The options have grown to the point that it’s hard to imagine there’s anyone with Internet access who can’t find it.

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Everyone seems to be launching and landing rockets these days.

Last week, China joined the club of countries that have launched an orbital mission and brought its booster safely back to Earth, which is just the beginning of public and private ventures in that country aggressively pushing into rocket reuse. Also in Asia, Japan's space agency has been conducting hop tests, and Honda recently performed vertical reuse tests.

In the United States, of course, SpaceX launches and lands reusable rockets every few days. Blue Origin, although its New Glenn booster is temporarily grounded, has also demonstrated the ability to both land and re-launch a large orbital booster. Other US companies, including Stoke Space, Rocket Lab, and Relativity Space, are all making credible progress toward partially or fully reusable rockets.

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Everyone seems to be launching and landing rockets these days.

Last week, China joined the club of countries that have launched an orbital mission and brought its booster safely back to Earth, which is just the beginning of public and private ventures in that country aggressively pushing into rocket reuse. Also in Asia, Japan's space agency has been conducting hop tests, and Honda recently performed vertical reuse tests.

In the United States, of course, SpaceX launches and lands reusable rockets every few days. Blue Origin, although its New Glenn booster is temporarily grounded, has also demonstrated the ability to both land and re-launch a large orbital booster. Other US companies, including Stoke Space, Rocket Lab, and Relativity Space, are all making credible progress toward partially or fully reusable rockets.

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LISA Preparatory Science and LISA Science Gaps

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The post GW SIG Seminar, 23 July 2026 appeared first on NASA Science.

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The post Habitable Worlds Observatory SIG Seminar, 12 Aug 2026 appeared first on NASA Science.

A new crew arrived at the International Space Station on July 14 on a launch witnessed in person by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

The post Isaacman attends Soyuz launch of ISS crew appeared first on SpaceNews.

Laser Interferometer Lunar Antenna: a Sub-Hertz GW Detector on the Moon

Speaker

Volker Quetschke, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Abstract

The moon offers unique opportunities and challenges to realize interferometric gravitational wave detectors that are sensitive over a range of frequencies that are currently not covered. Compared with Earth-based detectors, the moon’s reduced gravity and lower seismic activity allow us to shift the sensitivity to lower frequencies.

An update on the Laser Interferometer Lunar Antenna (LILA) project—a next generation gravitational-wave detector on the surface of the Moon—will be presented. The LILA detector will have unique access to sub-Hertz frequencies of gravitational waves. This frequency range of waves cannot be measured by any ongoing or upcoming experiment on the Earth or in space, thus fundamentally changing the landscape of multi-messenger astrophysics that otherwise cannot be achieved. LILA will provide early warnings prior to mergers of black holes and neutron stars. Measurements in the deci-Hertz regime can vastly improve measurements of the Hubble constant, the equation of state of neutron stars, and tests of General Relativity. Furthermore, LILA will uniquely observe phenomena like white dwarf mergers as Type Ia supernovae progenitors, tidal disruption around intermediate mass black holes, and novel dark matter probes.

A preliminary design for the LILA project and the planned future development stages will be shown: the LILA Autonomous Interferometry Technology Demonstration (LILA-AITD), the Initial LILA (iLILA) strainmeter and the full, operational LILA Observatory.

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The post GW SIG Seminar, 29 June 2026 appeared first on NASA Science.

Why and Where Do We Want to Put Telescopes on the Moon?

Speaker

Nivedita Mahesh, CU Boulder

Abstract

The Moon is emerging as a uniquely valuable platform for astrophysics, enabling observations that neither Earth nor free-flying spacecraft can support. This talk surveys the scientific motivation across four complementary regimes. At low radio frequencies, the radio-quiet lunar farside opens a window onto the cosmological Dark Ages and the magnetospheres of exoplanets. In the mid-band gravitational-wave regime, the Moon’s low seismic activity bridges the sensitivity gap between terrestrial and space-based detectors. At ultraviolet wavelengths, its natural vacuum and long coherence times allow high-resolution stellar imaging beyond what is possible on Earth. And in the far-infrared, the cold, stable conditions of permanently shadowed regions offer a naturally cryogenic, absorption-free site for probing star and planet formation and the obscured Universe.

For each regime, I will share updates from the mission concept leads on the efforts now developing within the Astrophysics from the Moon, Mars & Beyond (AMMB) Science Interest Group. Together, these cases point to a paradigm shift: astrophysics from the Moon is becoming not just desirable but necessary.

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The post AMMB STIG Seminar, 1 July 2026 appeared first on NASA Science.

Constraints on Dynamical Dark Energy from the Full Dark Energy Survey

Speaker

Sujeong Lee, Ohio University

Abstract

The nature of dark energy remains one of the central open questions in cosmology, and recent analyses have reported a weak but intriguing preference for an evolving equation of state. I will present constraints on the w0-wa parameterization from the full six-year Dark Energy Survey (DES) dataset, combining growth and geometric probes — supernovae, BAO, and weak lensing and galaxy clustering (3x2pt) — within a single survey. The DES-only combination yields the tightest such constraints using multiple probes from any single survey, and adding external CMB and DESI BAO data gives a 3.0-sigma deviation from a cosmological constant, with the best-fit always favoring w0 > -1, wa < 0. Because DES relies on different probes and systematics than DESI, this provides an independent cross-check on the recent hints for dynamical dark energy. I will discuss how to interpret these results, and what they imply for Stage IV surveys. This work realizes the multi-probe dark energy program envisioned at the inception of DES.

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The post Cosmic Structure SIG Seminar, 17 July 2026 appeared first on NASA Science.

Lucid Motors is laying off 18% of its workforce, roughly 1,500 employees, just four months after the EV maker cut 12% of its staff. The company also confirmed Monday that it has eliminated the second production shift at its Casa Grande, Arizona factory.

It’s the second mass layoff under a new leadership regime that is barely three weeks old, and it lands as the US EV market cools and automakers retreat from their electric plans.

10:00am – 11:30am PT

Dear Astrophysics Strategic Technology & Research Accelerator (ASTRA) community members this serves as a reminder for those attending AAS248. This session is in-person only.

AAS248 Block Schedule: https://submissions.mirasmart.com/AAS248/Itinerary/EventDetail.aspx?evt=70

Summary

NASA’s astrophysics fleet of observatories push the limits of human vision and understanding, exploring the most profound questions of our existence while driving innovations that transform the extraordinary into the everyday and reinforce U.S. leadership in space. This special session, organized by the NASA Astrophysics Division, will provide insight into the ASTRA Initiative, share initial findings from the May 2026 Innovation for Astrophysics Missions Workshop, and will discuss plans for the September 2026 Astrophysics community science (Ad ASTRA) workshop. Talks will be followed by a panel to address questions from the community.

Time	Session	Location
10:00am ‑ 11:30am	Special Session: Planning for the Future of Astrophysics and the ASTRA Initiative	Pasadena Convention Center ‑  Ballroom G

ASTRA Initiative Special Session

Time	Topic	Speaker
10:00am ‑ 10:10am	Introduction from the NASA Astrophysics Division Director	Shawn Domagal‑Goldman, NASA HQ
10:10am ‑ 10:25am	The ASTRA Initiative: Overview & Path Forward	Jessica Gaskin, NASA HQ
10:25am ‑ 10:40am	Innovation for Astrophysics Workshop: Initial Findings	Kendra Short, JPL
10:40am ‑ 10:55am	Ad ASTRA Community Science Workshop	Peter Kurczynski, NASA/GSFC
10:55am ‑ 11:30am	Panel Discussion	Francesca Civano, NASA/GSFC

Wishing you the best,

Dr Ron Gamble
Cosmic Origins Support Scientist, NASA GSFC

Dr Bernard Kelly
PhysCOS Support Scientist, NASA GSFC

The post TODAY: Planning for the Future of Astrophysics & the ASTRA Initiative, 18 June 2026 appeared first on NASA Science.

Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyaev, who served twice as a crew member aboard the International Space Station (ISS), including during the final US space shuttle mission in 2011, has died at the age of 56.

With Samokutyaev's death on Wednesday, he becomes the first former ISS long-duration resident to die in the 26 years that the space station has been a home to 155 other cosmonauts and astronauts as expedition crew members. The cause of his death is unknown.

Portrait of cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyaev. Credit: Roscosmos

"The leadership and staff of the Roscosmos State Corporation extend their sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Aleksandr Mikhailovich," officials with Russia's space agency said in a statement.

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Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyaev, who served twice as a crew member aboard the International Space Station (ISS), including during the final US space shuttle mission in 2011, has died at the age of 56.

With Samokutyaev's death on Wednesday, he becomes the first former ISS long-duration resident to die in the 26 years that the space station has been a home to 155 other cosmonauts and astronauts as expedition crew members. The cause of his death is unknown.

Portrait of cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyaev. Credit: Roscosmos

"The leadership and staff of the Roscosmos State Corporation extend their sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Aleksandr Mikhailovich," officials with Russia's space agency said in a statement.

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Dear Physics of the Cosmos (PhysCOS) community members-

If you’re attending the American Astronomical Society’s 2026 Summer Meeting (AAS 248) in Pasadena CA, please join us for the following PhysCOS-organized activities (all times Pacific):

Thursday 18 June

• 10a ‑ 11:30a, Ballroom G: (Special Session) Planning for the Future of Astrophysics and the ASTRA Initiative

Additionally, the following activities may be of special interest to the PhysCOS community:

Thursday 18 June

• 10a ‑ 11:30a, Ballroom F: Gravitational-Wave Astronomy in the Next-Generation Era
• 10a ‑ 10:40a, Ballroom C: High Energy Astrophysics

And please drop by the PhysCOS table in the Exhibit Hall!

For more information on PhysCOS throughout the meeting, check out our meeting webpage.

Wishing you the best,

Dr Francesca Civano & Dr Brian Humensky

PhysCOS Chief Scientists, NASA GSFC

Dr Bernard Kelly

PhysCOS Support Scientist, NASA GSFC

The post PhysCOS Activities at AAS 248 – 18 June 2026 appeared first on NASA Science.

Lucid has registered the design of its upcoming Cosmos with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, giving us the clearest look yet at the sub-$50,000 crossover the automaker is betting its future on.

The filing, published last week, shows the production design of Lucid’s first mass-market EV from every angle, inside and out, months before its expected reveal this summer.

O telescópio espacial Nancy Grace Roman está prestes a partir para investigar os maiores mistérios do Universo profundo. Vai à procura do “invisível”, entre os mil milhões de galáxias que promete observar.

The post Nancy Grace Roman: Telescópio que vê 100 vezes melhor do que o Hubble já tem data de partida appeared first on Tek Notícias.

Dear Physics of the Cosmos (PhysCOS) community members-

If you’re attending the American Astronomical Society’s 2026 Summer Meeting (AAS 248) in Pasadena CA, please join us for the following PhysCOS-organized activities (all times Pacific):

Wednesday 17 June

• 11:40a ‑ 1:10p, Conference Center 212: (XR SIG Special Session)

HEAD: Toward the 2030 Decadal: Science Cases for Potential Future X-ray Mission Concepts

Additionally, the following activities may be of special interest to the PhysCOS community:

Wednesday 17 June

• 10a ‑ 11:30a, Conference Center 211: Time Domain and Multi-messenger Astrophysics
• 11a ‑ 12n, Conference Center 204: The NASA Astrophysics ROSES Program
• 2p ‑ 3:30p, Conference Center 211: Stellar/Compact Objects 2: HMXBs and Pulsar Phenomena
• 3:40p ‑ 5:10p, Conference Center 212: HEAD: Chandra: Today and Tomorrow

And please drop by the PhysCOS table in the Exhibit Hall!ll!

For more information on PhysCOS throughout the meeting, check out our meeting webpage.

Wishing you the best,

Dr Francesca Civano & Dr Brian Humensky
PhysCOS Chief Scientists, NASA GSFC

Dr Bernard Kelly
PhysCOS Support Scientist, NASA GSFC

The post PhysCOS Activities at AAS 248 – 17 June 2026 appeared first on NASA Science.

Dear Physics of the Cosmos (PhysCOS) community members-

As we begin planning the next iteration of the NASA Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Science and Technology Interest Group (AI/ML STIG) seminar series, we are expanding our leadership council and would love your help. We are writing to invite you to nominate yourself or a colleague to join.

We are especially looking for early-career researchers, including graduate students, postdocs, and early-career scientists, who are broadly interested in the intersection of AI and astronomy. You do not need to be an expert across the whole field; curiosity and a willingness to help the community learn matter most.

The organizational duties are light. Council members help suggest speakers and run the remote seminars, which mainly means sending email reminders and introducing the speaker. It is a great way to meet people across the field and to help shape a series that reaches the NASA community and beyond.

Two themes will anchor next year’s series:

1. Agentic AI for Astrophysics. How LLM agents and multi-agent systems can accelerate astronomical research, from literature and data analysis to simulation and discovery workflows.

2. AI and Astronomy in the US: Initiatives, Funding, and Broader Impacts. The wider landscape of AI in astronomy, including national initiatives, funding opportunities, AI pedagogy, the ethics and philosophy of AI in science, and ways AI can support NASA priorities such as ASTRA.

Please use this Google form to nominate yourself or someone else by the end of this week (20 June 2026). 

Wishing you the best,

Dr Francesca Civano & Dr Brian Humensky
PhysCOS Chief Scientists, NASA GSFC

Dr Bernard Kelly
PhysCOS Support Scientist, NASA GSFC

The post Nominate for NASA AI/ML STIG Leadership Council appeared first on NASA Science.

Dear Physics of the Cosmos (PhysCOS) community members-

If you’re attending the American Astronomical Society’s 2026 Summer Meeting (AAS 248) in Pasadena CA, please note the following activities that may be of special interest to the PhysCOS community (all times Pacific):

Tuesday, 16 June

• 8a ‑ 9a, Ballroom DE: Warner Plenary Lecture: Kyle Kremer, Globular Clusters: Astronomical factories of gravitational-wave and electromagnetic transients
• 10a – 11:30a, Conference Center 204: NASA’s Big Science, Small Missions
• 11:40a – 12:30p, Ballroom DE: HEAD Early Career: Carolyn Kierans
• 12:45p – 1:45p, Ballroom A: National Science Foundation Update Town Hall
• 3:40p – 5:10p, Conference Center 211: HEAD: NewAthena: The Next X-ray Flagship
• 3:40p – 5:10p, Conference Center 212: HEAD: Exploring the MeV Gamma-ray Sky with COSI

And please drop by the PhysCOS table in the Exhibit Hall!

For more information on PhysCOS throughout the meeting, check out our meeting webpage.

Wishing you the best,

Dr Francesca Civano & Dr Brian Humensky
PhysCOS Chief Scientists, NASA GSFC

Dr Bernard Kelly
PhysCOS Support Scientist, NASA GSFC

The post PhysCOS Activities at AAS 248 – Tuesday 16 June 2026 appeared first on NASA Science.

What can’t we see from Earth orbit? Dark matter signatures hidden in the Dark Ages. The magnetic fields shielding habitable worlds around nearby stars. Gravitational waves from merging intermediate-mass black holes. The surfaces of Sun-like stars at unprecedented milliarcsecond resolution.

These are just some of the discoveries waiting beyond Earth’s atmosphere and interference. The Astrophysics from the Moon, Mars, & Beyond Science & Technology Interest Group (AMMB STIG) is formulating the science cases and defining the next-generation technologies needed to build the next great observatory – and it might just be on the Moon!

If you’re attending the AAS Summer Meeting this week, stop by the PhysCOS table to learn more about AMMB STIG, or reach out to nmahesh@caltech.edu to get involved.

To stay up to date, you can join our mailing list by sending an email to AMMB-STIG-join@lists.nasa.gov with the subject line “subscribe.”

The post Announcing the AMMB STIG appeared first on NASA Science.