Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 Moon lander is lying dead in a crater

The Athena lander toppled over in the shadow of a crater around 820 feet (200 meters) from its intended landing site. Credit: Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission has ended after its lunar lander, Athena, apparently toppled over as it touched down and came to rest on its side yesterday in a shadowed crater, the … Read more

This Ancient Galaxy Cluster is Still Forming Stars When it Should be ‘Red and Dead’

This older image of the Phoenix Cluster (SPT-CLJ2344-4243) combines Chandra and Hubble's X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical wavelengths. In this new research, the team of scientists used the JWST's infrared capabilities to try to understand Phoenix better. Image Credit: By X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/M.McDonald et al; Optical: NASA/STScI - https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2015/phoenix/ (image link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45952066

The Phoenix Cluster is one of the most massive galaxy clusters known. Astronomers have identified 42 member galaxies so far, yet there could be as many as 1,000 in the cluster. Because of its size and its age, it should be finished with the vigorous star formation characteristic of young galaxies. But it’s not. Star … Read more

‘It was a miracle.’ Amazing tales of dead spacecraft that came back to life

The CIRBE cubesat in the clean room at the University of Boulder, Colorado.

The hulk of metal moved silently through space, high above the blue Earth. Power no longer coursed through its wires, its instruments were dead to the outside universe, and its communications antenna was silent. To all intents and purposes it was deceased, and almost everyone back home had given up on it. Almost everyone. Despite … Read more

Is the moon geologically dead? Maybe not, says new evidence

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this mosaic image of the far side of the moon. For the first time, scientists have found evidence for relatively recent geological activity on moon’s far side. Via NASA/ GSFC/ Arizona State University. Across the lifetimes of people alive on Earth today, scientists have assumed the moon has been a … Read more