Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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May 25th, 2025
Westerbork Observatory in the Netherlands.
Image credit: Breakthrough Listen
The most ambitious project to date searching for signs of technology as an indicator of extraterrestrial intelligence is partnering with ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, and the University of Manchester, to deploy a new all-sky monitor at the Westerbork Observatory in the Netherlands.
Westerbork Observatory is one of the last remaining radio quiet zones in Europe.
The new experiment takes phased array feeds (PAFs) – essentially wide-field radio cameras – and installs them on the ground, looking up at the sky directly.
Ready to listen up! Details of new effort given during May 13 gathering.
Image credit: Breakthrough Listen
The result: “All Sky, All the Time” and a new radio sky monitor for transients and technosignatures, explains the Breakthrough Listen effort, headquartered at the University of Oxford.
Computing power
Jessica Dempsey, Director of ASTRON, said the new collaboration takes advantage of advances in computing power since they first built PAFs. That advance enables a real-time view of the whole sky in a way that wasn’t possible before.
The new instrument takes advantage of cutting edge processing technology enabled by the latest computer chips. Breakthrough Listen has been partnering with NVIDIA to implement streaming data processing using. NVIDIA is known for its pioneering semiconductor work enabling accelerated computing to pave the way for generative AI.
Search for technosignatures of other starfolk makes use of advanced computing capability.
Image credit: Breakthrough Listen
New capabilities
“Although we’ve not yet detected a confirmed technosignature, Breakthrough Listen has placed some of the strongest constraints to date on the presence of intelligent life beyond Earth,” said Breakthrough Initiatives Executive Director, S. Pete Worden.
“We’ve also developed flexible digital technology,” Worden added, “giving us a new understanding of fast radio bursts, flaring stars, and other unusual astrophysical objects.”
The new partnership provides” impressive new capabilities for our search, and a testbed as we prepare for the next generation of radio telescopes,” Worden said.
Credit: Breakthrough Listen
Survey sweep…stakes!
Breakthrough Listen collaborates with facilities around the globe, including a number of the most powerful radio telescopes, as well as cutting-edge observatories operating in other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
According to the group, it aims to survey one million nearby stars, the entire galactic plane and 100 nearby galaxies.
The Breakthrough Initiatives are funded by the Breakthrough Foundation established by Yuri and Julia Milner.
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Image credit: Neville Thompson/Mars Guy
“Let’s call it a web of intrigue.” NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater has entered bizarre terrain.
This Mars Guy video notes that nearly two decades after they were first discovered, the rover has begun to explore web-like features known as boxwork structures.
“Answers to how they formed and why they’re bigger than any on Earth are now emerging,” says Mars Guy.
Go to:
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The Shenzhou-20 crew on board China’s orbiting space station completed their mission’s first series of extravehicular activities last Thursday.
Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui worked for about eight hours outside China’s orbiting complex. Wang Jie assisted the pair throughout the mission from inside the Tiangong space station, with the space walk tasks aided by a team on Earth.
Node cabin
Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui exited through the node cabin of the Tianhe core module. This marked the first time that astronauts had exited via the node cabin since the space station entered its application and development phase.
Zhang Qiao, an engineer with China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation told China Central Television (CCTV): “We have two airlock sections that serve as mutual backups. For this mission, which was designated to be conducted at the position close to the tail of the Mengtian lab module, we chose to exit through the node cabin. This could guarantee the best efficiency for both the robotic arm and astronauts’ operations.”
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Debris shielding
According to CCTV the astronauts installed a debris shielding device at its designated location. The device had been previously deployed outside through the cargo airlock and temporarily positioned by the robotic arm.
Also, external equipment was inspected and maintained.
The Shenzhou-20 crew was sent into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on April 24 this year to take over China’s Tiangong space station from their Shenzhou-19 colleagues.
They are scheduled to stay at Tiangong for approximately six months, during which they will witness the arrivals of the Tianzhou-9 cargo craft and Shenzhou-21 manned spaceship.
For a video on the space walk, go to:
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
SpaceX is prepared to launch the ninth flight test of Super Heavy/Starship as soon as Tuesday, May 27. The launch window will open at 6:30 p.m. Central (Texas) Time.
“As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change,” said SpaceX.
Meanwhile, SpaceX has provided a technical summary of the Starship flight 8 mishap investigation, with several hardware changes being made to increase reliability of flight 9’s mission.
Image credit: SpaceX
Here are things to watch for:
- The upcoming flight test marks the first launch of a flight-proven Super Heavy booster, which previously launched and returned on Starship’s seventh flight test.
- Super Heavy will fly a variety of experiments aimed at generating data to improve performance and reliability on future boosters.
- The Starship upper stage will repeat its suborbital trajectory and target objectives not reached on the previous two flight tests, including the first payload deployment from Starship and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the vehicle to the launch site for catch.
Image credit: FAA
Real-world performance data
- A large majority of the booster’s hardware will be flight-proven, including 29 of its 33 Raptor engines. Lessons learned from the first booster refurbishment and subsequent performance in flight will enable faster turnarounds of future reflights as progress is made towards vehicles requiring no hands-on maintenance between launches.
- The booster on this flight test is also attempting several flight experiments to gather real-world performance data on future flight profiles and off-nominal scenarios.
- To maximize the safety of launch infrastructure at Starbase, the Super Heavy booster will attempt these experiments while on a trajectory to an “offshore landing point in the Gulf of America and will not return to the launch site for catch.”
- Following stage separation, the booster will flip in a controlled direction before initiating its boostback burn. This will be achieved by blocking several of the vents on the vehicle’s hotstage adapter, causing the thrust from Starship’s engines to push the booster in a known direction.
Starship 8 destructive ending.
Debris image credit: Wandy Rodriguez@JustFlyAndRock
Angle of attack
- After the conclusion of the boostback burn, the booster will attempt to fly at a higher angle of attack during its descent. By increasing the amount of atmospheric drag on the vehicle, a higher angle of attack can result in a lower descent speed which in turn requires less propellant for the initial landing burn.
- Finally, unique engine configurations will be demonstrated during the Super Heavy’s landing burn. One of the three center engines used for the final phase of landing will be intentionally disabled to gather data on the ability for a backup engine from the middle ring to complete a landing burn. The booster will then transition to only two center engines for the end of the landing burn, with shutdown occurring while still above the Gulf of America and the vehicle expected to make a hard splashdown.
In-space objectives
In the SpaceX posting, “the Starship upper stage will again target multiple in-space objectives, including the deployment of eight Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites. The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon entry. A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is also planned.”
“A significant number of tiles have been removed from Starship to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle during reentry. Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry,” the posting adds, also spotlighting that
the entire ship’s tile line also received a smoothed and tapered edge to address hot spots observed during reentry on Starship’s sixth flight test.
Starship reentry.
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Developmental testing: unpredictable
“Starship’s reentry profile is designed to intentionally stress the structural limits of the upper stage’s rear flaps while at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure.” On the sides of the vehicle, functional catch fittings are installed and will test the fittings’ thermal and structural performance.
Lastly, SpaceX reports that developmental testing by definition is unpredictable. “But by putting hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle.”
To read the entire posting on this upcoming test flight, go to:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-9
Interspecies two-way communication with dolphins – clues on communicating with extraterrestrials?
Image credit: NOAA
There are Earth-based creatures that may give us clues on getting “chat-time” with extraterrestrial intelligence.
That prospect may come in the form of a shout out from identifying first evidence of possible language-like communication in dolphins.
Recently, the Coller Dolittle Challenge awarded the winner of its first $100,000 annual prize to accelerate progress towards interspecies two-way communication. A prize of equal amount will be awarded every year until a team deciphers the secret to interspecies communication.
A question: Might not decoding dolphin language help in cracking the code to communicate with ET?
Go to my new Space.com story – “Could deciphering dolphin language help us communicate with ET?” – at:
Image credit: Firefly Aerospace
From the folks that brought you the successful robotic Moon lander, the Blue Ghost, Firefly Aerospace has new news about the group’s second lunar outing in 2026.
Add into the payload mix the United Arab Emirates Rashid 2 Rover – a Blue Ghost foray to the far side of the Moon.
Moon mobility
UAE’s Rashid 2 Rover will demonstrate lunar surface mobility and on-the-spot resource utilization technologies.
The Rashid 2 Rover, outfitted with multiple cameras and probes, is slated to demonstrate lunar surface mobility on the far side of the Moon and utilize various materials on its wheels to evaluate their durability when exposed to lunar dust. Information gleaned is meant to help guide the development of future lunar technologies, such as spacesuits, habitats, and other critical infrastructure.
Elytra vehicle will first deploy Blue Ghost and the European Space Agency’s Lunar Pathfinder satellite in lunar orbit.
Image credit: Firefly Aerospace
Firefly’s Elytra vehicle
During Blue Ghost Mission 2 operations, Firefly’s Elytra vehicle will first deploy the Blue Ghost lander and the European Space Agency’s Lunar Pathfinder satellite in lunar orbit.
Blue Ghost will then touch down on the far side of the Moon to deliver the UAE’s Rashid 2 Rover, Australia’s Fleet Space-supplied Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration and Research (SPIDER) payload, NASA’s Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment-Night (LuSEE-Night) and User Terminal.
NASA involvement comes as part of the space agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
Australia’s Fleet Space-supplied Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration and Research (SPIDER) payload.
Image credit: Fleet Space
Long-haul communications
Elytra will remain in lunar orbit to provide long-haul communications and enable radio frequency calibration services for LuSEE-Night.
LuSEE-Night is a pathfinder which will study the Moon’s radio environment and potentially take a first look at a previously unobserved era in our cosmic history.
Firefly has already begun qualifying and assembling flight hardware for Blue Ghost Mission 2.
The Cedar Park, Texas-based group completed the first fully successful commercial Moon landing on March 2 of this year, performing 14 days of surface operations and marking the longest commercial operations on the Moon to date.
Blue Ghost sits on lunar surface – marking the the longest commercial operations on the Moon to date.
Image credit: Firefly Aerospace
A multimedia artist and her Miami-based team are preparing “PARABOLES,” billed as the first-ever microgravity performance.
Natasha Tsakos is working with the MIT Space Exploration Initiative (MIT SEI) and parabolic-provider Zero-G, to bring together professionals from Cirque du Soleil, National Geographic, and NASA.
Artistic arcs
The performance is to be staged during twenty-five 22-second-long gravity-defying arcs on a parabolic flight that creates microgravity conditions. Free of the tug of Earth gravity, the event is to be captured by two cinematographers operating within a free-floating zone.
A cinematic art film, a short documentary, and an immersive installation are to be the products from the performance, all premiering in 2026.
Image credit: microgravityadventures
Kickstarter campaign
“PARABOLES is the next step for art-kind. For two decades, my moonshot has been to create shows for space, original forms and formats for our spacefaring future,” Tsakos explains.
The production has already secured key partnerships: MIT SEI is managing flight logistics; Live Arts Miami and O Cinema are supporting training and premiere exhibition. Zero-G is providing rehearsal flights.
To assist in funding the performance, the public has been invited to participate in a Kickstarter campaign that was launched on May 20. Contributions will directly support astronautical training, production, and flight costs.
Illustration of Haven-1 space station and docked SpaceX Dragon.
Image credit: Vast
Off-world experience
Tsakos asks, as the private space industry rapidly expands and humanity prepares for extended missions to the Moon and Mars, what role will the arts play in shaping our off-world experience?
As a theatrical innovator and space-focused multidisciplinary artist, Tsakos argues that the arts must be more than an afterthought in space exploration.
For more information on the PARABOLES initiative, go to:
https://youtu.be/JlH9fwxI5jM?si=rwoyRY92FARLHgK2
As well as:
https://www.natashatsakos.com/microgravityadventures
and:
https://youtu.be/nEmjcz5LS-o?si=ri1cKF5ubI986Jxp
To take part in the Kickstarter campaign, go to:
Confirmed SpaceX debris found in Australia.
Photo courtesy: Brad Tucker
Space junk that came to rest in New South Wales, Australia has undergone analysis by NASA orbital debris specialists.
Back in July 2022, the trunk section from the SpaceX Dragon Crew-1 mission reentered and over the following month, several fragments were recovered. One of the surviving fragments located was a portion of the Dragon’s trunk, constructed largely of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite.
Hefty piece of SpaceX space junk found in Australia last July.
Image courtesy: Brad Tucker
Use of that material “has garnered profound interest from the space safety community in recent years due to the nature of the material to not completely demise upon reentry,” reports the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
The results of a look at the debris has been noted in the May 2025 Orbital Debris Quarterly News.
Sites of interest
To obtain the debris, NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office worked with SpaceX and the Australian Space Agency to characterize the extent of the reentry damage experienced by the fragment and compare it to reentry model predictions.
Under scrutiny, some 32 sites of interest were identified for study including exposed carbon fiber/epoxy composite, thermal protection material, melted metal surfaces, and fractured metal surfaces.
SpaceX trunk fragment under study.
Image credit: A. Dougherty/B. Greene/C. Ostrom
Microscope observations of composite surfaces showed a striking variability in degree of charring, “indicative of extended periods of protection of some parts of the trunk structure from reentry heating,” the study team reports.
Breakup and demise process
The images collected did provide a glimpse into the conditions faced by the trunk materials during the tumble to Earth.
Several preliminary conclusions have been drawn about the reentry environment experienced by the Dragon Crew-1 trunk using initial microscope measurements.
Primarily, given the large difference in charring on the inside versus the outside surface, “it seems that the trunk was not tumbling significantly during most of the reentry, and even after breakup, the recovered fragment seems to have had a relatively stable attitude at least during the peak heating period,” the debris analysis experts report.
SpaceX Dragon “trunk.”
Image credit: SpaceX
This research and subsequent work will provide insight into the reentry breakup and demise process for structures composed predominantly of carbon fiber/epoxy and carbon fiber/phenolic composite materials, they add, as well as “validate computational models for reentry human casualty risk from modern orbital debris.”
Earth orbit to Moon orbit…and beyond. Blue Origin’s Transporter.
Image credit: Blue Origin/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Blue Origin is set to reveal a new piece of space infrastructure to support lunar operations.
Called the “Transporter,” the vehicle can be launched on a single New Glenn booster to low Earth orbit. It would be fueled up by left over propellant from the booster’s 2nd stage, then haul the hydrogen and oxygen to lunar orbit.
Zero boil off of cryogenic fuel has long been a tough nut to crack.
Opening up the solar system
1960s Apollo lunar lander design (left) contrasted to Blue Origin Mark 1 and Mark 2 vehicles. Image credit: Blue Origin/Inside Outer Space screengrab
John Couluris, Senior Vice President of Lunar Permanence for Blue Origin, discussed the company’s lunar plans today at a Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) meeting being held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Transporter can haul roughly 100 metric tons from Earth orbit to lunar orbit, Couluris said. By December of this year flight units are to be fully built.
“This will open up the solar system,” Couluris added, with Transporter able to shove 30 metric tons to Mars orbit.
Making its Mark on the Moon
Couluris also detailed critical work on Blue Origin’s Mark 1 and Mark 2 lunar landers that’s now underway.
Blue Moon MK1 will provide cargo transport, leveraging the 7-meter fairing of the New Glenn launch vehicle, to deliver metric tons anywhere on the lunar surface.
Under NASA’s NextSTEP-2 Appendix P Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) contract, Blue Origin and its National Team partners will develop and fly the Blue Moon MK2 lunar lander that can make a precision landing anywhere on the Moon’s surface.
Blue Origin Mark 1 Moon lander.
Image credit: Blue Origin
Blue Origin Mark 2 crewed Moon lander.
Image credit: Blue Origin
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s is preparing to enter the asteroid sample-return mission business, launching before month’s end its Tianwen-2 robotic probe.
To be launched within the coming two weeks from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, the Tianwen-2 robotic probe was moved to the launch preparation area at the center last Sunday.
Tianwen-2, an orbiter and a reentry module, is to be lofted by a Long March 3B booster and will target 2016 HO3, the smallest and closest “quasi-satellite” to Earth.
Mechanical arm action
After approaching 2016 HO3, the robotic spacecraft will orbit the asteroid for months and slip close to the space rock and use a mechanical arm to scoop dust from the object’s surface.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Tianwen-2 will then fly back to Earth’s orbit and release its reentry module for Earth recovery. The return capsule is expected to land 100 grams of material to Earth in about two and a half years.
Next target
The orbiter will then head out toward a main-belt comet called 311P to continue its scientific exploration tasks.
311P is part of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Its physical composition is like those that of comets, but its orbital characteristics resemble those of asteroids, according to astrophysicists.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Interplanetary missions
Tianwen-1 was launched in July 2020 and touched down on Mars in May 2021. The probe deployed the Zhurong rover that scouted about Utopia Planitia for several months.
According to Shan Zhongde, China National Space Administration’s director, said that Tianwen-2 is planned to fly alongside and sample an asteroid, return to Earth and fly alongside a main-belt comet in a single launch.
“In the future, we will advance deep space exploration missions such as the Tianwen-3 Mars sample-return mission and Tianwen-4 to Jupiter in an orderly manner,” Shan said.
