NASA delivers harsh assessment of botched Boeing Starliner test flight
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
Washington, United States (AFP) Feb 19, 2026
NASA on Thursday blamed what it called engineering vulnerabilities in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft along with internal agency mistakes in a sharply critical report assessing a botched mission that left two astronauts stranded in space.
The US space agency labeled the 2024 test flight of the Starliner capsule a "Type A" mishap - the same classification as the deadly Challenger and Columbia
NASA on Thursday blamed what it called engineering vulnerabilities in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft along with internal agency mistakes in a sharply critical report assessing a botched mission that left two astronauts stranded in space.
The US space agency labeled the 2024 test flight of the Starliner capsule a "Type A" mishap - the same classification as the deadly Challenger and Columbia Webb maps Uranus upper atmosphere in 3D
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
London (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
A Northumbria University PhD student has led an international collaboration to construct the first three-dimensional view of Uranus upper atmosphere, showing how the planet's unusual magnetic field sculpts bright auroras thousands of kilometers above its clouds.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, operated by NASA with ESA and CSA, lead author Paola Tiranti and colleagues observed Uranus
A Northumbria University PhD student has led an international collaboration to construct the first three-dimensional view of Uranus upper atmosphere, showing how the planet's unusual magnetic field sculpts bright auroras thousands of kilometers above its clouds.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, operated by NASA with ESA and CSA, lead author Paola Tiranti and colleagues observed Uranus Simple collapse may build cosmic snowman worlds
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
Astronomers have puzzled over why many icy worlds in the distant Kuiper Belt look like snowmen, with two round lobes joined together. New work from Michigan State University points to a surprisingly simple explanation: these so called contact binaries can form directly through gravitational collapse.
Far beyond Neptune, the Kuiper Belt holds icy, largely untouched planetesimals that preser
Astronomers have puzzled over why many icy worlds in the distant Kuiper Belt look like snowmen, with two round lobes joined together. New work from Michigan State University points to a surprisingly simple explanation: these so called contact binaries can form directly through gravitational collapse.
Far beyond Neptune, the Kuiper Belt holds icy, largely untouched planetesimals that preser Record LOFAR Radio Sky Map Charts Millions Of Growing Black Holes
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
London (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
An international team using the Low Frequency Array has released the most detailed low frequency radio map of the sky so far, revealing 13.7 million cosmic radio sources and delivering an unprecedented census of actively growing supermassive black holes across the universe. The new LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Data Release 3 also showcases a remarkable variety of systems powered by these black hol
An international team using the Low Frequency Array has released the most detailed low frequency radio map of the sky so far, revealing 13.7 million cosmic radio sources and delivering an unprecedented census of actively growing supermassive black holes across the universe. The new LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Data Release 3 also showcases a remarkable variety of systems powered by these black hol Perseverance rover now self-locates precisely on Mars
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
NASA's Perseverance rover can now determine its exact position on Mars without relying on ground teams, using a new system called Mars Global Localization that compares navigation camera panoramas to orbital terrain maps. Running on a powerful processor originally dedicated to the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, the algorithm can pinpoint the rover's location to within about 25 centimeters in roughly
NASA's Perseverance rover can now determine its exact position on Mars without relying on ground teams, using a new system called Mars Global Localization that compares navigation camera panoramas to orbital terrain maps. Running on a powerful processor originally dedicated to the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, the algorithm can pinpoint the rover's location to within about 25 centimeters in roughly Lithium trace in upper air linked to Falcon 9 rocket breakup
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
A plume of lithium pollution detected in the upper atmosphere in February 2025 has now been directly linked to the uncontrolled re-entry of a Falcon 9 rocket stage. Researchers report that this event provides the first direct measurement of upper-atmospheric contamination from disintegrating space hardware as it re-enters the atmosphere.
Defunct satellites and spent rocket stages are gener
A plume of lithium pollution detected in the upper atmosphere in February 2025 has now been directly linked to the uncontrolled re-entry of a Falcon 9 rocket stage. Researchers report that this event provides the first direct measurement of upper-atmospheric contamination from disintegrating space hardware as it re-enters the atmosphere.
Defunct satellites and spent rocket stages are gener Prometheus starts work on new Indiana solid rocket motor campus
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
Prometheus Energetics LLC has begun construction of a new solid rocket motor manufacturing campus in Bloomfield, Indiana, marking a key step in the companys plan to expand domestic energetics production capacity. The groundbreaking ceremony, hosted with the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation, brought together senior government representatives, state and local officials, industry pa
Prometheus Energetics LLC has begun construction of a new solid rocket motor manufacturing campus in Bloomfield, Indiana, marking a key step in the companys plan to expand domestic energetics production capacity. The groundbreaking ceremony, hosted with the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation, brought together senior government representatives, state and local officials, industry pa NASA prepares Artemis II rocket for rollback after upper stage issue
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
Weather permitting, NASA plans to move the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II off Launch Pad 39B at the agency Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Tuesday, Feb 24. The integrated stack will travel back to the Vehicle Assembly Building so teams can investigate and correct an issue with helium flow to the rocket upper stage.
Engineers began preparing for th
Weather permitting, NASA plans to move the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II off Launch Pad 39B at the agency Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Tuesday, Feb 24. The integrated stack will travel back to the Vehicle Assembly Building so teams can investigate and correct an issue with helium flow to the rocket upper stage.
Engineers began preparing for th Open source microscope enables low cost live cell imaging in zero gravity
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
As space agencies advance plans for human missions to the Moon and Mars, researchers are working to understand how the absence of gravity affects living cells over time. A team led by Newcastle University in the United Kingdom has now developed a rugged, low cost microscope platform that can monitor living cells in real time during zero gravity, and they are making the system openly available to
As space agencies advance plans for human missions to the Moon and Mars, researchers are working to understand how the absence of gravity affects living cells over time. A team led by Newcastle University in the United Kingdom has now developed a rugged, low cost microscope platform that can monitor living cells in real time during zero gravity, and they are making the system openly available to NASA chief rules out March launch of Moon mission over technical issues
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
Washington, United States (AFP) Feb 21, 2026
NASA chief Jared Isaacman on Saturday ruled out a March launch for Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, citing technical issues.
Workers detected a problem with helium flow to the massive SLS rocket that will "take the March launch window out of consideration," Issacman said in a post on X.
"I understand people are disappointed by this development.
NASA chief Jared Isaacman on Saturday ruled out a March launch for Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, citing technical issues.
Workers detected a problem with helium flow to the massive SLS rocket that will "take the March launch window out of consideration," Issacman said in a post on X.
"I understand people are disappointed by this development. AI-driven solar model aims to extend space weather warnings
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
New research by Southwest Research Institute and the National Science Foundation's National Center for Atmospheric Research has produced a new tool that could eventually extend space weather forecasts from hours to weeks. The approach aims to provide earlier warnings of solar activity that can disrupt GPS, power grids, satellites and astronaut operations.
The work targets a longstanding he
New research by Southwest Research Institute and the National Science Foundation's National Center for Atmospheric Research has produced a new tool that could eventually extend space weather forecasts from hours to weeks. The approach aims to provide earlier warnings of solar activity that can disrupt GPS, power grids, satellites and astronaut operations.
The work targets a longstanding he Stellar rotation drives deep mixing in ageing red giant stars
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 07:42
New York (SDX) Feb 23, 2026
Advances in supercomputing have enabled astronomers to resolve a long-standing problem in stellar evolution: how changes in the chemical composition at the centers of red giant stars connect to the altered chemistry seen at their surfaces as they age.
Researchers at the University of Victoria's Astronomy Research Centre and the University of Minnesota report that stellar rotation provides
Advances in supercomputing have enabled astronomers to resolve a long-standing problem in stellar evolution: how changes in the chemical composition at the centers of red giant stars connect to the altered chemistry seen at their surfaces as they age.
Researchers at the University of Victoria's Astronomy Research Centre and the University of Minnesota report that stellar rotation provides Boeing demonstrates large language model for space-grade hardware
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 00:47
SAN FRANCISCO – Before uploading a large language model to space-grade hardware, Boeing Space Mission Systems engineers sought guidance from the hardware manufacturer.
Meink, Saltzman make case for Space Force expansion
Monday, 23 February 2026 23:42
Meink: How the future force is designed ‘will be critical as the Space Force expands even faster in the next few years’
Space Force seeks market answers on in-orbit refueling
Monday, 23 February 2026 18:00
A new RFI poses questions to industry on future refueling architecture
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