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What Happened to Earth’s Rings?

18 August 2025 at 04:15
The existence of evidence for Earth’s past equatorial ring, shown by impact craters, raises questions about its loss. Modeling its effects on Earth's rotation presents challenges. However, current findings indicate minor impacts on day length, with significant stability in the Earth-Moon system over 10,000 years.

If Jupiter Disappeared Would Earth Face More Asteroid Hits?

27 February 2026 at 13:56

Jupiter dominates the Solar System’s architecture. At about 318 times Earth’s mass and orbiting far beyond Mars, it acts as a gravitational gatekeeper, tugging on asteroids and comets that might otherwise stay put or never reach the inner planets. Remove Jupiter from the picture and Earth’s impact environment would change in complicated ways. It would […]

The post If Jupiter Disappeared Would Earth Face More Asteroid Hits? appeared first on Curiosmos.

"I'll buy 10 of those"β€”NASA science chief yearns for mass-produced satellites

19 May 2026 at 21:43

There are more opportunities to access space than ever, thanks to a bevy of commercial rockets, some with reusable boosters, led by SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9. So why is NASA launching fewer telescopes and planetary science missions than it did a quarter-century ago?

The answer is complex. It is not necessarily the money. The space agency's science budget this year is $7.25 billion, roughly the same as it was in 2000, adjusted for inflation. This is despite attempts by the Trump administration to drastically reduce NASA science funding.

In the early months of his tenure, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman's focus has been on human spaceflight and the Moon. This isn't terribly surprising given NASA's wildly successful Artemis II mission carrying four astronauts around the Moon last month. Since taking office in December, Isaacman has announced an overhaul of the Artemis program, canceling a space station to be built in orbit around the Moon in favor of construction of a base on the lunar surface.

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