunar evolution, a time when the Moon was subjected to a heavy bombardment of impacts, while potentially still in the final stages of magma ocean crystallization.
Nine candidate landing regions for NASA’s Artemis III mission The background image of the lunar South Pole terrain within the nine regions is a mosaic of LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) WAC (Wide Angle Camera) images.
Image credit: NASA
KREEP-rich
This crystallization of the magma ocean is likely to have formed a dense, titanium-rich, ilmenite (FeTiO3)-bearing cumulates, as well as a final liquid strongly enriched in incompatible elements such as potassium, rare-earth elements and phosphorus (KREEP), including the element thorium (Th).
KREEP is an acronym stemming from the letters K (the atomic symbol for potassium), REE (rare-earth elements) and P (for phosphorus).
This prospect and a number of implications are detailed in the research paper – “Southward impact excavated magma ocean at the lunar South Pole–Aitken basin” – just published in Nature and led by Jeffrey C. Andrews-Hanna of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Image credit: NASA
Mantle-excavating impact
“The composition of the SPA basin floor suggests a mantle-excavating impact before the overturn of the buoyantly unstable post-magma ocean cumulates, whereas increased concentrations of titanium and thorium within the basin suggest that the impact excavated into an ilmenite-rich and KREEP-rich reservoir.
“Our results indicate that the SPA basin formed from an impact on a southward trajectory at a time when the Moon still had a partial, discontinuous magma ocean,” the research paper points out.
The age of the SPA basin has been estimated at 4.25 billion years, however there is still uncertainty as to the Moon’s early bombardment history.
“Thus, important questions remain about the age of the basin, the timing and nature of magma ocean crystallization and the relation between these two pivotal events in early lunar evolution,” Andrews-Hanna and colleagues report.
Credit: NASA
Artemis landing sites
The results highlighted in the paper have “important implications for the upcoming human exploration of the lunar south pole by Artemis, as proposed landing sites are now recognized to sit on the downrange rim and thorium-rich impact ejecta of the basin.”
Proposed south polar Artemis landing sites, the research team states, are now seen to be situated within the Thorium-rich ejecta blanket at the downrange end of the basin.
“Thus, the rocks sampled by Artemis may constrain not only the age of the basin and history of lunar bombardment but also the composition of the late-stage magma ocean and timing of its solidification,” the research team notes.
Image credit: NASA
Rim shot
Observes Andrews-Hanna in a Lunar and Planetary Laboratory statement: “This means that the Artemis missions will be landing on the down-range rim of the basin – the best place to study the largest and oldest impact basin on the Moon, where most of the ejecta, material from deep within the Moon’s interior, should be piled up.”
With Artemis, Andrews-Hanna added “we’ll have samples to study here on Earth, and we will know exactly what they are. Our study shows that these samples may reveal even more about the early evolution of the Moon than had been thought.”
Endurance rover
Explains a co-author of the paper, Bill Bottke of the Southwest Research Institute & Solar System Science & Exploration Division in Boulder, Colorado, this work helps set the stage for NASA’s upcoming Endurance rover, a mission advocated in a recent National Academies of Sciences (NAS) decadal report.
The Decadal tagged the Endurance mission as the highest priority for the NASA lunar exploration program. There is a science definition team now working on the Endurance concept. However, it has yet to be funded.
“Endurance will perform a ‘Lewis and Clark’-like expedition to the Moon by collecting samples from across South Pole-Aiken basin,” Bottke tells Inside Outer Space, “and then delivering them to the Artemis astronauts. What an incredible opportunity to learn how the Moon formed and evolved!”
To read the paper – “Southward impact excavated magma ocean at the lunar South Pole–Aitken basin” – go to:
ExoMars TGO images comet 3I/ATLAS Image credit: ESA
That mysterious interloper from afar has been inspected by two Mars orbiters.
The celestial watch of 3I/ATLAS was done by the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Mars Express with the interstellar interloper 30 million kilometers away from those spacecraft.
The object’s coma, measuring a few thousand kilometers across, is clearly visible. The Sun’s heat and radiation is bringing the comet to life, causing it to release gas and dust, which collects as this halo surrounding the nucleus.
Originating from outside our Solar System, comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar comet ever seen, following 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
No word as yet of any observation by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
On patrol – NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
Image credit: NASA/JPL
True outsiders
An ESA statement explains that “interstellar comets are true outsiders, carrying clues about the formation of worlds far beyond our own.”
Based on its trajectory, ESA says, astronomers suspect that 3I/ATLAS could be the oldest comet ever observed. “It may be three billion years older than the Solar System, which is itself already 4.6 billion years old.”
Next month, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will see the comet just after its closest approach to the Sun. While Juice will view 3I/ATLAS in a more active state, data from that spacecraft won’t be received until early 2026.
ESA’s Juice spacecraft.
Image credit: ESA
Juice observations
Juice will attempt observations in November 2025 using several instruments, including cameras, spectrometers and a particle sensor. Coordination with NASA’s en route Europa Clipper mission is being considered, in particular to observe using the twin ultraviolet spectrographs (one on each spacecraft).
As Juice is currently close to the Sun, it is using its main high-gain antenna as a heat shield. It is using its smaller medium-gain antenna to send data back to Earth at a much lower rate. It is also far from Earth, on the other side of the Sun. Therefore, ESA adds that researchers don’t expect to receive data from Juice’s observations of 3I/ATLAS until February 2026.
Image credit: ESA
Image via Weibo.
China’s Xuntian space telescope is designed to co-orbit with the country’s Tiangong space station. Orbital phasing of the station and Xuntian would allow docking the telescope with the orbiting outpost for repair, servicing, and upgrades by station crewmembers.
Image via Weibo.
Imagery posted on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter (X), shows the apparent current design of Xuntian.
Late 2026 launch?
Reportedly, the space-based observatory will feature a primary mirror 6.6 feet (2-meters) in diameter and is expected to have a field of view 300–350 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Xuntian has undergone a lengthy, drawn-out development program. It now appears to be headed for launch via a Long March 5B rocket by late 2026.
To view an earlier video focused on Xuntian, go to:
On the prowl at Jezero Crater, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover is loaded with scientific equipment.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Several Mars orbiting spacecraft were on tap to image the flyby of that odd ball 3I/Atlas as it flew by the Red Planet.
So far, what that set of spacecraft snagged in terms of data have yet to see daylight.
Meanwhile, Simeon Schmauß, a sharp-eyed astrophotographer, reports that NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover “raised her head up at the night sky to capture interstellar comet 3I/Atlas during its close encounter of Mars.”
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Simeon Schmauß
Faint smudge
The enigmatic object is visible as a faint smudge next to a field of stars.
The image is the result of stacking 20 individual exposures and further “de-noised” with Adobe Lightroom, Schmauß explains.
The result can be seen at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/semeion/54831921015/#:~:text=3I/Atlas%20from,ASU/Simeon%20Schmau%C3%9F
Image credit: ESO/P. Horálek
A new study has identified the most light-polluted areas in the United States.
The results stem from a combination of factors to establish a “light pollution index,” ranking cities from the most to the least light-polluted.
A data point from the study: about 80% of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way from where they live because of light pollution.
Night brightness
The study by Overnight Glasses, an eyewear brand, examined the 50 largest US cities, measuring the artificial light brightness at night.
Light levels were calculated both per 100,000 residents and per area, using a light pollution map to ensure that cities could be fairly compared.
Image credit: National Science Foundation
The analysis also considered nightlife, the number of airports and ports, the city’s geography, and local lighting rules.
And the city and state winners are…
Miami, Florida is the most light-polluted U.S. city, with night illumination nearly twice the national average. It is the most light-polluted city in the US, earning an index of 96.2. The city’s nighttime glow has a radiance of 196.3, making its illumination one of the strongest in the country.
California is the most light-polluted state, with three of its cities ranking among the brightest in the country.
Orange sodium vapor lights illuminate the port facilities of Long Beach, California, supporting the round-the-clock operations of one of the world’s busiest commercial cargo ports.
Image credit: NASA
Rhythm of urban life
According to an Overnight Glasses statement: “Light pollution is more than just a glow in the sky; it reshapes how we experience our cities after dark.”
Be it from ports and airports to nightlife and stadiums, the constant brightness reflects “the rhythm of urban life,” the group explains, “but it also comes with consequences for residents, wildlife, and even our ability to see the stars.”
Lastly, the organization notes that prolonged exposure to excessive artificial light can also strain and potentially harm human eyesight.
Image credit: Overnight Glasses
For background information on Overnight Glasses, go to:
Image credit: NASA
A front and center cause by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is promoting and prompting a case for an Earth-Cislunar-Moon economy.
In some quarters it’s all blue sky yammering. On the other hand, there does appear to be growing support for making a business case for mining resources on the Moon.
A recent study shouldered by DARPA has laid out a step-by-step process that could enable an economic link between Earth and our celestial next door neighbor, the Moon.
Image credit: Air University Press
Industrial makeover
But how real is the promise of giving the Moon an industrial makeover?
“If there is commercial value, at least based on what we now know, I would argue it’s the Moon’s subsurface,” explains the editor of The Commercial Lunar Economy Field Guide: a vision for industry on the Moon in the next decade.
To learn more, go to my new Space.com story – “New DARPA ‘field guide’ looks for ways to jump-start a Moon economy” – at:
