Global Pulse

分类： science

  • El Nino is here and scientists fear it’ll be big, bad and costly with heat, floods, droughts, fires

    El Nino is here and scientists fear it’ll be big, bad and costly with heat, floods, droughts, fires

    On Thursday, leading meteorological officials delivered a stark climate update: a new El Niño event has officially formed in the warming equatorial Pacific Ocean, and projections indicate it could grow to become one of the most powerful such events recorded since modern tracking began in 1950.

    El Niño, a naturally occurring climate cycle defined by elevated sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, is set to amplify the already accelerating planetary warming driven by decades of fossil fuel emissions, climate experts warn. The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed the event’s formation in an official announcement, noting there is a 63% probability that the event will intensify to a rank among the four strongest El Niños on record by late fall and early winter. Many forecasters even project it could match or outpace the devastating 1997 El Niño, which caused tens of billions of dollars in global damage via cascading extreme weather events including deadly heatwaves, catastrophic flooding, prolonged droughts, intense tornado outbreaks, and out-of-control wildfires.

    “Warm deep water associated with El Niño reshapes global weather patterns by releasing a massive amount of excess heat into the atmosphere, which acts as a catalyst for extreme weather events across nearly every continent,” explained Abby Frazier, a climate scientist at Clark University. For many vulnerable Pacific communities, she added, conditions can deteriorate into life-threatening scenarios with alarming speed. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres framed the confirmation of El Niño as an urgent wake-up call for global climate action, noting that the event would “pour fuel on the fire of a warming world.”

    Unlike uniform weather events, El Niño creates divergent impacts across different regions, creating a mix of winners and losers. One notable silver lining is that El Niño typically suppresses (though does not eliminate) hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean, which could reduce storm risk for the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts. However, this reduction comes with a tradeoff: Pacific hurricane activity is expected to increase, putting Hawaii and other Pacific island nations at greater risk.

    Other regional impacts follow well-documented patterns. The chronically drought-stricken Middle East could see much-needed precipitation that eases dry conditions, while western South America — the region where El Niño was first identified centuries ago by local fishermen — faces elevated risk of extreme rainfall and devastating flooding alongside a much hotter than average summer. India will likely face longer, more intense heatwaves, while Australia is threatened by worsening drought, more destructive wildfires, and prolonged high temperatures. Northeastern Africa, already reeling from persistent severe drought, could experience extreme whiplash with a sudden shift to dangerously heavy rainfall that causes flash flooding, according to Muhammad Azhar Ehsan, a Columbia University climate scientist and leading El Niño researcher.

    In the United States, the event is projected to bring more intense, rain-heavy storms to the southern states, while the Pacific Northwest will likely see warmer than average temperatures and drier conditions. The northern Rockies and Southwest, currently facing record-breaking snow drought, could receive beneficial heavy summer rainfall. On the agricultural side, El Niño generally brings favorable conditions for U.S. crop production, particularly for soybeans in the country’s 18 major growing regions, though outcomes for dairy and cattle production are more mixed. Despite these agricultural benefits, Stanford climate economist Marshall Burke notes that the overall temperature increase driven by this El Niño will likely dampen U.S. economic growth, as research consistently shows national economic output slows when average temperatures climb above historical norms.

    Most climate scientists project that 2027 will become the hottest year ever recorded globally, due to the lagging climate impacts of this El Niño, which is expected to reach its peak intensity between late 2024 and early 2025.

    Unusually for this time of year, all forecasters are aligned in their projections of a very strong event, thanks to unusually clear early indicators. Typically, El Niño forecasts vary widely in the early stages of formation, but this year, warm water has already pushed steadily toward the Pacific surface, creating unambiguous signals that the event will intensify rapidly. Unlike most El Niños that peak in mid-winter, Ehsan’s research team projects this event will reach its peak one to two months earlier, and Princeton climate scientist Gabriel Vecchi adds that large El Niño events like this one typically persist longer than weaker events.

    Climate researchers have observed that as planetary warming continues to accelerate due to fossil fuel combustion, El Niño events are becoming stronger and more frequent on average, though Frazier notes it is too soon to confirm whether this specific event fits that long-term trend. Even before its official confirmation, the event has earned dramatic nicknames ranging from “Super El Niño” to “Godzilla El Niño” among the climate community. While the event brings significant risk, Ehsan emphasizes that preparation can reduce harm: “Instead of giving in to fear, we can urge communities to prepare early for the changes ahead.”

  • Scientists warn of record heat, threats to climate monitoring

    Scientists warn of record heat, threats to climate monitoring

    As the world grapples with accelerating planetary warming, a landmark annual study from more than 70 leading climate experts — including lead contributors to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — has delivered a stark dual warning: 2025 has already hit near-miss 1.5°C warming thresholds, and decades of robust global climate tracking is at greater risk of collapse than at any point in modern history. Published in *Earth System Science Data* between the IPCC’s 2023 assessment and its next report due in 2028–2029, the annual *Indicators of Global Climate Change* report paints a clear, alarming picture of a planet out of balance, and systemic failures that could leave policymakers blind to accelerating climate breakdown.

    The study confirms that 2025 global average temperatures hit 1.39°C above pre-industrial levels, with 1.37°C of that warming directly driven by human greenhouse gas emissions. On current trajectories, the scientists project that human-caused warming will cross the critical 1.5°C threshold as early as 2030 — a guardrail the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement set to avoid the most catastrophic, irreversible impacts of climate change. Piers Forster, lead author of the study and professor of physical climate change at the UK’s University of Leeds, explained that the planet is now suffering from a record-breaking “Earth energy imbalance,” a measure of the gap between solar energy entering the atmosphere and energy radiated back out to space. “Without human influence, it should be close to zero, but it has been growing since the 1970s and is now at a record high, doubling in recent decades,” Forster noted.

    This accelerated warming stems from two overlapping factors: greenhouse gas emissions hitting an all-time annual high, and reduced global aerosol pollution that has eliminated the temporary cooling effect these light-reflecting particles provided. While the rate of emissions growth has slowed, the study finds the remaining carbon budget — the total volume of CO2 that can still be emitted to keep warming below 1.5°C — will be fully exhausted in approximately three years. “Given that greenhouse gas emissions are still on the rise, keeping global warming below this 1.5°C threshold now seems unachievable,” said Aurelien Ribes, a climate scientist at the French meteorological service.

    Other key climate indicators tell an equally troubling story. Global sea levels have risen 23 centimeters since 1901, and the rate of increase has accelerated to 3.84 millimeters per year, driven by melting land-based ice and thermal expansion as oceans absorb excess heat. The report added a new metric this year to track ocean stress: the number of annual marine heatwave days, which has tripled since 1991 and hit an average of 65 days in 2025.

    Peter Thorne, co-author of the study, professor of physical geography at Ireland’s Maynooth University, and deputy chair of the UN-backed Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), compared climate monitoring to tracking vital signs for a gravely ill patient. “These indicators represent an essential monitoring of the vitals of a patient exhibiting ever increasingly troubling symptoms,” Thorne said. Yet unlike any prior period in his career, Thorne warned that the entire global observation network that underpins these critical readings is facing systemic collapse: “They all rest upon a suite of global observation capabilities which are, for the first time in my lifetime, systematically either actively degrading or at risk.”

    The report attributes this unprecedented threat to shifting political priorities and funding cuts across multiple nations, amplified by geopolitical conflicts, post-energy crisis budget constraints, and the resurgence of climate-skeptic political leadership in major economies. It specifically highlights cuts enacted by the second Trump administration in the United States, which ordered the removal of hundreds of deep-sea monitoring instruments that are critical to measuring how oceans absorb excess heat, shape weather patterns, and drive global ocean circulation. Samantha Burgess, climate strategic lead at the European Centre for Medium–Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), emphasized the irreplaceable value of these in-situ measurements: “We really need these in-situ observations to continue monitoring the climate.”

    Funding threats extend far beyond the U.S., the report confirms. Funding for the UN’s World Meteorological Organization has declined in recent years, and the coordinating GCOS program itself faces sustained funding uncertainty. Ground and atmospheric monitoring networks are shrinking across Africa, the western Pacific, and South America, and the UK recently cut all funding for a research plane that carries out critical atmospheric observation. “So it’s not just one nation, unfortunately,” Burgess noted.

    Launched in 2023 to fill the data gap between the IPCC’s decadal assessments, the annual Indicators report is designed to give policymakers up-to-date, robust data to guide climate action. But experts warn that if current funding and policy trends continue, even that critical annual update will be at risk — leaving the world flying blind as climate change accelerates.

  • Scientists discover a deep whale graveyard that is teeming with life

    Scientists discover a deep whale graveyard that is teeming with life

    Beneath more than 22,000 feet of frigid, pitch-black water in the southeastern Indian Ocean, researchers have made a landmark deep-sea discovery: the largest, deepest, and oldest whale necropolis ever documented, where diverse marine communities have thrived for millions of years feeding on the sunken remains of massive cetaceans.

    Whale falls, as these sites are informally called, form naturally when the bodies of dead whales sink to the abyssal sea floor. What would be a grim end for the massive mammals becomes a life-sustaining oasis for deep-sea organisms, which rely on the concentrated energy and unique chemical composition of whale bones to survive in an environment where food is extremely scarce.

    Lead researcher Xikun Song, a deep-sea biologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, explained that the size of whale carcasses and the unique chemical makeup of their bones are what allow these complex underwater ecosystems to develop. Song, who participated in the expedition that uncovered the site, also noted that the extreme inaccessibility of the deep ocean makes locating these rare graveyards an extraordinary challenge for marine scientists.

    Over the course of multiple research dives conducted by deep-sea submersibles in 2023, the international research team mapped the full extent of the site, collected biological and fossil samples, and documented the scope of the discovery. The team identified five distinct whale carcass sites and fossils, including well-preserved whale skulls from beaked whales and baleen whales. Radiocarbon and geological dating confirmed the oldest of these remains date back more than 5.3 million years, making this the oldest confirmed whale graveyard ever found.

    When the team examined the remains, they found a thriving, diverse community of marine organisms calling the whale bones home. Countless species, from brittle stars and jellyfish to tubeworms, sea cucumbers, squat lobsters, and saltwater clams, have made these sunken carcasses their feeding and breeding grounds. According to the team’s findings, published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal *Nature*, many of these organisms may represent entirely new species that have never been formally documented by science.

    Outside experts not involved in the research say the find reshapes what we know about deep-sea ecosystem development. Stephen Godfrey, a paleontologist at the Calvert Marine Museum in Maryland, called the volume of specimens uncovered at the site “astounding.”

    Study authors have outlined multiple factors that allowed the whale bones to remain preserved for millions of years in the deep ocean. The dense structure of large whale bones allows them to withstand degradation from bone-eating worms, while the site’s deep location protects remains from being completely buried by sediment and loose particulate matter. A thin, naturally occurring mineral coating from surrounding seawater also sealed the bones, slowing decomposition significantly over millennia.

    The team has also put forward multiple hypotheses to explain why so many whale remains accumulated in this specific location. It is possible the whales were native to the region and died of natural causes, while some may have succumbed to exhaustion or illness related to deep diving. The site’s natural V-shaped geography may also have acted as a natural funnel, guiding sunken whale carcasses to this concentrated resting area over millions of years.

    Researchers emphasize that discoveries like this are critical to expanding our understanding of life in Earth’s most extreme environments. Study co-author Giovanni Bianucci, a paleontologist at the University of Pisa in Italy, explained that studying these deep-sea whale graveyards helps scientists unpack how life adapts to extreme conditions: perpetual darkness, extremely low oxygen levels, and crushing water pressure thousands of times greater than what is experienced at the ocean surface.

    The Associated Press’ Health and Science Department receives funding support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP retains sole editorial responsibility for all content.

  • An underground detector in China unveils its first major findings about mysterious ghost particles

    An underground detector in China unveils its first major findings about mysterious ghost particles

    NEW YORK — One of the most ambitious particle physics experiments of the decade has delivered its first groundbreaking data, bringing scientists closer to unraveling one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the universe: the nature of neutrinos, the nearly massless ‘ghost particles’ that permeate every corner of space. On Wednesday, the international collaboration behind China’s Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) published its first major findings in the journal *Nature*, marking a major milestone in global particle physics research.

    Located 700 meters (2,297 feet) underground to block out interfering cosmic radiation, the massive spherical JUNO detector began its official data collection phase in August this year. The observatory was built to study neutrinos — ultra-tiny subatomic particles that originated in the Big Bang, travel close to the speed of light, and pass trillions strong through the human body every second without any measurable harm. For decades, neutrinos have baffled researchers: their near-zero mass makes them extremely difficult to detect, despite their ubiquity in the universe.

    Instead of directly observing ancient cosmic neutrinos, JUNO focuses on studying antineutrinos — the antimatter counterparts of neutrinos — produced by fission reactions in two nearby operating nuclear power plants. When antineutrinos collide with particles inside the detector, the interaction generates a faint flash of light that researchers can capture and analyze to map the particles’ properties.

    From just two months of initial data collection, the JUNO team has already produced some of the most precise measurements ever recorded of a key neutrino behavior: the phenomenon of neutrino oscillation, in which the particles shift between three distinct ‘flavors’ — electron, muon, and tau — as they travel through space. These early measurements confirm that the observatory is functioning at the sensitivity its designers projected, even earlier than many project members expected.

    While the initial results have not yet settled the central question that drove the construction of JUNO — determining the exact mass ordering of the three neutrino flavors — researchers say the data proves the detector can deliver on its core promise. Physicists currently know that two of the three flavors have similar masses, while the third differs significantly, but they have not confirmed whether the outlier is lighter or heavier than the other two. Resolving this mass ordering question will reshape fundamental understandings of cosmology and the formation of the early universe.

    “The initial results already demonstrate that JUNO will be able to probe the subtle differences that separate the neutrino flavors and their mass hierarchies,” explained Liangjian Wen, study co-author and member of the JUNO international collaboration. Outside physicists not involved in the research also expressed enthusiasm about the milestone. Kate Scholberg, a particle physicist at Duke University, noted that the first data release builds major excitement for future discoveries from the observatory.

    JUNO’s findings will eventually be cross-checked by two other cutting-edge neutrino experiments currently under development: Japan’s Hyper-Kamiokande and the United States’ Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). Both facilities are scheduled to begin data collection within the next 10 years, using different experimental approaches to verify JUNO’s conclusions and advance global research into neutrino properties.

    This reporting, produced by the Associated Press Health and Science Department, receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with the AP retaining full editorial control over all content.

  • Woolly mammoth among trove of ancient DNA found in squirrel poo

    Woolly mammoth among trove of ancient DNA found in squirrel poo

    A remarkable scientific discovery has emerged from the frozen permafrost of Canada’s remote Yukon Territory, where researchers have recovered an unprecedented collection of ancient DNA—including genetic material from the extinct woolly mammoth—trapped within thousands of years of frozen arctic ground squirrel feces.

    Lead study author Tyler Murchie, a paleogenomics researcher at Canada’s McMaster University, notes that while sifting through fossilized squirrel excrement may seem far less glamorous than unearthing a full mammoth tusk, the wealth of genetic data recovered from these sealed burrows offers an extraordinary, underappreciated window into Earth’s ancient ecosystems. The recovered DNA ranges in age from 3,000 to 700,000 years old, providing a continuous timeline of environmental change stretching back hundreds of millennia.

    Beyond woolly mammoth DNA, the team uncovered genetic material from a wide range of ancient species, including gray wolves, ancient bison, prehistoric horses, a now-extinct North American cheetah, and hundreds of distinct plant species. The discovery came as a surprise: researchers initially set out only to study the arctic ground squirrel’s modern microbiome, instead stumbling upon a stunningly diverse cache of ancient organisms.

    Arctic ground squirrels have unintentionally acted as natural archivists for hundreds of thousands of years, Murchie explained. The species hibernates for roughly eight months out of every year, so during their short active period, they forage aggressively, gathering and stashing every kind of organic material—from seeds, nuts and leaves to small bones and fragments of fur—within deep underground burrows. Over millennia, shifting permafrost levels permanently sealed off many of these abandoned burrows in Yukon, creating ideal, sub-zero natural time capsules that preserved genetic material far better than many other fossil sources. In one burrow, researchers even found a perfectly preserved frozen squirrel that entered hibernation thousands of years ago and never woke, Murchie described.

    Using advanced genomic sequencing, the research team successfully reconstructed 18 full mitochondrial genomes from the recovered DNA fragments, including six from woolly mammoths that lived during distinct geological eras. The process of assembling these fragmented ancient sequences works like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, Murchie noted, with computational tools matching overlapping fragments to build complete genetic blueprints.

    The find comes as Dallas-based biotech firm Colossal Biosciences has garnered global attention for its stated goal of “de-extincting” the woolly mammoth, which disappeared from the Earth roughly 4,000 years ago. Many independent experts have expressed skepticism about the project, arguing that any resulting animal would be little more than a genetically modified Asian elephant with superficial mammoth traits, not a true resurrected mammoth. Murchie, who has no affiliation with Colossal, confirmed that all genetic data from the new study will be released publicly for any researcher or project to use, though he added the existing cache of already-sequenced mammoth genomes means the new data will likely be a small addition to existing resources.

    Published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications, the study opens up an entirely new avenue for recovering ancient DNA from permafrost regions. The research team is already working on a follow-up study that will detail what the new genetic material reveals about woolly mammoth evolution and adaptation to changing Arctic climates, though Murchie would not share details ahead of publication, only calling the preliminary findings “super cool.” Reflecting on the discovery, Murchie emphasized that the extraordinary insights gained from what began as fossilized squirrel feces highlight how unexpected sources can rewrite our understanding of prehistoric life.

  • Italian astronaut to pilot Artemis III mission

    Italian astronaut to pilot Artemis III mission

    In a landmark moment for international space cooperation, veteran Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano has been named lead pilot of NASA’s Artemis III mission, scheduled for launch in 2027. The mission, which will see the crew test two next-generation lunar modules in cislunar space near Earth, marks one of the most high-profile roles for a European astronaut in NASA’s modern lunar exploration program.

    Parmitano, who already has his eye on bringing a signature touch of Italian culture to the mission, says iconic Italian cuisine is almost guaranteed a spot on the crew’s menu. During a recent interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), he recalled that Artemis II’s April 2025 flight already included a jar of the popular Italian spread Nutella, which went viral when it was spotted floating through the Orion capsule during a live space broadcast. “I do expect something Italian to show up on the menu, and I don’t even have to bring it up because Italian food is a treasure of UNESCO,” Parmitano said Tuesday. “Everybody wants some Italian food.”

    Beyond his contribution to the mission’s culinary lineup, Parmitano brings decades of elite space experience to the Artemis III crew. A former colonel in the Italian Air Force, he was first selected as an astronaut by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2009 and has already completed two long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station (ISS). During his ISS tenure, he carried out multiple complex spacewalks, including one that tested his courage and training after a critical suit failure left his helmet filling with water, a near-fatal emergency he navigated successfully to return safely to the station.

    As lead pilot, Parmitano will share mission responsibilities with NASA commander Randy Bresnik, a fellow test pilot. “We are both test pilots, and the spacecraft needs a crew of 2 to fly it, so we share the responsibilities,” Parmitano explained. The 49-year-old father of two said he was both shocked and deeply honored by his appointment. “It was unexpected because I didn’t know that I was in the run for that position,” he said. “I am also very humbled by the task in front of us. It’s a very complex mission.”

    Parmitano regularly wears a uniform embroidered with both the Italian flag and the ESA mission patch, framing the partnership between Italy, ESA and NASA as a model of global collaboration. “When NASA chooses a European astronaut to be a pilot, it is sending a strong message that our leadership is understood, that our cooperation is valued, and that our technical expertise – both in our constructions, because Europe builds part of the spacecraft, but also our personnel – is solid,” he said.

    The Artemis III crew boasts a diverse makeup of backgrounds and experience levels. Rounding out the four-person team are Andre Douglas, an African American NASA astronaut who will make his first spaceflight on the mission, and Frank Rubio, a US astronaut of Salvadoran descent who already has extensive ISS experience. Parmitano noted he has known commander Bresnik for his entire career, and said the full team bonded quickly after their assignment was announced. He added that the mix of ages, nationalities and professional backgrounds “just enriches the crew in general,” creating a dynamic that will serve the ambitious mission well.

  • Nasa reveals crew for Artemis III mission

    Nasa reveals crew for Artemis III mission

    In a landmark announcement that has advanced one of the world’s most high-profile deep space exploration programs, NASA has formally named the crew set to fly on its upcoming Artemis III mission. Unlike the historic first crewed lunar landing missions of the Apollo program, this mission carries a distinct operational focus: it will serve as a critical full-system test flight ahead of the agency’s long-planned return of astronauts to the lunar surface.

    The four-person crew assigned to the mission is composed entirely of male astronauts, a detail that has drawn quiet note amid earlier discussions about diversity in the Artemis program’s astronaut corps. Scheduled for launch in 2027, the mission will put all core Artemis systems – from the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule to new extravehicular activity suits and lunar orbit communications infrastructure – through their paces in the real conditions of cislunar space.

    This test flight represents a make-or-break milestone for NASA’s Artemis initiative, which aims to establish a sustainable long-term human presence on the Moon and lay the groundwork for future crewed missions to Mars. Engineers and program leaders will use data collected during Artemis III to resolve any remaining technical issues before the agency attempts its first crewed lunar surface landing in more than half a century. The 2027 launch timeline reflects recent adjustments to the Artemis program schedule, which were implemented to ensure thorough testing and mitigate development risks for the complex new hardware at the heart of the initiative.

  • Nasa names next astronauts for Artemis Moon programme

    Nasa names next astronauts for Artemis Moon programme

    NASA has officially introduced the four-person crew for its long-awaited Artemis III mission, a mission whose scope has shifted dramatically from its original groundbreaking goal in the face of unexpected technical and infrastructure setbacks across its commercial partner network. Originally pitched as humanity’s first crewed lunar landing since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the 2027 flight was meant to see two astronauts touch down near the Moon’s permanently shadowed south pole to conduct a week of surface research.

    In a major course correction announced in February this year, however, NASA redefined Artemis III as a low-Earth orbit test flight, operating only marginally farther from Earth than the International Space Station. Its new core objective will be to complete docking maneuvers with prototype lunar landers, a key procedural test that agency leaders say is critical before attempting a full landing attempt. Despite the scaled-back orbital profile, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman framed the mission as a historic engineering challenge, noting that it will demand unprecedented coordination between government teams and private spaceflight stakeholders for a series of heavy-lift rocket launches.

    The agency has now named the full core crew: veteran NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik will command the mission, while Italian Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, who has accumulated more than 300 days of on-orbit experience across previous missions, will serve as pilot. Rounding out the core team are mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, both American astronauts. Experienced test pilot Bob Heintz, who has 170 days of spaceflight time under his belt, will act as backup, ready to step into any role on the crew if needed.

    The major reshaping of Artemis III traces back to unresolvable delays in the development of SpaceX’s Starship, the craft selected to ferry astronauts from lunar orbit down to the Moon’s surface. A March 2026 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that SpaceX had only made limited progress in maturing two critical, untested technologies: in-orbit refueling and cryogenic propellant storage. Starship’s massive size means it cannot reach lunar orbit without being refueled in low-Earth orbit first, a process that requires multiple sequential fuel tanker launches to transfer super-cold liquid methane and liquid oxygen to the crew vehicle – a complex maneuver that has never been successfully demonstrated in space. Agency officials also concluded that jumping straight from Artemis II’s upcoming lunar flyby to a full landing would carry too much risk, making an Earth-orbit docking test a necessary intermediate step.

    Worsening the program’s timeline pressures, the Artemis program suffered a second major setback in late May when a catastrophic explosion destroyed Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket during a routine hot-fire engine test. The blast left the launch pad extensively damaged, and no personnel were injured in the incident. Unlike SpaceX, which had alternate launch infrastructure after a 2016 explosion that kept it out of service for 15 months, Blue Origin has no backup pad for New Glenn launches, leaving the company facing months of potential downtime.

    The damage has already created ripple effects across the entire Artemis schedule: the Blue Moon cargo lander, planned for a possible launch to the Moon as early as fall 2026, is now at high risk of missing its launch window. The crewed Blue Moon lander planned for Artemis IV faces major timeline uncertainty, and even the two prototype landers Artemis III is supposed to test are now facing scheduling questions.

    In NASA’s most optimistic current projection, Artemis III will launch in 2027 as an orbital demonstration, followed by Artemis IV’s targeted lunar landing in early 2028, and Artemis V – which will carry out a second landing and begin construction of a lunar outpost – later that same year. While Blue Origin vice president John Couluris says the company and NASA are working around the clock to get back on track for a 2027 launch, most independent space analysts view that timeline as extremely aggressive.

    Growing geopolitical competition adds extra urgency to NASA’s timeline: China has publicly targeted a 2030 crewed lunar landing, and a December 2025 executive order from former President Trump required NASA to return astronauts to the Moon by 2028 – the end of his current presidential term – and have initial base infrastructure in place by 2030. Many experts warn that the deck is stacked against NASA meeting its current goals. “It would not surprise me at all if China gets there first,” Dr. Simeon Barber, a lunar scientist at the Open University, told BBC News.

    With untested refueling technology for Starship still undemonstrated and a key commercial partner left without a working launch pad, NASA’s path to a lunar landing now depends on a long chain of entirely unproven procedures all going exactly according to plan, leaving the agency with very little margin for error. Following the May explosion, Isaacman reaffirmed NASA’s commitment to supporting Blue Origin’s recovery efforts, but the critical open question remains: how long will recovery take, and can the already tight Artemis timeline absorb the delay?

  • Nasa has named the Artemis III crew – what is their mission?

    Nasa has named the Artemis III crew – what is their mission?

    Fifty-four years after the final Apollo 17 mission marked the last time humans walked on the lunar surface, NASA has announced the four-person crew for its upcoming Artemis III mission, a repurposed mission that represents a critical stepping stone to the first modern crewed lunar landing, currently scheduled for 2028.

    Originally planned to make history as the first crewed lunar landing since the Apollo era, NASA revised the Artemis III mission framework in February 2026 after critical delays to the SpaceX Starship lunar lander, the vehicle contracted to carry astronauts down to the lunar surface. Development of the Starship has proceeded slower than expected, and the in-orbit refueling technology the lander depends on has never been successfully demonstrated. A March 2026 report from the US Government Accountability Office confirmed that SpaceX has only made “limited progress” on maturing this refueling technology, with the first demonstration test currently optimistically targeted for late 2026.

    Rather than pushing the entire Artemis program timeline back further, agency leaders chose to reframe Artemis III as a full-scale crewed rehearsal that will validate key technologies and procedures ahead of the actual landing. Scheduled for launch no earlier than 2027 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the agency’s heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the mission will carry four astronauts inside the same Orion capsule that successfully completed the groundbreaking Artemis II lunar flyby in April 2026.

    Unlike Artemis II, which saw the first humans travel beyond low Earth orbit since 1972 on a 10-day loop around the Moon, Artemis III will keep Orion in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 290 miles – 40 miles higher than the International Space Station, equal to the distance between the British cities of Manchester and Edinburgh. There, the capsule will rendezvous and dock with prototype pathfinder lunar landers, allowing crew to test critical operational procedures. At least one crew member will enter the lander to verify hatch operations, life-support system connections, and test the new Axiom spacesuits that will be used for lunar surface extravehicular activity during subsequent landing missions.

    These next-generation suits represent an unusual collaboration between aerospace and high fashion: Houston-based Axiom Space handled core engineering, adding a groundbreaking first-of-its-kind backup cooling loop to prevent overheating during 8-hour lunar surface spacewalks, while iconic Italian luxury brand Prada designed the inner garment that distributes chilled water evenly across an astronaut’s body.

    The Artemis III crew will spend slightly more than nine days in orbit, one day longer than the Artemis II mission, before returning to Earth. Their re-entry will provide an opportunity to test an upgraded heat shield on Orion, collecting valuable performance data ahead of future deep space missions.

    Following the successful completion of the Artemis III rehearsal, NASA plans to proceed with the Artemis IV mission in 2028, which will now be the first modern crewed lunar landing. That mission will see astronauts descend to the Moon’s south polar region, where permanently shadowed craters hold frozen water deposits that could one day be processed into drinking water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel to support long-term exploration. A second landing mission, Artemis V, is scheduled for late 2028, and will use a second lunar lander, Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mk2, developed by Jeff Bezos’ private aerospace firm.

    The overarching goal of the entire Artemis program is to establish a long-term human outpost on the Moon, outlined by NASA administrator Jared Isaacman in the May 2026 NASA Moon Base initiative. The three-phase plan calls for robotic survey missions and scientific instrument deliveries to the south pole before 2029, repeated crewed missions to expand the outpost starting in 2029, and semi-permanent habitats that support extended astronaut stays by the mid-2030s. A operational lunar base would enable continuous scientific research, test technologies for future crewed missions to Mars, allow for commercial lunar resource extraction, and help maintain U.S. leadership in the 21st century space race.

    However, many space industry experts and analysts question whether NASA’s ambitious timeline can actually be met, even with the schedule adjustment. Beyond the ongoing delays to SpaceX’s Starship, the program suffered a major setback in May 2026 when Blue Origin’s only Cape Canaveral launch pad was heavily damaged by an explosion during a New Glenn rocket engine test. Unlike SpaceX, which has multiple launch pads across the United States, Blue Origin has no backup facility. Historical precedent from SpaceX’s 2016 launch pad loss suggests rebuilding will take at least 15 months, putting the delivery of the Blue Moon Mk2 lander for Artemis V in serious doubt.

    “It would not surprise me at all if China gets [to the moon] first,” Dr. Simeon Barber of the Open University told the BBC, noting that lunar landers are the most technically complex component of any crewed landing mission, and development is largely out of NASA’s direct control.

    The successful Artemis II mission earlier this year proved that NASA’s core Orion and SLS hardware works with a crew on board, but that has turned out to be the least challenging step of the modern lunar exploration effort. After Apollo 17 wrapped up in December 1972, public interest and political support for lunar exploration faded, along with federal funding, leaving the Moon unvisited by humans for more than half a century. Today, the United States is not the only nation pursuing crewed lunar landings: China has publicly targeted a 2030 landing, has already tested its Mengzhou capsule and Lanyue lander, and is developing the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket. India, which successfully landed its uncrewed Chandrayaan-3 mission near the lunar south pole in 2023, has targeted a 2040 crew landing. Russia is partnering with China on a joint mid-2030s lunar base project, but sanctions, funding gaps, and technical challenges have put its contribution in question. While European and Japanese astronauts are expected to join future Artemis missions, there is currently no contractual guarantee of a seat for international partners on Artemis III.

  • Watch: Southern Lights timelapse filmed from space

    Watch: Southern Lights timelapse filmed from space

    A breathtaking new timelapse sequence has given humanity a one-of-a-kind perspective on one of Earth’s most dazzling natural phenomena: the aurora australis, more commonly known as the Southern Lights. The remarkable footage was not captured from a remote viewing spot on the planet’s southern surface, but from the unique vantage point of low-Earth orbit, taken by NASA astronaut Jessica Meir during her mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

    Auroras like the Southern Lights form when charged particles released from the sun collide with gaseous molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere. These interactions spark the glowing, dancing waves of green, purple and blue that draw skywatchers to polar regions year after year. While ground-level photographs and timelapses are common for this event, Meir’s capture from space offers an unprecedented, sweeping view that shows the full scale of the auroral oval as it wraps around the Earth’s southern pole.

    The timelapse compresses hours of activity into a brief, mesmerizing sequence, revealing how the lights shift and undulate across the upper atmosphere against the backdrop of the dark, star-studded expanse of space. Space agencies including NASA regularly share imagery captured by ISS astronauts to engage the public with Earth science and astronomy, highlighting the dynamic beauty of our planet that can only be fully appreciated from orbit. Meir’s footage joins a growing archive of extraordinary astronomical and geophysical observations collected from the ISS, helping both scientists and the public better understand the behavior of space weather and its visible impacts on Earth.