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Surveyor 5 Explored the Lunar Region That Apollo 11 Would Soon Make Famous

Surveyor 5 Explored the Lunar Region That Apollo 11 Would Soon Make Famous

Surveyor 5, the fifth lunar lander in the American uncrewed Surveyor program, made a significant impact on our understanding of the Moon's surface....

China Advances Mars Sample-Return Mission for 2028 Launch, Aiming for 2031 Earth Return

China Advances Mars Sample-Return Mission for 2028 Launch, Aiming for 2031 Earth Return

China is making significant progress on its Tianwen 3 Mars sample-return mission, with a planned launch in 2028 and an anticipated Earth return in 2031. The mission aims to collect approximately 500 grams of Martian samples. According to the China National Space Administration, Tianwen 3 will comprise a lander, an ascender, a service capsule, an orbiter, and an Earth reentry module. The mission will utilize two Long March 5 heavy-lift rockets for its launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. Hou Zengqian, the mission's chief scientist, stated that the probe equipment has entered the prototype development phase, with numerous scientific teams collaborating on the mission's objectives. China is also in the process of selecting candidate landing sites, considering factors such as geological age, water activity history, habitability, and the potential for preserving biosignatures. A planetary protection laboratory is being established in Hefei to ensure the safe handling of returning Martian samples and to p...

NASA Technique for Manipulating Satellite Photos Now Reveals Ancient Images

NASA Technique for Manipulating Satellite Photos Now Reveals Ancient Images

A technique developed by NASA, known as decorrelation stretch, originally used to enhance satellite imagery of the Martian surface, is now being applied to reveal faded ancient images on Earth. This method heightens contrasts in digital imagery, making previously invisible features easier to spot. Rock art enthusiast Jon Harman, inspired by NASA's use of the technique on Mars images around 2005, adapted the algorithm for studying ancient, faded artwork. Harman, who also has a background in medical imaging, found a NASA paper from 1996 explaining the algorithm, which was written by JPL employee Ronald Alley. Alley had developed applications for the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite, recognizing the potential of decorrelation stretch for gleaning information from ASTER imagery. Harman subsequently created a plug-in for the open-source program ImageJ and later developed smartphone apps that mimic the technique.

Wall St slips as Gulf tensions send oil to over six-week high

Wall St slips as Gulf tensions send oil to over six-week high

By Niket Nishant and Tharuniyaa Lakshmi Sept 8 (Reuters) - The major U.S. stock indexes edged lower on Tuesday as fresh hostilities in the Middle East pushed oil prices to their highest since late July, while markets await inflation data due later this week.

Navan raises fiscal 2027 forecast on strong corporate travel demand, customer growth

Navan raises fiscal 2027 forecast on strong corporate travel demand, customer growth

Sept 9 (Reuters) - Corporate travel and expense platform Navan raised its full-year forecasts for revenue and operating income on Wednesday, as strong demand for business travel and addition of new customers drive growth.

Python Now Powers Software Across Industries in Ways Most Engineers Don't Realize

Python Now Powers Software Across Industries in Ways Most Engineers Don't Realize

Beyond data science and web development, Python has become a hidden backbone in finance, entertainment, space exploration, and more.

S&P 500 falls as AI worries hit software makers

S&P 500 falls as AI worries hit software makers

By Noel Randewich and Niket Nishant Sept 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 fell on Tuesday, with Salesforce and other software makers losing ground, while hostilities in the Middle East lifted oil prices and investors awaited inflation data that could affect the chances of an interest rate hike.

Boston Scientific says unlikely to meet 2026 sales, profit forecast after cyberattack

Boston Scientific says unlikely to meet 2026 sales, profit forecast after cyberattack

Sept 8 (Reuters) - Boston Scientific said on Tuesday it no longer expects to meet its previously issued third-quarter and full-year 2026 sales and adjusted profit forecasts, after a cybersecurity incident disrupted the medical device maker's global operations.

Kalshi's $400 million-plus monthly commodity trade volume outpaces early crypto growth

Kalshi's $400 million-plus monthly commodity trade volume outpaces early crypto growth

Sept 8 (Reuters) - Prediction market startup Kalshi said on Tuesday monthly commodities trading volume on its platform was four times that of cryptocurrency at the same point, seven months after launch.

Qualcomm strikes AI chip deal with Amazon, offers right to buy about $4 billion in stock

Qualcomm strikes AI chip deal with Amazon, offers right to buy about $4 billion in stock

Sept 8 (Reuters) - Qualcomm on Tuesday reached a deal to develop custom chips with Amazon for AI data centers, giving it the right to acquire about $4 billion in shares in exchange for $60 billion in business with the chipmaker.

NASA Successfully Grows Hatch Chile Peppers on ISS, Observing Unique Straight Stem Growth in Microgravity

NASA Successfully Grows Hatch Chile Peppers on ISS, Observing Unique Straight Stem Growth in Microgravity

In 2021, NASA successfully cultivated Hatch chile peppers aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for 137 days, marking the longest plant experiment in ISS history. Four plants in the Advanced Plant Habitat yielded 26 peppers. A notable observation from this experiment was that the pedicels, the small stems connecting the flower to the fruit, grew completely straight in microgravity, unlike their curved growth on Earth due to gravity. This structural anomaly, described by Matt Romeyn of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center as a 'microgravity effect,' indicates that the plant's architecture is partly a response to its own weight. The peppers were harvested in two batches, with some consumed by the crew and others frozen for microbial analysis back on Earth.

NASA Simplifies Lunar Spacesuit Design to Accelerate Artemis IV Mission Timeline

NASA Simplifies Lunar Spacesuit Design to Accelerate Artemis IV Mission Timeline

NASA has decided to adopt a simpler spacesuit design for its initial lunar surface missions, a move aimed at accelerating the Artemis program's goal of landing humans at the Moon's south pole as early as 2028. This decision was announced during an internal meeting by Artemis Program Manager Jeremy Parsons. The agency will collaborate with Axiom Space to develop a 'Sortie Suit' variant of the previously planned spacesuit. The primary objectives for this new design are to reduce the spacesuit's mass and complexity, and to simplify the interfaces between the spacesuits and lunar landers. This initiative comes after concerns about the progress rate of spacesuit development. Approximately four years ago, NASA awarded spacesuit development contracts to two providers, Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace. However, Collins Aerospace withdrew in 2024, leaving Axiom as the sole provider. The Sortie Suit is intended for use in initial landing missions, which will utilize landers developed by both SpaceX and Blue Origin.