In 2017, humanity got its first glimpse of an interstellar object (ISO), known as 1I/"Oumuamua, which buzzed our planet on its way out of the solar system. Speculation abound as to what this object could be because, based on the limited data collected, it was clear that it was like nothing astronomers had ever seen. A controversial suggestion was that it might have been an extraterrestrial probe (or a piece of a derelict spacecraft) passing through our system.

Public fascination with the possibility of "alien visitors" was also bolstered in 2021 with the release of the UFO Report by the ODNI.

This move effectively made the study of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) a scientific pursuit rather than a clandestine affair overseen by government agencies. With one eye on the skies and the other on orbital objects, scientists are proposing how recent advances in computing, AI, and instrumentation can be used to assist in the detection of possible "visitors.

Maglevs are one of those technologies that still look like magic, even years after they were initially rolled out. While they have long been a workhorse of the transportation systems of some major cities, they don't often impact the day-to-day lives of people who don't use them to commute. But, they might be invaluable in another setting—lunar exploration. There's an ongoing debate about the best way to shuttle stuff around on the moon's surface, and a team from JPL and a company called SRI International think they have a solution—deploy a maglev track on the moon.

The project, known as the Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT) system, is simple in concept. It is based on a concept developed at SRI that showcases the ability to float small robots over a platform and precisely control their movements using a form of magnetic levitation. Scale-wise, as seen in the video below, the technology so far is still small.

A study of 14 astronauts suggests that while space travel depletes red blood cells and bone, the body can eventually replenish them back on Earth with the help of fat stored in the bone marrow. The study, published in Nature Communications, has important implications for health in space and on Earth.

"We found that astronauts had significantly less fat in their bone marrow about a month after returning to Earth," said senior study author Dr. Guy Trudel, a rehabilitation physician and researcher at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. "We think the body is using this fat to help replace red blood cells and rebuild bone that has been lost during space travel."

This study builds on Dr.

China's manned space project was approved in 1992 with a three-step strategic plan, and building a space station is the final goal of this plan.

In September 2010, China's manned space station project was officially established. On April 29, 2021, the Tianhe core module was successfully launched into orbit by the carrier rocket Long March-5B at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan.

As planned, by 11 launches and on-orbit missions, China has completed the assembly and started the official operation of the space station. With the completion and operation of the Tiangong space station, China will become the third country able to build and operate space stations independently after the Soviet Union and the United States.

In a research paper published in Space: Science & Technology, specialists from Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, China Academy of Space Technology introduce the design of the Tiangong space station, summarize the technical characteristics of the Tiangong space station, and discuss the future application and development of the space station.

The Luna-25 probe, Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the Moon after an incident during pre-landing maneuvers, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday.

Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 2:57 pm (1157 GMT) on Saturday, Roscosmos said.

According to preliminary findings, the lander "has ceased to exist following a collision with the Moon's surface", Roscosmos said.

"Measures taken on August 19 and 20 to locate the craft and make contact with it were unsuccessful."

The space agency said an investigation would be launched into the causes of the crash, without giving any indication of what technical problems might have occurred.

With Luna-25, Moscow had hoped to build on the legacy of its Soviet-era Luna program, marking a return to independent lunar exploration in the face of growing isolation from the West.

The 800-kilogram Luna-25 probe was to have made a soft landing on the lunar south pole, the first in history.

Russia has not attempted to land on a celestial body since 1989, when the Soviet Union's ill-fated Phobos 2 probe to explore the moons of Mars failed due to an onboard computer malfunction.