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Axios Space

Rocks from Mars are a prize for the U.S. and China.

Why it matters: Experts stress parallel missions by the two countries to return rock and dirt samples from the Red Planet aren't being driven solely by competition, but the nation that sends back samples first will get international bragging rights and a scientific edge.

Mars is a technically difficult target in the solar system, reserved for only the most advanced space-faring nations.

Completing a sampling mission would be a scientific boon for the nation that achieves it. Returning Mars rocks to Earth, which has never been done before, could allow scientists to figure out if the planet once supported life and under what conditions it may have thrived.

What's happening: NASA and the European Space Agency are moving ahead with a joint mission to bring Martian samples now being collected by the Perseverance rover back to Earth by 2033. 

That mission will make use of two landers expected to launch to Mars in 2028 and an orbiter to launch in 2027, all of which will be used to help collect samples and launch them back to waiting scientists on Earth. 

China recently revealed more details about its own effort to bring samples to Earth two years earlier, in 2031.

The mission, called Tianwen-3, will build on the technology of the nation's Tianwen-1 spacecraft, which landed on Mars last year, and the Chang’e-5 mission, which delivered a sample from the Moon to Earth.

What they're saying: Samples collected by NASA with Perseverance aren't expected to arrive back on Earth for about a decade. 

"That tells me that we're not really serious about giving this a very high priority," John Logsdon, founder of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, told Axios. 

"China is doing these things because it thinks there is important stuff to learn, material to obtain, knowledge to expand and — by the way — some bragging rights," says Dean Cheng, a space analyst focusing on China at the Heritage Foundation.

The big picture: NASA has a long history of sending successful rover and lander missions to Mars, but the science that can be done with even a small sample of Martian material brought back to Earth would make everything else pale in comparison. 

"Having pristine Mars samples here available on Earth for many years to come, will allow scientists to pursue new questions, new avenues of investigation in response to new discoveries in a way that's not fully possible on a rover," said Katherine French, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey advising NASA on its Mars sample return mission.

Bringing samples back to Earth would allow scientists to get an accurate measurement of how old the rocks are, pinpointing when Mars may have been habitable. Powerful tools in labs could also parse out whether organic material in the samples was created by life or another process.

And like the Moon rocks brought back during Apollo, NASA may be able to save some of the Mars samples for years after their return to eventually analyze them with more advanced technologies.

U.S. and China strive for Mars rocks

Illustration of a gold medal ribbon with Mars in place of a medal

Mars

Space

A look at the scientific breakthroughs changing the world, explorations in space and in worlds beyond our own and the threats posed to us by our own planet, both out of our control and of our own making.

Science

NASA will not launch a spacecraft to explore a metal-rich asteroid this year as planned, and it's not yet clear when — or if — the mission will get off the ground.

Why it matters: The Psyche mission is designed to study the asteroid Psyche — which is thought to potentially be a fragment of a dead planet's core — from close range.

Psyche could one day help scientists piece together a better understanding of how the Earth and other planets like it formed.

Driving the news: NASA announced last week that, because the delivery of the spacecraft's software was delayed among other issues, the spacecraft won't be able to make its planned launch window this year, which ends on Oct. 11.

“We just ran out of time on this one,” Lindy Elkins-Tanton the principal investigator for Psyche, of Arizona State University, said during a press conference.

Now, NASA is forming an independent review panel to figure out what comes next and what went wrong. The review could indicate a path forward for the mission to launch, or it's possible the panel could recommend NASA cancel the mission entirely.

The Psyche mission's cost — including its ride on a Falcon Heavy rocket — is currently capped at $985 million, and $717 million has so far been spent, according to NASA.

Details: If Psyche had been able to make its launch window this year, it would have arrived at the asteroid in 2026.

If the issues are resolved in time and NASA presses ahead, the mission could launch in 2023 or 2024, putting the spacecraft at the asteroid in 2029 or 2030.

What to watch: The delay also means NASA's Janus mission — another asteroid exploration probe that was hitching a ride aboard the rocket launching Psyche — hangs in the balance.

It's not yet clear what the space agency will do about that mission, which will have to wait to learn its fate until after Psyche's is decided.

NASA mission to investigate a metal-rich asteroid's future is unclear

The Psyche mission was expected to launch this year.

Asteroids

A tiny spacecraft designed to help prove NASA's plans to create a sustainable presence on the Moon launched on its mission Tuesday. 

Why it matters: NASA hopes to send people back to the Moon as part of its Artemis program by 2025. 

Driving the news: The small launcher company Rocket Lab sent the CAPSTONE spacecraft on its journey to circle the Moon, marking the company's first Moon launch.

CAPSTONE will use a unique orbit that hasn't been tested before. 

NASA hopes to eventually place its Gateway space station — designed to be a jumping-off point for human missions to the lunar surface — in that same orbit, but CAPSTONE will help them figure out if it's possible first.

The spacecraft is also expected to test out key technology that could allow probes in orbit around the Moon one day to communicate with one another and navigate in tandem.

It will take CAPSTONE about four months to reach its orbit around the Moon.

The big picture: NASA is putting together the pieces it will need to make Artemis happen.

The space agency recently declared the "wet dress rehearsal" for its uncrewed Artemis I mission a success, paving the way for its launch in the not-too-distant future.

NASA also awarded two contracts to private companies to build spacesuits the agency's astronauts will use on the surface of the Moon.

Small NASA satellite launches on big mission to orbit the Moon

NASA hopes to send people back to the Moon as part of its Artemis program by 2025.

A rocket launching from New Zealand in the dark

The Electron rocket carrying the CAPSTONE satellite. Photo: Rocket Lab

NASA

SpaceX launched three rockets in about 36 hours after a week marked by leaks that revealed some of the company's employees are increasingly unhappy with CEO Elon Musk's behavior.

Why it matters: SpaceX is arguably the most important rocket company operating today, but its triumphs on the launch pad wouldn't be possible without the company's workforce.

Catch up quick: SpaceX employees drafted an open letter — first reported by Loren Grush at The Verge on Thursday — criticizing Musk's public conduct and asking the company to “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior” among other requests.

Just a day later, the New York Times reported employees involved with the drafting of the letter had been fired, with company president Gwynne Shotwell calling the letter "overreaching activism" in an email.

That same day, SpaceX launched 53 Starlink satellites from Florida. On Saturday, the company launched a satellite to orbit for Germany from California. The company closed out the trio of launches Sunday by sending a communications satellite to space from Florida.

The big picture: SpaceX has recently faced criticism for the culture of its workplace, an issue the writers of the letter called out specifically in the leaked draft.

A former employee at the company went public last year with her experiences of being sexually harassed at SpaceX.

Insider reported earlier this year that SpaceX paid a flight attendant working on a company plane $250,000 after Musk sexually harassed her. Musk denies those allegations.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has also come under fire recently for its "toxic culture" and alleged mishandling of sexual harassment claims.

SpaceX's up and down week

SpaceX launched three rockets after a week marked by leaks that revealed some employees are unhappy with Elon Musk's behavior.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster coming in for a landing

A Falcon 9 rocket coming in for a landing. Photo: SpaceX

Elon Musk

Scientists are tracking diseases from space and getting a new view of human health.

Why it matters: The proliferation of easy-to-use, relatively cheap and more comprehensive satellite data is allowing researchers to get a holistic view of what's happening on Earth during disease outbreaks and possibly learn how to predict the next one. 

How it works: By keeping an eye from above on changes to vegetation and other ecosystem factors that can lead to outbreaks, researchers are starting to piece together correlations between habitat loss and urbanization, among other factors, and infectious disease.

For example, a study published in 2010, used remote sensing data to find that a major predictor of monkeypox cases in humans was the proximity of people to dense forests and habitats where rope squirrels that can carry the virus lived.

If those areas are closely monitored, it could help people on the ground figure out which areas are at the highest risk for infection.

Habitat loss particularly impacts predators, leaving a plethora of infected prey that could circulate the disease or transmit it to other species.

Remote sensing can be used "to measure how much habitat we are losing, at what speed, in which direction and in which area," Luis Escobar, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech, told Axios.

What to watch: Space data could one day be used to aid in a range of public health responses to certain diseases — from monitoring to mitigation.

If health officials on the ground know when there's a high risk for a given outbreak, then they can put measures in place to help prevent it, according to Farhan Asrar, a clinician and researcher at the University of Toronto.

"Once things happen, can we use those [satellite] images to prepare an ideal situation to set up offices and support facilities," Asrar said.

Where it stands: Satellites have already been used to learn more about the source of the Ebola virus, track an outbreak of Rift Valley fever and aid in the response to Zika.

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, satellite companies like Planet were able to track economic impacts of the virus from orbit, keeping an eye on empty parking lots and traffic.

NASA also joined other space agencies to create a COVID-19 dashboard, making relevant information gathered from satellites easily available to the public and epidemiologists.

But, but, but: While this type of research holds promise, it's still in the relatively early academic phase.

The scientists working with the remote sensing data and epidemiologists aren't yet collaborating with each other, making it hard to find the right applications for this kind of data and research.

"We don't see strong collaboration between experts in geospatial analysis and epidemiology and remote sensing processing or generation of this data," Escobar said. "So I guess that's the first step."

At the moment, the data isn't as accessible and available as it needs to be in order to have robust and frequent collaborations across specialties, and training is needed in order to make use of remote sensing data, Escobar added.

The bottom line: By understanding patterns seen from orbit, scientists could one day be able to predict where outbreaks will occur before they happen.

What scientists can learn from tracking disease outbreaks from space

Space data could one day be used to aid in a range of public health responses to certain diseases — from monitoring to mitigation.

Public health

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

Axios Science

A tool used to analyze cancerous tumors based on algorithms built to map distant galaxies is getting a major influx of funding.

Why it matters: The imaging platform — called AstroPath — is able to pinpoint how certain tumor cells interact with the body's tissues, allowing doctors to potentially learn more about who might respond well to various treatments.

What's happening: The Mark Foundation and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy are giving $10 million to Johns Hopkins University's Mark Foundation Center for Advanced Genomics and Imaging to advance its work with AstroPath and other cancer research.

Scientists can use the tool to help figure out how cancers may respond to certain immune system-focused therapies by gathering data on the immune cells interacting with a tumor.

This approach allows scientists to gather more information about whether a given treatment will be successful for a patient.

What they're saying: "They've demonstrated proof of principle with some initial funding from us, and now this expansion in funding from us will enable them to scale it and really show that it can work for thousands of tumor tissues," Ryan Schoenfeld, CEO of the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, told Axios.

Researchers working with AstroPath are also planning to make databases of their information publicly available, allowing researchers to collaborate and possibly find new treatments.

The funding will also go toward clinical trials for cancer patients.

Background: Algorithms used for AstroPath were originally developed for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has produced some of the most detailed maps of the cosmos ever created, showing how various galaxies are positioned in relation to one another.

The fact that Sloan's algorithms were built to map spatial interactions between galaxies meant that they could also be applied to mapping cancer cells.

"Basically, the interaction between the tumor cells and the immune system are spatial," cosmologist Alexander Szalay, who helped develop AstroPath, told Axios. "So there is really a physical interaction between those cells."

The big picture: Researchers have been collecting massive amounts of data from single immune cells in different tissues in the body, during development and as they respond to therapies. The goal is to map the immune system and understand how it varies between people. 

Machine learning and data science have been "a key driver and played an immense role in better understanding the interactions of the adaptive immune system," says Hashem Koohy, who studies computational immunology at the University of Oxford.

A big challenge is that data is being collected using different technologies in different labs that use different algorithms and tools for analysis.

But, Koohy says, "if we can make this map then it will have a huge medical application [and] we can actually boost perhaps cancer immunotherapy in a more personalized way."

Exclusive: Cancer treatment tool gets major boost in funding

The tool is based on algorithms used to map the universe.

Cancer

Arizona wildfire threatens national observatory

The blaze has razed 4 non-scientific structures and flames are near 1 telescope and another that's being built, officials say.

An aerial view of the Contreras Fire near the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona. Photo: Bureau of Land Management - Arizona/Facebook

Wildfires

Extreme weather

Climate Truths

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

Astronomers have discovered what they think could be a black hole roaming the Milky Way all by its lonesome. 

Why it matters: The discovery of this possible black hole will allow researchers to pin down exactly how many of these objects may exist out there in our galaxy and how far away they might be, helping illuminate the nature and evolution of these mysterious objects a little bit more.

These stellar-mass black holes are typically found with companion stars, whose gas can fall onto the black hole, a stellar event that can be seen with X-ray telescopes.

This possible black hole, however, has no such companion.

What's happening: The Hubble Space Telescope was able to measure the object — which is about 5,000 light-years from Earth — during observations that took place over the course of six years.

Two teams of scientists used the Hubble to observe the object, whose extreme density warped the light of a star 19,000 light-years away from Earth as it passed between that star and the telescope.

Because of this discovery, scientists now think the nearest black hole of this kind is no more than 80 light-years away from Earth. 

But, but, but: It's possible the object isn't a black hole at all. 

One team of researchers found the object is about seven times the mass of the Sun, firmly putting it in the mass range of a black hole. 

The other team estimates the object is between 1.6 and 4.4 solar masses. The lower range would make it a neutron star, and the higher range would make it a black hole.

"As much as we would like to say it is definitely a black hole, we must report all allowed solutions. This includes both lower-mass black holes and possibly even a neutron star," Berkeley's Jessica Lu, who is on the team with the lower mass estimate, said in a statement.

Scientists find possible black hole wandering the Milky Way

Artist's illustration of a black hole in the Milky Way

Illustration of a black hole in the Milky Way. Image: FECYT, IAC

Black holes

NASA is mounting an investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena — a mission some experts and even some of NASA's own leadership warn could put the space agency's good name at risk.

The big picture: NASA has historically focused its life-seeking efforts on searching for signs of microbes on Mars; watery, possibly life-supporting moons in the solar system; and signs of distant, intelligent life.

UFOs are a very different story. NASA and others have said there is no evidence UAPs are extraterrestrial in origin, and the space agency's investigation isn't out to prove they are.

But by launching the investigation, NASA is wading into an area rife with conspiracy and messaging that's difficult to control, which could be a risk for the agency's stellar public reputation.

"There are many, many examples where people lean forward into a field that is not yet accepted. It's controversial or has some reputational risks," Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator for science, said at a news conference. 

"In some domains, surely, this will not just be met with utter enthusiasm, but I do believe that it is absolutely necessary."

Catch up quick: NASA's investigation announced last week will focus on collecting data to learn more about UAPs, which they define as "observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena," according to a press release.

Astrophysicist and president of the Simons Foundation David Spergel will lead the team. NASA says the study will have a budget of about $100,000 and will take about nine months to complete.

Unlike some previous UAP investigations that relied on classified data that can't be shared with the public, the NASA project will make its report and data accessible to anyone.

"I think there is new science to be discovered," Zurbuchen said. "There have been many times where something that looked almost magical turned out to be a new scientific effect."

Yes, but: By mentioning its life-seeking scientific enterprises in the same press release and news conference announcing its new UAP initiative, some agency watchers say NASA is muddying the waters.

"If you say this is unrelated to our studies about alien life, however, here are studies of alien life, that's what people are going to take away," Sarah Scoles, author of the book "They Are Already Here" on UFO culture, told Axios.

"I don't see any reason to connect UFOs to astrobiology, other than a sort of 'aliens of the gaps' argument where people assume that if they don't have an explanation, it might be aliens," cosmologist Katie Mack said.

"Whatever comes out of this will remain vague because they're not going to single-handedly — with $100,000 — be able to explain every piece of incongruous data," astrochemist Clara Sousa-Silva told Axios. 

"If it's vague, it's going to attract conclusions that are reputational risks," she said. 

Background: NASA has largely stayed out of discussions of UAPs and UFOs even as the public and Congress have become increasingly interested in the subject. The government released a report last year that examined about 140 UAP incidents over the past 20 years. 

But Zurbuchen said no subject should be off limits for the space agency and science in general. 

The team will be expected to tackle questions around UAPs with open minds and possibly develop a structure for future studies to help pin down what these phenomena might be. 

Between the lines: It's possible NASA's decision to publish its UAP report with full transparency will help combat some claims that the U.S. government is hiding evidence about UAPs from the public. 

However, the initiative could still embolden those who most fervently believe UAPs are extraterrestrial in origin.

"No matter how much data they analyze, someone who is a believer is always going to say, 'But what about the stuff we don't see?'" Scoles said. "Just like everything UFO, the belief in UFOs as alien is always unfalsifiable."

NASA is embarking on a risky mission to investigate UAPs

Some experts and even some of NASA's own leadership warn such an investigation could put the space agency's good name at risk.

Illustration of a UFO lifting the NASA logo upward with a beam of light

Make plans to look up to the sky this week when the second supermoon of 2022 arrives.

The big picture: The moon was bright Monday night ahead of the so-called strawberry moon that starts at 7:52 a.m. ET Tuesday when it appears opposite the sun, according to NASA.

While Tuesday’s full moon reaches peak illumination in the morning, it won’t be visible until later that night when it “drifts above the horizon,” Almanac.com explains.

NASA says the moon will be closest to the earth at 7:24 p.m. ET Tuesday and that the moon will appear full through Wednesday morning.

Times vary by time zones and you can find your local times on the Almanac's Moonrise and Moonset calculator as well as on Timeanddate.com/astronomy. 

Flashback: The name “Strawberry Moon” has been used by Native American Algonquin tribes to mark the June ripening of strawberries ready to be gathered, according to the Almanac.

In Europe, it's also known as the Mead, Honey or Rose Moon and the word honeymoon is said to come from this moon, NASA notes in its June-July moon guide.

Meanwhile, the name of the last full moon of spring is said to have nothing to do with the moon’s hue or appearance.

But NASA says particularly "for Europe's higher latitudes, when the full moon is low, it shines through more atmosphere, making it more likely to have a reddish color (for the same reasons that sunrises and sunsets are red)."

What they’re saying: "With the naked eye, you can see the vast highlands and lowlands of the moon, which can appear to be certain shapes and generate stories about those shapes, depending on the culture you follow," Space.com says of full moons.

"Binoculars or a telescope will show you craters, mountains and other huge features on the moon's surface," Space.com adds.

What’s next: July will also have a supermoon with the “Super Buck Moon” on July 13, according to Timeanddate.com.

According to the site, it’s called a buck moon to “signify the new antlers that emerge on a deer buck’s forehead around this time.”

It is also called Thunder Moon, Hay Moon and Wyrt Moon.

Strawberry moon to light up the sky Tuesday

June’s strawberry moon will appear opposite the sun and reach its peak illumination at 7:52 a.m. ET Tuesday.

Strawberry Moon from 2021 over lower Manhattan in New York City

Last year, the so-called strawberry moon was seen on June 25. This year, look for it June 14. Photo: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Moon

Billionaire entrepreneurs are fundamentally changing the public's relationship with space.

Why it matters: Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos are thrusting the industry into a new era of marketing for mass appeal, angling to make citizens into customers and changing the rhetoric around space in the process.

"I think this is a big moment because the public face of the space industry is no longer NASA and science and peaceful activities. It's now billionaires and companies trying to make money," the Secure World Foundation's Brian Weeden told me.

NASA is also supporting the efforts of private companies, looking to become more of a buyer of services in orbit while using its resources to push deeper into space with missions to the Moon and Mars.

Between the lines: The space industry is finding itself at the center of a cultural clash as billionaires make themselves front and center in spaceflight today.

A shift in rhetoric and perception around space — away from government-led exploration and toward a business realm — "comes at a time when there's a significant amount of backlash and criticism about hyper-capitalism and billionaires and inequality," Weeden said.

Criticism of billionaires could also bleed into American support for space exploration in the future, Weeden cautioned.

Driving the news: On Sunday, Virgin Galactic launched Branson to the edge of space aboard its space plane during a star-studded event that barely nodded to the risks of suborbital flight.

Instead of highlighting technical details, as most NASA-involved launches from Cape Canaveral do, the company's webcast served as a form of entertainment and advertising for a flight with Virgin Galactic.

The company tried to draw in potential customers with guest stars on the broadcast, including Stephen Colbert and Khalid.

Branson himself was onboard ostensibly to analyze the astronaut experience. But Kellie Gerardi, one of the webcast hosts, described it this way:  "For this next generation of astronauts, we have the opportunity to optimize the experience and there’s just no one better to curate that experience than Richard Branson."

But, but, but: What the public gains in entertainment, it could lose in transparency. 

Billionaires are the new face of the final frontier

Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and their ilk are changing the rhetoric around space and the public's relationship to it.

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