Trump's 2026 budget plan would cancel NASA's Mars Sample Return mission. Experts say that's a 'major step back'

Trump 2026 budget to cancel NASA Mars Sample Return | Auroras on Jupiter glow 100x brighter than those on Earth | May's full Flower Moon delights skywatchers worldwide Created for ceo.studentlike.spuniv@blogger.com | Web Version May 13, 2025 CONNECT WITH SPACE.COM       Something amazing every day. SIGN UP ⋅   WEBSITE   The Launchpad (NASA/JPL-Caltech) Trump 2026 budget to cancel NASA Mars Sample Return MSR is tagged in the White House's proposed 2026 budget as "grossly over budget and whose goals would be achieved by human missions to Mars," explaining that MSR is not scheduled to return samples until the 2030s. The preliminary White House budget says its intent is in line with the Administration's objectives of "returning to the moon before China and putting a man on Mars," with the budget reducing lower priority research and terminating unaffordable missions such as MSR. Read More (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ricardo Hueso (UPV), Imke de Pater (UC Berkeley), Thierry Fouchet (Observatory of Paris), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Jonathan Nichols (University of Leicester), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)) Auroras on Jupiter glow 100x brighter than those on Earth Scientists pointed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at Jupiter on Dec. 25, 2023 and captured auroras adorning the gas giant's north pole. Like the northern lights on Earth, Jupiter's auroras are created when high-energy particles blown from the sun - via its solar wind - reach the planet's upper atmosphere and get funneled toward its poles by the planet's magnetic field. However, when it comes to Jupiter, this world's auroras have another way of forming, too. According to a JWST team statement, particles ejected from volcanoes on the gas giant's hellish moon Io can undergo that same process. Jupiter's auroras have another key difference than those on our planet, too: they glow hundreds of times brighter than Earth's. Read More Skywatching (Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) May's full Flower Moon delights skywatchers worldwide May's full 'Flower Moon' bloomed brightly on May 12, dazzling stargazers with a spectacular display of reflected luminance. Named for the colorful wildflowers that bloom across North America and Europe this time of year, the May full moon is also known as the Milk Moon, Hare's Moon, or Corn Moon over the centuries, according to NASA. Regardless of what you call it, a full moon is catnip to the astrophotography community - and his one was no exception. Photographers around the world turned out in force to capture stunning compositions of the May 2025 full moon, blending Earthly landmarks with our glowing lunar neighbor. Many shots highlighted the golden hues just after moonrise, when the full moon sheds its usual silver-white tone in favor of a warm yellowish glow. Read More Science & Astronomy (CERN) LHC finds first evidence of exotic heavy antimatter particle For centuries, alchemists dreamed of turning lead into gold - not through magic, but by unlocking the hidden potential within metals themselves. While their methods never panned out, those of modern science finally have. Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator -- have observed a real-life transmutation of lead into gold. But this transformation didn't come from direct collisions, as was previously observed. Instead, it emerged through a new mechanism involving near-miss interactions between atomic nuclei. Read More SpaceX (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket launches record-breaking 28th flight A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 28 of the company's Starlink internet satellites launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday (May 13) at 1:02 a.m. EDT (0502 GMT). It was the 28th liftoff for this particular rocket's first stage, breaking the reuse mark the same booster set on April 13. On that 27th launch, the rocket lofted 27 Starlink craft - a bit of synchronicity that doesn't seem coincidental given the number of payloads on Flight 28. Read More Technology (CTBTO/CC BY 2.0) Nuclear detonation sensors can help track space debris Across the world, dozens of supersensitive detectors have been installed since the beginning of the Cold War era to detect infrasound waves created by nuclear tests thousands of miles away. Infrasound refers to sound waves far below the range of human hearing, similar to how the infrared range of light is far below the threshold of human eyesight. These detectors, part of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) detection network, also pick up the rumble of a thunder or the ultrasonic booms generated by large pieces of space rocks or space debris disintegrating in Earth's atmosphere. Read More Telescopes & Binoculars (ESO/G / Vecchia) Vertical view of a very large telescope | Photo of the day Construction on ESO's Extremely Large Telescope continues. Here, in this May 1, 2025 photo taken from directly above, the the hexagonal support structure that will hold the ELT's 128-foot (39-meter) M1 mirror can be seen in its entirety. To either side, you can also see the framework for the telescope's two giant dome doors. Read More   Sign Up  |    Update Profile  |    Unsubscribe Privacy Policy  |    Cookies Policy  |    Terms and Conditions CONTACT US: FEEDBACK  |    ADVERTISE Future US LLC © Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036