Space & Physics: An epic week for spaceflight

June 6 – This week has been *busy* for spaceflight. Our top stories include the historic first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner, the fourth test flight of SpaceX's Starship, China's Chang'e 6 sample-retrieval mission to the lunar far side, and a new era for the Hubble Space Telescope. All that and more below! --Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space and Physics

Top Stories

NASA Refuses Hubble Rescue Mission and Trims the Space Telescope's Science Failing hardware on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope may lead to less science, officials say, but the space agency isn't ready to pursue a private repair mission Lee Billings

How Many Holes Does the Universe Have? The shape of the cosmos could be much more complex than anyone had ever imagined Manon Bischoff

The 180-Year-Old Endnotes That Foretold the Future of Computation Ada Lovelace's wisdom about the first general-purpose computer can be found buried in the appendix of another paper Jack Murtagh

Boeing's Starliner Launches Astronauts for First Time in Historic Liftoff After multiple delays, the first crewed launch of Starliner marks a milestone for U.S. human spaceflight Elizabeth Howell; Josh Dinner; SPACE.com

China's Chang'e 6 Probe Lands on Far Side of the Moon The Chang'e 6 mission is China's second to touch down on the lunar far side and will retrieve samples for analysis on Earth Mike Wall; SPACE.com

The North Star Has an Age-Defying Secret: Stellar Cannibalism The iconic star Polaris appears to be much younger than its true age. The secret: it's eating another star Phil Plait

SpaceX Starship Blasts through Plasma on Return from Ambitious Test Flight Elon Musk's SpaceX made a much-anticipated fourth test flight of the world's most powerful rocket, Starship, a vehicle designed to power human flight to the moon and Mars Mike Wall; SPACE.com

Exotic Quantum State Achieved after Decades-Long Quest Molecular Bose-Einstein condensates could help to provide the answers to fundamental questions or form the basis of new quantum computers Elizabeth Gibney; Nature magazine

Math Can Help Solve Social Justice Problems Mathematicians are working on ways to use their field to tackle major social issues, such as social inequality and the need for gender equity Rachel Crowell; Nature magazine

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