Near Space Labs has launched its newest fleet of robots designed to dangle from weather balloons in the stratosphere and snap high-resolution images of Earth's surface.
Why it matters: These detailed photos can be used to aid in disaster relief, monitor roadways, keep an eye on industrial operations, and watch over wildfires, deforestation and other environmental crises.
The National Reconnaissance Office announced last week it has awarded three commercial satellite companies — Maxar, BlackSky and Planet — contracts worth billions of dollars.
Why it matters: Space operations are becoming increasingly more commercialized, and these intelligence agency contracts — which represent the NRO's largest commercial space purchase ever — mark a major moment in that trend.
NASA's grand plans for the moon will be tested with the launch of a tiny satellite next month.
Why it matters: NASA wants to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time since the 1970s as part of its Artemis program. But unlike Apollo, this program — expected to land people on the lunar surface in 2025 — isn't designed to be a series of one-off missions.
Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered the "largest cache of 150 bronze statues" and 250 coffins containing mummies that date back 2,500 years, officials announced Monday.
The big picture: Officials hope the sarcophagi and other treasures at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo, will create jobs and boost Egypt's tourism industry, which has been hit by the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, per the Washington Post. Both countries are usually significant sources of tourism for Egypt.
Hurricane Agatha — the first 2022 hurricane in either the Atlantic or the eastern Pacific — came ashore in southern Mexico on Monday as a high-end Category 2 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Threat level: "Although Agatha is weakening, life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides from heavy rains are still possible through Tuesday," said the National Hurricane Center in a forecast discussion Monday night, after it became a tropical storm.
