Don't Fear China's Falling Rocket--Fear the Future It Foretells

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August 04, 2022

Dear Reader,   Late last week, a 23-metric-ton upper stage from a Chinese rocket fell uncontrolled from space over the Indian Ocean. Most of it burned up in the heat of atmospheric reentry—and most of what didn’t plunged into the sea—but some sizable pieces did make landfall in locations scattered across Southeast Asia. No deaths or injuries have been reported from this event, but earthly risks from space debris are real—and growing. Our lead story explains why. Elsewhere, we have stories on practical uses for subatomic particles, spectacular new images from the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s plans for studying UFOs, citizen scientists going planet-hunting in virtual reality, and more. Enjoy!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics @LeeBillings

Space Exploration Don't Fear China's Falling Rocket--Fear the Future It Foretells Long considered trivial, the effects of rocket launches and reentering space debris on global warming and ozone loss could soon become too large to ignore By Leonard David,Lee Billings

Astronomy The Webb Telescope Captures a Stunning View of the Cartwheel Galaxy Webb sees through dust and gas into regions out of reach of optical telescopes such as Hubble, revealing new galaxy views. By Tereza Pultarova,SPACE.com

Particle Physics Physics Particles Fly as Practical Tools Protons, muons, neutrinos and other particles are moving beyond the realm of physics to help in a myriad of ways By James Riordon

Space Exploration A New Private Moon Race Kicks Off Soon Commercial spacecraft are vying to land on the lunar surface, but can they jump-start a new space economy? By Rebecca Boyle

Extraterrestrial Life With New Study, NASA Seeks the Science behind UFOs Although modest in scope, a NASA research project reflects shifting attitudes toward the formerly taboo subject of UFOs By Adam Mann

Planetary Science Seismic Missions Could Reveal the Solar System's Underworlds Seismology has been a long-overlooked tool in planetary exploration, but the success of NASA’s InSight lander has reignited the field By Jonathan O'Callaghan

Astronomy Planetary Debris Disks Discovered with Citizen Scientists and Virtual Reality Members of the public are helping professional astronomers identify nascent planetary systems By Briley Lewis

Particle Physics See the Strange Underground Detector Probing Neutrino Mysteries The LEGEND-200 detector could help explain why matter dominates the known universe By Joanna Thompson

Astronomy Are We Alone? By Andrea Gawrylewski

QUOTE OF THE DAY "At the end of the day, we want the space environment to be more transparent. What's up there? Who does it belong to? What can it do? It has to be more predictable. Right now we have no way to predict not just intended but the unintended consequences of our actions." Moriba Jah, space scientist at the University of Texas at Austin

FROM THE ARCHIVE Relentless Rise of Space Junk Threatens Satellites and Earth Relentless accumulation threatens satellites and Earth By Mark Fischetti | February 2019

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