Innovation
NASA Bets on Private Space Stations as ISS Sunset Looms
The ISS Era Ends; the Commercial Era Begins NASA has awarded back-to-back Private Astronaut Missions to Vast Space and Axiom Space, marking a decisive pivot in how America operates in low Earth orbit. Both companies will launch crewed missions to the International Space Station in 2027, ferrying fou...
NASA grows yogurt in space to feed Mars astronauts
Yogurt Becomes a Tool for Deep Space Survival NASA has transformed the International Space Station into an orbital biotechnology lab, running experiments that could fundamentally change how humans feed themselves on the way to Mars. The agency's BioNutrients-3 experiment is testing whether astronaut...
Firefly's Alpha Rocket Returns to Flight After 10-Month Grounding
Texas Launch Company Targets February 27 for Critical Comeback Mission Firefly Aerospace is preparing to dust off its Alpha rocket after a bruising 10-month hiatus forced by critical failures. The Texas-based company has scheduled the "Stairway to Seven" mission for February 27, marking the vehicle'...
AI Predicts Solar Storms Weeks Early, Protecting Earth's Power Grid
AI Breakthrough Extends Solar Storm Warning Window from Hours to Weeks A new artificial intelligence tool called PINNBARDS has cracked a decades-old problem in space weather forecasting: predicting where and when the Sun's most dangerous active regions will emerge—weeks before they strike. Developed...
Chile's Observatory Fires Lasers Into Sky to See Farther
Artificial Stars Light Up the Chilean Desert Europe's Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile has completed a major upgrade: all four of its Unit Telescopes now fire sodium guide star lasers into the upper atmosphere, turning the night sky into a tool for astronomical precision. The Dec...
High School Senior Maps 1.5 Million Hidden Cosmic Objects
A Teenager Just Unlocked a Decade of Astronomical Data No One Could Read A 17-year-old from Pasadena High School has accomplished what professional astronomers couldn't: extracting 1.5 million previously hidden variable cosmic objects from the NEOWISE telescope's decade-long infrared survey. Working...
Moon dust becomes oxygen factory in race for lunar bases
The Moon's Hidden Oxygen Reserve Is About to Become Extractable The next generation of lunar explorers won't be lugging oxygen tanks from Earth. Instead, they'll be mining it directly from the ground beneath their boots—a shift that fundamentally changes the economics of sustained human presence on ...
NASA picks Vast for ISS mission, betting on private space station future
The Private Space Station Era Just Got Real NASA has selected Vast, a California-based aerospace company, to conduct the sixth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, with launch targeted for summer 2027. The move signals accelerating confidence in commercial spaceflight operat...
