Space & Physics: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is in shambles

Plus, a fresh crater on the moon                    

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September 24—This week, we’re exploring the largest fresh impact crater ever seen in the solar system (on the moon, no less!), checking in on NASA’s embattled Goddard Space Flight Center and asking whether a recent AI-powered math breakthrough addressed the wrong problem. All that—and much more—is below. Enjoy! Thoughts? Questions? Let me know via e-mail (lbillings@sciam.com), X or Bluesky. —Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Physical Sciences

Top Stories

Did OpenAI solve the wrong Navier-Stokes problem? OpenAI’s proof seems eligible for a $1-million prize—but only by using a controversial loophole Joseph Howlett

After brutal cuts, can this NASA center still build multibillion-dollar space telescopes? 2025 was a brutal year of budget cuts and workforce attrition at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the home base for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Experts worry Goddard—and NASA’s space science—may never recover Eric Niiler

Travel with Scientific American Experience Swiss Innovations and Alpine Inspirations Join us with expert Joseph Howlett, senior reporter, to explore scientific innovation across Switzerland. Each day delves into a different branch of Swiss excellence—from particle physics in Geneva to viticulture science in the vineyards of Lavaux to pioneering energy research in Lausanne, and more! Spaces are limited; book today!

Scientists discover largest new impact crater in the solar system ever—on our moon The crater, named after geologist and lunar surface expert Tom McGetchin, spans more than two football fields wide Adam Kovac

See the Taurids light up the fall sky with brilliant shooting stars Lasting from mid-September until mid-November, the Taurid meteor showers are among the longest of the year Jackie Flynn Mogensen

Immerse yourself in the newest space updates with a subscription to Scientific American. Get 90 days for just $1!

U.S. space weapons, AI regulation debates and the EPA’s carbon emissions rollback  From orbital weapons to AI risks and weaker emissions rules Rachel Feltman, Lee Billings, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

AI solves 79-year-old mathematical mystery Can a six-dimensional sphere be described using imaginary numbers? For decades, experts puzzled over this question. Now an AI has apparently answered it Manon Bischoff, Joseph Howlett

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope glimpses its first cosmic light The space telescope is set to reveal thousands of new exoplanets and scour the universe for signs of dark matter and energy Adam Kovac

Why mathematicians are suddenly hiding research results Google made a major breakthrough in quantum computing. To prevent the results from being misused, the company kept them secret. That backfired Manon Bischoff

The life and death of the sun Our sun is on a long, strange trip to its eventual demise. Here are the key stops along the way Phil Plait

Mathematicians use AI to find mysterious symmetries, solving decades-old problem In parallel, a race by amateurs and mathematicians has found all 25,000 cases of one “inverse Galois problem” Lyndie Chiou

What We're Reading

NASA Selects Far-Infrared Telescope as First in New Mission Class| NASA NASA chief concerned China may deny access to parts of Moon’s south pole | Ars Technica SpaceX given unique access to classified DoD space tracking data, sources say | Breaking Defense

From the Archive

If AI can do math, what’s the point of mathematicians? What happens when machines surpass the most brilliant human minds? Mathematicians are finding out Joseph Howlett

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Perseverance rover finds evidence of ancient hot water

Perseverance rover finds evidence of ancient hot water | SpaceX Starship Flight 14 live updates | Asteroid-mining company to launch autonomous mission Created for ceo.studentlike.spuniv@blogger.com | Web Version   September 24, 2026 FOLLOW US FOLLOW US   Taking you out of this world, every day SIGN UP ⋅   WEBSITE   The Launchpad Perseverance rover finds evidence of ancient hot water Happy Thursday, space fans! Starting things out with some strange science, scientists have discovered a planet that orbits its star in...the wrong direction? That's right, a newly-found exoplanet seems to be orbiting its star backwards  — weird! In more strange science news, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has discovered evidence of ancient hot water on Mars. And in perhaps the strangest news of all, an asteroid-mining company (which, yes, that's now a thing, or at least will be soon) has announced its plans to launch the world's first autonomous space mission in 2027. What could go wrong? Check out what's big in space below: Martian hot water?   Trending SpaceX Starship Flight 14 live updates Follow live updates as SpaceX prepares its latest Starship rocket for the vehicle's first orbital launch attempt. The company is currently targeting Sept. 28 for Starship's Flight 14, which is poised to fly the spacecraft farther than ever before. Stay tuned! Spaceflight Asteroid-mining company to launch autonomous mission AstroForge plans to launch the first-ever totally autonomous space mission in 2027, potentially paving the way for a new era of exploration. A world's first Skywatching Catch Saturn shining beneath the full Harvest Moon Use September's full moon as a guide to spot the ringed planet, then turn a telescope toward two of the night sky's most rewarding sights. Time for the Harvest Moon Pilot captures spectacular northern lights from 37,000 ft The dazzling show comes as aurora season gets underway — and the sun's turbulent declining phase could mean we're in for a good one. What a view Today in Space Satellites spy rare explosion of color in Australian desert A spectacular wildflower bloom has transformed parts of Western Australia's normally arid landscape following months of unusually wet weather. Spied something amazing Entertainment 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'' S4 finale pays homage There's also a possible nod to 'Deep Space Nine' in the time-hopping "Tomorrow's Enterprise" A nod to TNG Editor's Note Editors Note And that's it for our space update today! What do you think about the idea of an asteroid-mining company launching an autonomous space mission? That's many different layers of science fiction come to reality, so we will certainly keep you in the loop as we learn more. Coming up soon, we are looking forward to the next Starship launch at the end of this month. With this launch, which will be Flight 14 for Starship, SpaceX aims to put a Starship into orbit for the first time. With lots of ups and downs for this vehicle, we will have to wait and see how that goes.  This weekend, on Saturday, we will be treated to the Full Harvest Moon. So throw on some Neil Young and enjoy the spectacular lunar view. And did you watch the season finale of season 4 of "Strange New Worlds?" I won't spoil anything if you haven't, but if you're a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, you might want to check this out. It's never a dull moment on the final frontier. To follow closely along and stay up to date with all things space, you can now get Space.com right in the palm of your hand with our new app available now on iOS and Android.     Ad astra, per aspera Chelsea Gohd Content Manager, Space.com Stay up-to-date on all things space science, news, and entertainment by subscribing to our newsletters. Sign Up   Follow SPACE Contact Us: Feedback | Advertise Sign Up | Update Profile | Unsubscribe Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Terms and Conditions When you purchase through links in our content, we may earn an affiliate commission.   Future US LLC © Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036