The first mission of the NASA crew of the Artemis lunar program can begin in a few days, with the launch window to be opened on April 1, and while the preparations continue, the space agency is focusing on its mission to establish a human presence on the moon. NASA has announced major changes to its lunar landing strategy that are expected to play out in the coming years, including setting up its plan to build an orbiting station called Gateway. Read on to learn more about the organization’s new outlook for the moon, as well as other interesting science stories this week.
Gateway out, moon base in
Just weeks after revamping its Artemis program, NASA this week announced more changes to its plans to return astronauts to the moon. Most importantly, the space station is abandoning the lunar Gateway project, which was intended to be the first space station to orbit the moon. Gateway, an international collaboration, was not only going to help explore the lunar surface, but also deep space missions. But the writing has been on the wall for some time; to reduce the budget budget of the Trump administration in May last year, Gateway was among the programs selected for cutting. Now, NASA officially puts a “pause” and plans to build a $20 billion lunar base.
“NASA is committed to achieving the impossible again, returning to the moon before President Trump’s term ends, building the moon, establishing a long-term presence, and doing other things necessary to ensure America’s leadership in space,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said at the agency’s Ignition event on Tuesday.
There are three phases to the lunar base plan, according to NASA: first using contractors to send rovers and equipment to the moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program; after that the creation of “inanimate infrastructure,” with astronauts on the ground and cooperation with other space agencies; and eventually included “heavy equipment” to support long-term lunar landings, including the Italian Space Agency’s Multi-purpose Habitats and the Canadian Space Agency’s Lunar Utility Vehicle. NASA says it intends to begin the program with lunar landings every six months after the Artemis V mission, which is currently scheduled for 2028.
Comet 41P draws the back card
A study published this week in Astronomical Journal describes the so-called first observation of a comet changing its rotation. Observations taken over several months in 2017 show that comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák begins to spin slowly after the solar flyby, before speeding up again in December of that year. The orbital period, measured using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, was about 46-60 hours in May 2017, but later observations by the Hubble Space Telescope showed it was only 14 hours, according to NASA. The researchers say what may have happened is that the heat from the sun caused the comet’s ice to melt, releasing gases from its sides.
“Jets of gas flowing over water can act like mini-guns,” said lead author David Jewitt of the University of California, Los Angeles. If those jets are unevenly distributed, they can change the way a comet, especially a small one, rotates. Jewitt compares it to pushing a merry-go-round. If it turns to one side, and you push at it, you can slow it down and bring it back.
Comet 41P is thought to exit the Kuiper Belt and pass through the inner solar system every 5.4 years. It is small, with a nucleus of about .6 km, and researchers have found that it has become less active in recent years, indicating that there are changes taking place on the surface of the water. Although it is thought to have been in this cycle for about 1,500 years, it now appears to be changing rapidly, and changes in the cycle – which could cause structural instability if they continue – could mark the beginning of its end. “I expect this nucleus to kill itself very quickly,” Jewitt said.
Saturn in a new light
A side-by-side comparison of images of Saturn taken from the Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA/ESA/CSA)
Stunning images of Saturn released this week by NASA, ESA and CSA provide a more detailed view of many parts of the planet’s “busy” atmosphere. The images, which show storms, clouds of varying depth, Saturn’s “ribbon wave” jet stream and more, were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope in 2024. Read more about it here.
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