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NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #3: Better Computers
Computers have been involved in spaceflight since almost the very beginning. Just like on the Earth, computers aid in a variety of tasks, like navigation and communication. But unfortunately, space is really, really unkind to electronics.
NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #4: Improved Navigation
But in space, like on the Moon or Mars, we have…none of that. Zero. No GPS satellites, no globe-spanning networks. Just radio broadcasts from command centers here on Earth to tell our robots and crews what to do.
NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #5: High-Powered Robotics
Space is hard. There's no doubt about that. It's completely unlike any environment we have ever faced on the Earth.
Titan May be the Liveliest Place in the Solar System
Titan has no liquid water whatsoever on its surface. But it does have liquids. Seas, lakes, streams, rivers…of methane and ethane.
A Terrifying Simulation of a Black Hole Gobbling Up a Neutron Stars
Across the universe, some of the most dramatic events occur when a black hole meets a neutron star. A neutron star is the ultra-dense remains of a massive star that exploded—imagine all the mass of our Sun compressed into a sphere just a few tens of kilometres wide. When a black hole and neutron star spiral toward each other, the result is one of nature's most violent spectacles.
Is the Hubble Tension Starting to Go Away?
For years, scientists have been scratching their heads over the "Hubble Tension,” the mismatch between how fast the cosmos was expanding in its youth versus how fast it's expanding today. But now, armed with the most precise data ever captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have found the perceived gap is starting to narrow! In fact, the expansion rate measured by Cepheid variables versus the cosmic background has overlapping error bars again. Will the tension mystery finally be resolved?
NASA's FY 2026 Budget Request has been Released
It's official. NASA's Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request (FY 2026) has been released, and the news is decidedly mixed. In a previous article, we examined the FY 2026 Budget Request (released on May 2nd) and its recommendations for the coming year. With the release of the FY 2026 Budget, what was previewed and the anxiety it caused for many have been confirmed. While the Budget bolsters funding for NASA's exploration programs for the Moon and Mars, it also contains deep cuts to many other programs and the cancellation of key elements in NASA's Moon to Mars architecture.
Webb Watches Haze Rise and Fall in Pluto's Atmosphere
When the New Horizons spacecraft swept past Pluto and Charon in 2015, it revealed two amazingly complex worlds and an active atmosphere on Pluto. Those snapshots redefined our understanding of the system. Now, new observations using the James Webb Space Telescope taken over the space of a week, show that Pluto's atmosphere is completely different from any other one in the Solar System.
What Life on Europa Needs
As the years go by, the chance of Europa hosting life seems to keep going down. But it's not out of contention yet.
Do the Clouds of Venus Really Host Life?
On the surface (you're welcome for the joke), Venus is not even close to being hospitable to life. But that's not the end of the story.
Did the Hubble Just Cancel the Milky Way-Andromeda Collision?
The idea that the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31) will collide emerged after decades of observations by a host of astronomers. The Hubble played a decisive role in the determination during the early 2000s. It was a triumph of precision astronomy and space telescopes. Now, the Hubble has played an equally important role in cancelling the collision.
Reusable Chinese Rocket Soft-Lands in the Ocean in a New Test
Chinese rocket startup Space Epoch put on a show recently, with a demonstration test launch of their reusable Yanxinghe-1 rocket booster.
How Likely Is Life on Mars?
Mars is by far the most Earth-like planet in the solar system…but that's not saying much.