Space & Physics: Jared Isaacman renominated to lead NASA

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November 6 — This week, a redux for NASA's next likely leader, the Trump administration's baffling push for renewed nuclear-weapons tests, a race to study an interstellar comet, the rise of commercial space stations, and much more. Enjoy! —Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Physical Sciences

Top Stories

NASA Administrator Nominee Would Shift Future of Space Exploration Ahead of Jared Isaacman's renomination for the position of NASA's administrator, a dispute between him and its acting chief Sean Duffy spilled into the open, with potentially profound consequences for the U.S. space agency Dan Vergano

The Race to Study an Interstellar Comet from Deep Space Astronomers are hustling to use interplanetary spacecraft to study the interstellar comet dubbed 3I/ATLAS while the sun is hiding it from Earth Meghan Bartels

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Resuming U.S. Nuclear Tests Is Reckless and Dangerous, One Expert Says "The only countries that will really learn more if [U.S. nuclear] testing resumes are Russia and, to a much greater extent, China," says Jeffrey Lewis, an expert on the geopolitics of nuclear weaponry Dan Vergano

It's Nearly Time to Say Goodbye to the International Space Station. What Happens Next? Humans have been in space onboard the ISS continuously for 25 years. As the station nears its end, new commercial habitats are lining up to take its place Jonathan O'Callaghan

Seeking Profits, Private Companies Look to Light up the Night Sky Reflect Orbital's plan to deliver "sunlight on demand" using thousands of giant orbital mirrors is just the latest in a growing list of disruptive commercial activities in space Ramin Skibba

Astronomers Are Agog over This All-Day Gamma-Ray Burst A cosmic explosion known as GRB 250702B is by far the longest gamma-ray burst astronomers have ever seen—if it's even one at all Yvette Cendes

Catch the Taurid Meteor Shower—And Learn Why Scientists Are Watching It Closely Debris from Comet Encke creates two annual meteor showers, but it might also pose a small risk to Earth. Scientists are investigating Meghan Bartels

Do We Live in a Haunted Galaxy? Huge eruptions from the Milky Way's supermassive black hole in the distant past may have sterilized much of the inner galaxy Phil Plait

Record-Breaking Black Hole Blast Reveals Star's Final Moments A "superflare" 10 trillion times brighter than the sun is confirmed as the record holder for luminosity Jenna Ahart, Nature magazine

Archaeologists Uncover a Monumental Ancient Maya Map of the Cosmos Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of a ritual-based site that may have been built long before the rise of Maya rulers Humberto Basilio

What We're Reading

Orbital data centers are all the rage among billionaire tech tycoons. | Ars Technica NASA's Orion space capsule is flaming garbage | Casey Handmer's Blog The U.S. is sinking a major NASA science center during the government shutdown. | Space.com

From the Archive

Who Is Jared Isaacman, President-Elect Trump's Pick to Lead NASA? NASA's presumptive next leader, billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, already has big plans for the space agency Lee Billings

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