European Space Agency suspends Mars rover launch on Russian rocket

A European Mars rover built in partnership with Russia will not launch to the Red Planet this year as the European Space Agency suspends cooperation with its Russian counterpart in the wake of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. European Space Agency (ESA) officials announced the decision Thursday (March 15) following a two-day meeting of representatives … Read more

The U.S. just created a big new biomedical research agency. But questions remain | Science

President Joe Biden last week got his wish for a new agency to fund high-risk, cutting-edge biomedical research when Congress created the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and gave it a $1 billion startup investment. That’s a fraction of the $6.5 billion Biden had proposed, but advocates say it’s plenty to launch ARPA-H. … Read more

This Astronaut Just Broke The NASA Record For Longest Continuous Spaceflight

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei has broken the record for longest US human spaceflight, a title former astronaut Scott Kelly has held since 2016. Tuesday marks 341 consecutive days in space for Vande Hei, surpassing Kelly’s record-breaking 340-day stint aboard the International Space Station (ISS).   But the achievement comes amid volatile relations between the US and … Read more

Safety of The ISS Has Once Again Been Threatened by Roscosmos Chief

Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station (ISS) to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned Saturday, calling for the punitive measures to be lifted.   According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of which predate Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. … Read more

Congress poised to boost U.S. science funding, launch new health agency | Science

U.S. research agencies would get budget boosts of roughly 5% this year under a final 2022 spending bill that congressional leaders unveiled early today and hope to pass in the next few days. But those amounts fall far short of aspirational funding levels for several science agencies that Congress is weighing under separate legislation now … Read more

For The First Time, There Has Been an Unplanned Spacecraft Crash With The Moon

Add one more crater to the long list of pockmarks on the lunar surface. According to orbital calculations, a rocket hurtling through space for years crashed into the Moon on Friday, but the strike wasn’t directly observed, and there might be a wait for photographic evidence.   The impact would have taken place at 7:25 … Read more

The European Space Agency wants to be able to launch its own astronauts

The European Space Agency (ESA) is pushing for its members to back a program to allow it to independently send astronauts to space and set ambitious, long-term human exploration goals. While Europeans have been flying to space since the 1970s, only three countries — the Soviet Union (now Russia), the United States and China — … Read more

US Life Expectancy Has Taken Its Sharpest Drop in More Than 75 Years

US life expectancy dropped by 1.8 years in 2020, final official figures showed Wednesday, the steepest drop in more than 75 years driven in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic.   Life expectancy at birth was 77.0 years for the total US population last year, down from 78.8 years in 2019, according to the Centers … Read more