One of NASA鈥檚 premier space telescopes is falling, and an audacious mission to rescue it has just begun. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is months from dropping back to Earth, but if the rescue works, it could continue watching the sky for years to come.

All satellites鈥� orbits eventually decay, and Swift is no exception. The outer edges of Earth鈥檚 atmosphere have been dragging it down since it launched in 2004: its initial orbit was at an altitude of about 600 kilometres from the ground, and now it鈥檚 only about 375 kilometres up. Its descent in recent years was faster than expected because of powerful solar flares depositing energy into the atmosphere, puffing it outwards and increasing drag on satellites.

So if NASA wanted to keep Swift operating, the agency had few options. The one that won out was a proposal by Katalyst Space Technologies, a small start-up based in Arizona, to give the orbiting observatory a boost.

The plan rests on a satellite called LINK, designed to grab Swift with a trio of robotic arms and pull it upward. At less than 2 metres tall, its main body is only about one-third the size of Swift, but it is flanked by immense sheets of solar panels to power its thrusters and grappling arms.

LINK launched atop a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket on the morning of 3 July, in what is intended to be the final launch for Pegasus XL before it is retired. The spacecraft will now go through a few weeks of testing in space before it grabs Swift and slowly pushes upwards for about two months, letting go when it reaches its original 600-kilometre altitude. If all goes well, this manoeuvre will keep Swift operating for as much as a decade longer.

Swift was originally built to study gamma-ray bursts, which are the brightest and most powerful explosions in the universe. Over the years, it has detected about 1800 of these blasts, and has also made crucial discoveries about other cosmic objects, ranging from comets and planets to supernovae and black holes.

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Boosting it will allow it to continue observing, but if it works, it will also be an important demonstration that it is possible to save a space telescope. 鈥淪wift wasn鈥檛 designed to be serviced,鈥� said Ghonhee Lee, CEO of Katalyst, in a . 鈥淏y demonstrating we can quickly and cost-effectively extend its lifetime, we鈥檙e creating a blueprint for servicing spacecraft that were never designed for on-orbit maintenance.鈥� This could be a cost-effective way to extend the lifetimes of other satellites as well, in particular the Hubble Space Telescope, which is predicted to fall in the 2030s if it doesn鈥檛 get a boost.

The history and future of space exploration: US

Embark on an extraordinary journey through the heart of the US鈥檚 space and astronomy landmarks, designed for curious minds and lifelong learners.

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On 4 March 2022, astronauts locked 20,000 moss spores outside the International Space Station and left them exposed to the rigours of space for 283 days. They then rescued the spores and returned them to Earth on a SpaceX capsule so that scientists could attempt to germinate them. Surprisingly, these attempts were successful.

Mosses were among the earliest land plants and are well known for colonising some of the harshest environments on Earth 鈥� Antarctica, volcanic fields and deserts, says at Hokkaido University in Japan, who was on the team that ran the experiment.

鈥淲e wondered whether their spores might also survive exposure to outer space 鈥� one of the most extreme environments imaginable,鈥� he says.

Numerous studies have already simulated whether various mosses and other plants can survive conditions beyond Earth, including what might be expected on Mars. But this is the first time researchers have tested whether a species of moss can cope with real space conditions. The spores came from the聽species Physcomitrium patens.

A control group of spores that had stayed on Earth had a germination rate of 97 per cent, as did another set of spores that were exposed to space but shielded from the damaging ultraviolet radiation found there.

Most astonishingly, over 80 per cent of the spores that were exposed to the full brunt of space 鈥� a vacuum, extreme temperatures, microgravity, UV and cosmic radiation 鈥� remained viable and germinated into normal plants. The team predicted it is possible that, based on the results of these experiments, some of the spores could remain viable in space for 15 years.

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鈥淥pening the samples felt like unlocking a biological time capsule: life that had endured the void of space and returned fully functional,鈥� says Fujita.

Prior to the deployment, researchers had already tested other living parts of the moss, such as its filaments, in simulated conditions. They found that other life stages of the moss succumbed to UV radiation, freezing and heating, high salinity and dehydration within days to weeks.

But the spores seemed to be able to cope with all of these challenges. This is especially impressive for the spores that were locked outside the space station, since they were hit with everything at once while the Earth-based tests each involved testing just one stressor at a time.

Fujita says the multiple layers of spore walls that encase the reproductive tissue appear to offer 鈥減assive shielding against space stresses鈥�.

He says it is as if the spores are inside their own spacecraft. This might have been an adaptive feature they developed to cope with the harsh environmental conditions that existed on land when life first moved out of the oceans hundreds of millions of years ago.

鈥淪pores are essentially compact life capsules 鈥� dormant but ready to reactivate when conditions become favourable,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 as though evolution equipped them with their own tiny survival pods, built for dispersal across both space and time.鈥�

Can a strange state of matter explain what life is 鈥� and how it began?

Laboratory experiments have coaxed simple molecules into states that naturally become more complex, hinting at the origins of evolution itself

Fujita says that while the research doesn鈥檛 in any way prove that extraterrestrial life exists, it strengthens the case that life, once it has emerged, can be incredibly robust. 鈥淭he fact that terrestrial life forms can endure space-like conditions suggests that life鈥檚 building blocks may be more widespread and persistent than we often assume.鈥�

at the University of New South Wales in Sydney says the true test isn鈥檛 whether the spores will germinate once back on Earth, but whether they can also germinate in space.

鈥淭he trick will be to check the growth rates of these taxa in space and see whether they can reproduce,鈥� he says.

More than 50 years after its launch, a Soviet spacecraft called Kosmos 482 is about to come crashing back to Earth. It was originally intended to land on the surface of Venus, but it started to fall apart in low Earth orbit and never made it beyond there. After decades of circling our planet in an oval-shaped orbit, it鈥檚 finally about to hurtle back to the ground.

Kosmos 482 launched in 1972, but because of secrecy during the cold war period, little is known about its structure or its exact mission. We only know it was headed for Venus because of other Soviet missions that were focused on our neighbouring world at the time and because the spacecraft appeared to attempt to launch on a trajectory there before it went to pieces. It isn鈥檛 clear what exactly caused the spacecraft failure, but three of the four fragments fell in New Zealand shortly after the launch.

The last fragment drifted into a higher orbit, with its closest point to Earth at about 210 kilometres up and its most distant about 9800 kilometres away. Over the years, particles from the very top of Earth鈥檚 atmosphere have slowed down this piece, shrinking its path around Earth, and it has finally gotten close enough to fall. It is expected to come down on 9 or 10 May.

The remaining bit of the spacecraft, its landing capsule, is estimated to be more than a metre wide with a mass of nearly 500 kilograms. Between its size and the likelihood that it was designed to survive a trip through Venus鈥檚 hot, dense atmosphere, it seems likely that it will survive its descent intact and hit the ground hard, at upwards of 200 kilometres per hour.

It is impossible to predict where exactly the last piece of Kosmos 482 will smash down. Based on its current orbit, it could hit anywhere on Earth between the latitudes of 52掳 north and 52掳 south 鈥� an area that covers everywhere from the southern tip of South America to parts of Canada and Russia. Thankfully, despite that huge swathe of possible landing spots, the probability that it will hit an inhabited area is low. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an infinitesimally small number,鈥� said Marcin Pilinski at the University of Colorado Boulder in a . 鈥淚t will very likely land in the ocean.鈥�

Pilinski is part of a team tracking the debris. As it continues to get closer, the possibilities for where and when it will land will narrow down. Space junk falling to Earth like this isn鈥檛 uncommon: about one orbiting object that NASA is tracking falls every day, and most either burn up in the atmosphere or hit the ocean. Kosmos 482 is just a particularly big and hardy piece of space junk.

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Inside NASA鈥檚 ambitious plan to bring the ISS crashing back to Earth

The International Space Station will burn up and splash down into the Pacific sometime around 2030. What could possibly go wrong? And will we ever see anything like the ISS again?

Intuitive Machines鈥檚 Athena lander has made it to the moon, but it seems to have fallen over. The lander is still working, but it isn鈥檛 yet clear which parts of its mission it will still be able to accomplish.

The spacecraft launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA鈥檚 Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 27 February. It landed on 6 March, but this wasn鈥檛 entirely successful and its precise location and orientation on the lunar surface are still unclear.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 believe we鈥檙e in the correct attitude on the surface of the moon, yet again,鈥� said Intuitive Machines CEO in a press conference shortly after the landing. This is a similar result to the company鈥檚 last attempt to land on the moon with its Odysseus spacecraft. That marked the first time that a private firm had landed a spacecraft on the lunar surface, but it tipped over onto its side and wasn鈥檛 able to send back much data.

Athena has a variety of scientific instruments, but perhaps the most important of these is The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT), a NASA experiment designed to drill up to a metre through the lunar soil. It is intended to take samples from underground and analyse their contents, looking for water ice and other chemical compounds.

鈥淭his experiment marks a significant milestone, as it will be the first robotic drilling activity conducted in the moon鈥檚 south pole region,鈥� said at KSC in a 25 February press conference. If TRIDENT does still work, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a crucial step towards understanding and harnessing lunar resources to support future exploration鈥�, she said.

As part of its mission, Athena carried several rovers with it to the moon. One of them, nicknamed Grace after computer scientist and mathematician Grace Hopper, is designed to jump around the surface unlike any rover that has come before it, firing small boosters to jump up to 100 metres into the air and travel a distance of around 200 metres. Grace is intended to explore the moon鈥檚 strange, permanently shadowed craters.

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Athena鈥檚 operators have been able to send the craft commands and turn it and its scientific payloads on and off, as well as downlink some data back to Earth. The solar panels are also functioning to charge up the lander鈥檚 electronics. That seems to be good news, but the team is still working out which of the instruments will be able to accomplish their scientific goals, said Altemus.

This mission is part of a broader push for increased exploration of the moon, partly in preparation for planned human missions over the course of the next decade. Firefly Aerospace鈥檚 Blue Ghost lander just made it to the moon on 2 March, and the Resilience lander from Japanese company ispace is en route.

Blue Origin, the space company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is set to launch its reusable New Glenn rocket for the first time on 10 January. If successful, the rocket could become a rival to SpaceX鈥檚 Falcon Heavy rocket, which has become the go-to launch vehicle for companies looking to put large payloads into orbit.

What is New Glenn?

New Glenn is a 98 metre-tall rocket, around the height of a 30-storey building, designed to deliver payloads of up to 45 tonnes to low Earth orbit. It is expected to compete with SpaceX鈥檚 Falcon Heavy, which can carry about 64 tonnes of cargo.

The rocket has two stages. The first stage is designed to land on a sea platform, similar to Falcon Heavy, and Blue Origin claims it will be reusable for 25 missions. At the top of the rocket is a disposable upper stage where cargo and mission payloads can be stored.

When will the launch take place?

New Glenn has been cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration to launch in a three-hour window starting at 1am local time (6am GMT) on 10 January from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

A launch window had already been approved by the FAA for 6 January, but the 10 January window is the first to be confirmed by Blue Origin, too. 鈥淭his is our first flight and we鈥檝e prepared rigorously for it,鈥� said Jarrett Jones at Blue Origin .

Blue Origin first aimed to launch New Glenn in 2020 after announcing the development of the rocket in 2016, but delays and setbacks have pushed back the inaugural launch.

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What will the test flight entail?

The main objective for the test flight, called NG-1, is for the rocket to reach orbit, but the second stage will also carry Blue Origin鈥檚 Blue Ring Pathfinder, a collection of communications devices, power systems and a flight computer for the Blue Ring spacecraft, which will help guide and manoeuvre future payloads in orbit.

Blue Origin is aiming to mimic the success of SpaceX鈥檚 rapid testing and development schedule, which involves launching as frequently as possible, even if some tests end in fiery explosions. 鈥淣o matter what happens, we鈥檒l learn, refine and apply that knowledge to our next launch,鈥� said Jones.

Eventually, Blue Origin hopes to have New Glenn launch satellites as part of Amazon鈥檚 Project Kuiper, a planned satellite internet constellation similar to SpaceX鈥檚 Starlink, as well as deliver parts for a space station that Blue Origin is developing.

What other rockets has Blue Origin launched?

Blue Origin has previously focused on space tourism with its New Shepard rocket, which in 2021 launched its founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers to an altitude of 107 kilometres. It has since launched a further eight crews to a similar altitude, with the most recent launch in November 2024.

Uranus鈥檚 strange magnetic field may be much less weird than astronomers first thought, which means its largest moons could be much more active, and even perhaps have global oceans.

Our only direct measurements of Uranus鈥檚 magnetic field come from NASA鈥檚 Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew by the planet in 1986. The spacecraft鈥檚 readings suggested that the magnetic field was lopsided 鈥� meaning it wasn鈥檛 aligned with the planet鈥檚 rotation 鈥� as well as being unusually rich in extremely energetic electrons and devoid of the plasma that is common in the magnetic fields of other gas giants like Jupiter. Astronomers at the time thought the results so bizarre that they invoked complex physics to try to explain the readings 鈥� or simply dismissed them as evidence that Voyager 2鈥檚 instruments had gone haywire.

Now, at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and his colleagues have reanalysed the Voyager 2 data and found that it was skewed by a rare burst of solar wind that squashed Uranus鈥檚 magnetic field just before the spacecraft arrived, disturbing the readings. This means everything we thought we knew about Uranus鈥檚 magnetic field might be wrong, says Jasinski. 鈥淭his kind of almost resets everything,鈥� he says.

Jasinski and his team found that the solar wind compressed Uranus鈥檚 magnetic field to a size that it would typically only adopt 4 per cent of the time 鈥� but that scientists have, for the past 40 years, assumed was its normal state. The squashed magnetic field explains the previous strange results, such as its lack of plasma and highly energetic electrons, says Jasinski.

If there is, in fact, plasma in Uranus鈥檚 magnetic field 鈥� and Voyager 2 just happened to miss it 鈥� then it might not all come from the planet itself. Some might come from Uranus鈥檚 moons, the largest of which are called Titania and Oberon. Until now, we have assumed these moons were inert, but the new study leaves open the possibility that they are geologically active after all. This would fit with recent calculations indicating the moons might have hidden oceans. 鈥淭he solar wind could have essentially eradicated all the evidence of active moons just before the flyby happened,鈥� says Jasinski.