Space, physics, our planet: research traced back to the original paper or announcement.
On 28 September 2026, NASA and Boeing set out what comes next for Starliner: an uncrewed flight to the ISS in December or January, then astronauts in 2028. On an Atlas V, for as long as any are left.
Open the featureThe LINK robot, sent to raise the orbit of the Swift space telescope, re-entered the atmosphere on 25 September without ever managing to grab it. Swift, for its part, has switched all three of its instruments back on: if it has to fall, it may as well fall with its eyes open.
A study published on 21 September shows that the rocks of the “Margin Unit”, on the edge of the Martian crater Jezero, were altered by water at least three times, the last time by hot water. Geologists expected shoreline sediments; they found a rock born of magma. Mars has never been one to skimp on surprises.
On 16 September NASA announced the discovery of McGetchin, a 222-metre-wide lunar crater gouged out in spring 2024: the largest newly formed crater ever spotted in the Solar System. An impact of this size is expected only about once every 132 years; it still took more than a year for anyone to notice.
On 23 September, NASA selected PRIMA, a space telescope designed to observe the Universe in the far infrared, a kind of light no space observatory has captured since 2013. Launch is planned for 2033: a reasonable wait, by the standards of the galaxies it will study.
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