ScientistPankaj: Bill Nelson steps down as NASA chief as Trump begins 2nd term

Bill Nelson steps down as NASA chief as Trump begins term | Space Quiz! What law governs the expansion of the universe? | Finland becomes 53rd country to join the Artemis Accords

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January 22, 2025

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The Launchpad

Bill Nelson steps down as NASA chief as Trump begins term

(NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Bill Nelson has stepped down as NASA administrator, ending a half-century of public service. Nelson and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy left the agency on Monday (Jan. 20), the day that Donald Trump began his second term as president. Trump has appointed Janet Petro, who most recently served as director of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, as NASA's interim chief.

Full Story: Space (1/21)

Space Quiz! What law governs the expansion of the universe?

Learn the answer here!

Newton's 3rd law

Fermat's last theorem

Hubble?Lema?tre law

Law of gravity

Finland becomes 53rd country to join the Artemis Accords

(ESA-ATG)

Finland joined NASA's Artemis Accords on Jan. 21 through a signing ceremony that took place on the sidelines of the Winter Satellite Workshop 2025 in Espoo, Finland. The signing makes the Nordic country the latest to commit to the safe and responsible exploration of space that benefits humanity, according to a NASA statement.

Full Story: Space (1/21)

Skywatching

Earth's 'ignorosphere' could shed new light on auroras

(Space.com/ Josh Dinner)

Japanese scientists have created the first-ever long-term dataset about Earth's entire atmosphere, stretching all the way to space. They hope the project will help shed light on some little-explored processes taking place inside our planet's gaseous shroud, including the magnificent northern lights.

Full Story: Space (1/21)

Spaceflight

SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites from California

(SpaceX)

SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from California's central coast yesterday (Jan. 21). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 27 Starlink craft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base yesterday at 10:45 a.m. EST (1545 GMT; 7:45 a.m. local time). The Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff as planned, touching down in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You."

Full Story: Space (1/28)

Science & Astronomy

Cosmic crisis: Hubble tension is now in our backyard

(NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)/D. Carter (Liverpool John Moores University)/Coma HST ACS Treasury Team))

The mystery of the Hubble tension has deepened with the startling finding that the Coma Cluster of galaxies is 38 million light-years closer than it should be. In recent years, trouble has been brewing in attempts to measure the universe's expansion, which is governed by the Hubble-Lemaître law. This tells us that the velocity at which a galaxy is being carried away from us by the expansion of space is equal to its distance multiplied by the expansion rate, quantified as the Hubble constant. The farther away a galaxy is from us, the faster it is moving away from us.

Full Story: Space (1/22)

Technology

Rocket Lab selected to launch more hypersonic test vehicles

(Rocket Lab)

California-based space company Rocket Lab will launch more hypersonic test vehicles for the U.S. Military, as the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to invest in hypersonic technology. Rocket Lab announced that it will be a part of a team, led by defense contractor Kratos, for the the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0, which is tasked with ramping up the capacity for hypersonic test flights.

Full Story: Space (1/21)

Telescopes & Binoculars

Best telescopes 2025: Stars, planets, nebulas and more

(Future)

Want to make the most of January's cosmic events, from Mars at opposition to the planetary parade? We've rounded up the best telescopes for all budgets and experience levels.

Full Story: Space (9/19)

Star Trek

Everything We Know About 'Star Trek: Section 31'

(Paramount+)

The 25-year evolution of the Federation's clandestine spy division known as Section 31 and its presentation within the "Star Trek" universe has taken a few twists and turns over the years. This covert operations unit has morphed from its introduction as an autonomous intelligence agency in the 1998 episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" titled "Inquisition," to being considered for it's own proposed TV series, and now to "Star Trek's" very first streaming film for Paramount+.

Full Story: Space (7/22)