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ISLAMABAD: NASA will send astronauts around the moon in February 2026, marking the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.&nbsp; The 10‑day mission will carry four astronauts on a lunar flyby. It is a crucial step in NASA&rsquo;s Artemis program, paving the way for future landings and establishing a permanent lunar presence. Testing systems beyond EarthArtemis II will validate the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft&#39;s ability to support human life in deep space, according to NASA.&nbsp; <img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/75660bae-8a14-4117-ad56-9cd8e4045ea8.png" style="width: 609px;" class="fr-fic fr-dii">This illustration shows NASA&rsquo;s new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), which will send&nbsp;astronauts to the Moon on the Artemis missions. (NASA) The crew will test life-support systems that generate breathable air and remove carbon dioxide, evaluating performance during both high-activity exercise periods and rest. These tests are essential for the extended journeys required for future lunar surface missions. Unlike Apollo missions that landed on the Moon, Artemis II follows a free-return trajectory, bringing astronauts close to the lunar surface before returning to Earth without landing. NASA officials have described Artemis II as both a test of hardware and human endurance, requiring rigorous training before astronauts attempt more complex tasks on subsequent missions. Meet the crew<img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/b6a6c000-ec85-46f3-9876-cc80583c89c7.png" style="width: 446px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">NASA astronauts (left to right) Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman,&nbsp;and Jeremy Hansen. (NASA/Josh Valcarcel) NASA commander Reid Wiseman, a Navy captain with 165 days of spaceflight experience, leads the 10‑day mission.&nbsp; Navy aviator Victor Glover, who piloted SpaceX&#39;s Crew-1 mission, will serve as pilot and become the first person of color to travel to the Moon. Christina Koch, who holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days, will become the first woman to journey to lunar space.&nbsp; Canadian Air Force Colonel Jeremy Hansen will complete the crew as the first non-American to venture beyond Earth orbit. Beyond ApolloApollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan became the last human to walk on the Moon on December 14, 1972. The Apollo program completed six lunar landings between 1969 and 1972 before ending due to budget constraints, according to the NASA History Office. Artemis differs fundamentally in scope. Rather than short-term missions, the program aims to establish permanent infrastructure, including the Gateway lunar space station and surface habitats, to support sustained operations and eventual Mars missions. &quot;NASA remains focused on getting ready to safely fly four astronauts around the Moon and back,&quot; said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft are now stacked at Kennedy Space Center, with NASA looking to launch as early as February 2026.&nbsp;Ground teams are accelerating final preparations, including crew dress rehearsals and a wet dress rehearsal that will involve loading cryogenic propellants to simulate launch conditions.

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NASA’s Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby, testing spacecraft systems and life-support for future lunar landings and long-term human space exploration. It will be the first crewed Moon flight since 1972.

NASA to send astronauts to Moon after five decades

ISLAMABAD: Scientists analyzing tiny galaxies have identified potential constraints on dark matter properties that could help resolve longstanding puzzles about the universe&#39;s most mysterious substance. According to a study published in Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics on Wednesday, researchers examined ultra-faint dwarf galaxies&mdash;systems with stellar masses well below 1 million solar masses. They found evidence suggesting dark matter particles may collide with each other far more frequently than previously thought. The study focused on stellar cores observed in six ultra-faint dwarfs. These cores appear to reflect underlying dark matter cores that cannot be formed through conventional stellar processes acting on standard cold dark matter halos. &quot;Ultra-faint dwarf galaxies provide a clean anchor point for constraining the velocity-dependent cross section at low velocities,&quot; said Jorge S&aacute;nchez Almeida, lead author and researcher at the Instituto de Astrof&iacute;sica de Canarias. The research examined self-interacting dark matter models, where dark matter particles undergo collisions beyond standard gravitational interactions. The analysis determined that cross sections ranging from approximately 0.3 to 200 square centimeters per gram could reproduce observed core sizes. These values align with estimates from more massive galaxies derived through gravitational lensing, galaxy cluster collisions and rotation curves. The findings carry significance because stellar feedback &mdash; energy from star formation &mdash; becomes negligible below roughly 1 million solar masses. Ultra-faint dwarfs fall well below this threshold, meaning their cores cannot result from conventional baryonic processes. &quot;Since stellar feedback is insufficient to form cores in these galaxies, ultra-faint dwarfs unbiasedly anchor the cross section at low velocities,&quot; the study states. The research constructed a model relating stellar mass to core radius. This model reproduced stellar core sizes in ultra-faint dwarfs and predicted increasing core radius with stellar mass, matching observations of more massive dwarf galaxies. Two scenarios could explain the observations. Dark matter halos might be forming cores with low cross sections, or approaching core collapse with high cross sections around 200 square centimeters per gram. If the core-collapse scenario holds, ultra-faint dwarf halos would be thermalized on kiloparsec scales &mdash; approximately two orders of magnitude larger than the stellar cores themselves. &quot;These large thermalization scales could potentially influence substructure formation in more massive systems,&quot; according to the paper. The study represents continued investigation into tensions between cold dark matter predictions and observational data in the faintest galaxies.

A new study suggests that dark matter particles may collide more frequently than previously thought, based on an examination of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies with stellar masses below 1 million solar masses.

Ultra-faint galaxies may be hiding unexpected clues to dark matter

ISLAMABAD: A NASA rover has recorded evidence of lightning on Mars for the first time, its microphone picking up the sounds of tiny &quot;zaps&quot; whipped up by the dust storms constantly sweeping across the planet. Scientists have long debated whether electrical discharges could be sparking in the dusty and little-known Martian climate&mdash;but proof has been hard to come by. It turns out that NASA&#39;s Perseverance rover, which has been roaming the red planet since 2021, was inadvertently recording the sounds of lightning, according to a study published in Nature this week. These are far from the thundering, kilometre-long lightning bolts we see on Earth. Instead, they are &quot;little zaps&quot; similar to &quot;what you might feel in dry weather when you touch your car door, and there&#39;s a bit of static electricity,&quot; lead author Baptiste Chide of France&#39;s CNRS research centre told AFP. While low in energy, these discharges are happening &quot;absolutely all the time -- and everywhere&quot; on Mars, the planetary scientist said. The process begins when tiny dust grains rub against each other. They become charged with electrons and release this energy in electrical arcs a few centimetres &mdash; or even millimetres &mdash; long, sending off an audible shock wave. Here on Earth, dust storms and dust devils in desert areas also create electrical fields. But they rarely build up into electrical discharges. However, on Mars, &quot;because of the very low pressure and the composition of the atmosphere, the amount of charge that needs to accumulate to generate a discharge is much smaller,&quot; Chide explained. This phenomenon has been theorised since Mars was first explored and has been reproduced in the laboratory. Chide said it had been &quot;such an important issue for Martian science&quot; that an instrument on the European Space Agency&#39;s Schiaparelli lander was dedicated to searching for it. Unfortunately, the spacecraft crashed during its attempt to land on Mars in 2016. Since then, &quot;it was somewhat of a forgotten area for Martian exploration,&quot; Chide said. That is, until, &quot;by chance,&quot; the microphone on Perseverance&#39;s SuperCam recorded signals that appeared to be electrical discharges, he added. Daniel Mitchard, a lightning expert at Cardiff University not involved in the study, commented in Nature that the research provided &quot;persuasive evidence of dust-induced discharges.&quot; But because the discharges &quot;were only heard and not seen,&quot; he expected debate between scientists on the subject &quot;to continue for some time.&quot; Electrified astronauts? The research could shed some light on the mysterious Martian climate. &quot;Dust drives the Martian climate,&quot; similar to the water cycle on Earth, Chide said. For example, a season of dust storms will have begun by the end of the year. The electrical discharges could also trigger a process that destroys organic molecules &mdash; the building blocks of life &mdash; on the Martian surface. It could also explain the surprisingly rapid disappearance of methane on the planet &mdash;&nbsp;a phenomenon that has baffled scientists. It may also have implications for future Mars missions. Scientists will now be able to design their instruments to protect better the future robots sent to Mars, Chide said. And of course, there are also plans for humans to finally set foot on the planet&#39;s red surface. &quot;In the long term, isn&#39;t there a risk that the suits of the astronauts who stay on the Martian surface for a long time will be damaged by these discharges?&quot; Chide asked. &quot;We will have to ask ourselves this question.&quot;

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Scientists have long debated whether electrical discharges could be sparking in the dusty and little-known Martian climate.

NASA rover records first evidence of lightning on Mars

BERLIN: NASA has confirmed that it will contribute to Europe&#39;s Martian rover Rosalind Franklin, which is scheduled to launch in 2028 after repeated delays, the European Space Agency said on Wednesday.&nbsp;The rover aims to be the first on the red planet capable of drilling up to two metres (6.5 feet) below the surface to search for extraterrestrial life.&nbsp;However, the mission relies on several elements from NASA, which US President Donald Trump has targeted with steep budget cuts since returning to the White House in January.&nbsp;ESA director general Josef Aschbacher said he had received &quot;a letter from the NASA administration to confirm the contributions&quot; of the US space agency to the mission.&nbsp;&quot;That is good news,&quot; Aschbacher said on the sidelines of the ESA&#39;s ministerial council meeting being held this week in the German city of Bremen.&nbsp;The mission was originally intended to launch in 2020, but suffered several setbacks.&nbsp;In 2022, it was suspended after the ESA ended cooperation with Russia -- the agency&#39;s main partner for the mission -- following Moscow&#39;s invasion of Ukraine.&nbsp;The ESA then turned to the United States for help.&nbsp;Aschbacher said NASA was contributing to three of the mission&#39;s elements: the launcher, radioisotope heater unit and braking engine.&nbsp;The braking engine had been confirmed some time ago, but the other two elements will be a relief for the ESA.&nbsp;NASA is also providing &quot;one instrument to analyse traces of possible life on Mars,&quot; Aschbacher added.&nbsp;The rover, which is named after British scientist Rosalind Franklin, is planned to touch down on the Martian surface in 2030.

NASA will contribute key elements to Europe's Martian rover, Rosalind Franklin, launching in 2028. The rover aims to search for life by drilling 2 meters below Mars' surface. It suffered delays, including suspension in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine.

NASA confirms support for delayed European Mars rover: ESA

CAPE CANAVERAL: New Glenn, the towering rocket built by Jeff Bezos&#39;s space company Blue Origin, is set to take off on its second mission Sunday as competition intensifies with Elon Musk&#39;s SpaceX. The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket has the task of sending NASA&#39;s ESCAPADE twin spacecraft to Mars, a bid to study the Red Planet&#39;s climate history and pave the way for eventual human exploration. Blue Origin&#39;s launch will also serve as a key test of whether it can achieve booster recovery -- what would prove a technical breakthrough for the company if successful. The rocket is set to blast off Sunday during an 88-minute launch window that will begin at 2:45pm (1945 GMT). If delayed by weather or a technical glitch, rescheduling could prove challenging given the US government shutdown. To relieve airspace congestion, the Federal Aviation Administration is limiting commercial rocket lift-offs starting Monday. New Glenn&#39;s inaugural flight in January was marked as a success as its payload achieved orbit and successfully performed tests. But its first-stage booster, which was meant to be reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and instead was lost during descent. This time it will try once more to recover the booster stage. Thus far, only Musk&#39;s company SpaceX has managed to do that.<h2> </h2><h2>&#39;Indicator&#39; of progress</h2>The competing space companies of billionaires Musk and Bezos are locked in a commercial space race that recently escalated, as the US federal space agency opened up bids for its planned Moon mission as complaints emerged that SpaceX was &quot;behind.&quot; George Nield -- a senior aerospace executive whose work promotes the commercial space industry, and who has flown with Blue Origin in the past -- told AFP the stakes of Sunday&#39;s launch are high. How the launch plays out will be an indicator of &quot;how well they&#39;re doing and how much progress they&#39;ve made,&quot; he said. If all goes to plan, the twin satellites aboard New Glenn are slated to reach Martian orbit in 2027. US President Donald Trump&#39;s second term in the White House has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress to send a crewed mission to the moon amid a race with China. Mason Peck, an aeronautics professor at Cornell University and former NASA chief technologist, said increased competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin could &quot;expand our options with regard to launch.&quot; &quot;More launches means more ideas in space,&quot; Peck said. &quot;It can&#39;t be a bad thing to have Blue Origin even trailing behind.&quot;

Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin will launch its New Glenn rocket on a second mission to send NASA’s ESCAPADE spacecraft to Mars, aiming to achieve booster recovery and challenge SpaceX amid intensifying commercial space race competition.

  Bezos's Blue Origin set to launch NASA mission to Mars

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ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;Yasir Tufail, deputy portfolio manager at NASA, has said to strengthen STEM education, schools or universities need to play a better role in terms of giving students hands-on projects. Speaking on Pakistan TV&rsquo;s morning show, &lsquo;World This Morning&rsquo;, Yasir Tufail said institutions need to have better labs and equipment and at the same time create opportunities where students can actually do an internship. He said there can be collaboration within Pakistan or even with international partners as well or space organizations to enable students to apply what they learn in classrooms and also get hands-on experience. Yasir Tufail said there is a need to inspire curiosity among students to bring them towards STEM studies or even science and space. &ldquo;We have to show them that there are amazing careers that they can explore,&rdquo; he said, adding that he has started to persuade students in pakistan, especially in the rural areas, to come to stem studies. Yasir Tufail said he had been fortunate to work on many missions, from sending satellites to space to supporting astronauts on manned missions, and each mission taught him to handle risk differently. He said the primary focus with unmanned missions is to ensure everything works perfectly before launch, however when it comes to sending humans to space, the stakes become higher. About solving complex engineering problems, Yasir Tufail said working on missions had taught him how to approach problems calmly and methodically. &ldquo;We go through integration and testing to kind of understand the system,&rdquo; he said, adding that experience had taught him to focus on teamwork and collaboration, which is a key to managing risks successfully. About Spacex, Yasir Tufail said people forget to realize that Spacex is a private entity, and that NASA actually has a contract with it to send astronauts to space.

World This Morning

Speaking on Pakistan TV’s morning show, ‘World This Morning’, Yasir Tufail said institutions need to have better labs and equipment and at the same time create opportunities where students can actually do an internship.

Articles tagged with "NASA"

NASA to send astronauts to Moon after five decades

Ultra-faint galaxies may be hiding unexpected clues to dark matter

NASA rover records first evidence of lightning on Mars

NASA confirms support for delayed European Mars rover: ESA

Bezos's Blue Origin set to launch NASA mission to Mars

Nasa official stresses stronger role of schools, varsities to promote STEM education