Hacker News with Generative AI: Space Exploration

Musk appears to target NASA's Artemis moon project (npr.org)
A lunar rock sample collected in 1972 by Apollo 17 — the final U.S. moon mission — once held a place of honor on a shelf in President Joe Biden's Oval Office. It was a gift from NASA, meant to symbolize America's dedication to returning astronauts to the moon as part of a program set in motion by his predecessor.
Space Exploration, NASA, Artemis Program, Elon Musk
15 points by rbanffy 1 day ago | 4 comments
NASA rover discovers liquid water 'ripples' carved into Mars rock (livescience.com)
Mars, Space Exploration, Science, Geology, Water
10 points by Brajeshwar 2 days ago | 1 comments
The Planetary Society Strongly Opposes Mass Layoffs of Employees at NASA (planetary.org)
The Planetary Society strongly opposes the sudden, indiscriminate dismissal of upwards of 1,000 scientists, engineers, and explorers at NASA — the largest involuntary workforce reduction since the end of the Apollo program.
Space Exploration, NASA, Science, Layoffs
9 points by xqcgrek2 2 days ago | 2 comments
By the end of today, NASA's workforce will be about 10 percent smaller (arstechnica.com)
Job losses are always terrible. This will be a dark and painful day at a space agency that brings so much light and joy to the world. Many of the probationary employees are just starting out their careers and were likely thrilled to land a job at NASA to explore the universe. And then all of that youthful energy and hope was extinguished this week.
NASA, Space Exploration, Job Losses, Workforce Reduction
140 points by belter 2 days ago | 193 comments
John Carmack discusses SpaceX strategy and Mars (twitter.com)
Space Exploration, SpaceX, Mars, John Carmack
25 points by ViktorRay 3 days ago | 22 comments
Russia launched a giant space mirror in 1993 (bbc.com)
It sounds like a scheme a James Bond villain might hatch: launching a giant mirror into orbit to harness the Sun's rays, then redirecting them to beam down on a target on Earth. Yet this was exactly what the Russian space agency Roscosmos attempted to do on 4 February 1993.
Space Exploration, History, Russia
4 points by wslh 4 days ago | 1 comments
Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth? (ycombinator.com)
I am aware of the aestivation hypothesis (counter to Fermi’s Paradox), and I am also aware of the Rare Earth Hypothesis. What I am trying to understand is why more effort isn’t expended to determine the state of other life in the universe?
Space Exploration, Fermi Paradox, Extraterrestrial Life
12 points by nis0s 5 days ago | 63 comments
China recruiting 'planetary defence force' amid fears of asteroid hitting Earth (theguardian.com)
China has begun recruiting for a planetary defence force after risk assessments determined that an asteroid could conceivably hit Earth in 2032.
Space Exploration, China, Asteroids, Defense
6 points by bookofjoe 5 days ago | 1 comments
China recruits for 'planetary defence force' amid fear of asteroid hitting Earth (theguardian.com)
China has begun recruiting for a planetary defence force after risk assessments determined that an asteroid could conceivably hit Earth in 2032.
Space Exploration, China, Asteroids, National Security
12 points by cyberlimerence 6 days ago | 0 comments
Curiosity rover captures colorful clouds drifting over Mars (phys.org)
Red-and-green-tinted clouds drift through the Martian sky in a new set of images captured by NASA's Curiosity rover using its Mastcam—its main set of "eyes."
Space Exploration, Mars, Astronomy, Curiosity Rover
5 points by bookofjoe 7 days ago | 1 comments
Bezos' Blue Origin to layoff about 10% across its space, launch business (cnbc.com)
Space Exploration, Business, Layoffs
98 points by pinewurst 7 days ago | 107 comments
DOGE to examine NASA payments – SpaceNews (spacenews.com)
WASHINGTON — NASA’s acting administrator says the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) organization will be examining payments at the agency but that safeguards are in place to prevent any conflicts of interest involving Elon Musk.
Space Exploration, Government, NASA, Elon Musk, Finances
32 points by rbanffy 7 days ago | 3 comments
If it moves, it's probably alive: Searching for life on other planets (arstechnica.com)
The search for extraterrestrial life has always been a key motivator of space exploration. But if we were to search Mars, Titan, or the subsurface oceans of Europa or Enceladus, it seems like all we can reasonably hope to find is extremophile microbes. And microbes, just a few microns long and wide, will be difficult to identify if we’re relying on robots working with limited human supervision and without all the fancy life-detecting gear we have here on Earth.
Space Exploration, Extraterrestrial Life, Microbiology, Robots
4 points by rbanffy 7 days ago | 0 comments
The dream of offshore rocket launches is finally blasting off (technologyreview.com)
Sea-based launches are hitting their stride. That could lead to a lot more space missions with a lot less red tape.
Space Exploration, Rocketry, Technology
64 points by pseudolus 8 days ago | 37 comments
James Webb Space Telescope redirected to study asteroid 2024 YR4 (blogs.esa.int)
Astronomers will use the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to improve our understanding of the size and orbit of asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a very small chance of impacting Earth in 2032.
Space Exploration, Asteroids, Astronomy, NASA
8 points by belter 8 days ago | 0 comments
ULA's Vulcan rocket still doesn't have the Space Force's seal of approval (arstechnica.com)
With a Space Force review still ongoing, ULA is removing its next Vulcan rocket from the launch pad.
Space Exploration, Space Force, Rocketry, ULA, Vulcan Rocket
5 points by rbanffy 8 days ago | 0 comments
Lisa: What the Revolutionary Gravitational Wave Observatory Will See (gizmodo.com)
LISA, a $1.6 billion gravitational wave observatory set to launch next decade, will revolutionize the way we see gravitational waves—the infinitesimal perturbations of spacetime first predicted over a century ago and only detected eight years ago.
Space Exploration, Astronomy, Physics, Gravitational Waves
4 points by rbanffy 10 days ago | 0 comments
Sky skimmers: The race to fly satellites at the lowest orbits yet (bbc.com)
High in the skies of Earth, a new space race is underway. Here, just above the boundary where space begins, companies are trying to create a new class of daring satellites.
Space Exploration, Satellites, Technology, Competition
116 points by RyanShook 11 days ago | 76 comments
Boeing has informed its employees that NASA may cancel SLS contracts (arstechnica.com)
The primary contractor for the Space Launch System rocket, Boeing, is preparing for the possibility that NASA cancels the long-running program.
Space Exploration, NASA, Boeing, Government Contracts
39 points by LorenDB 12 days ago | 75 comments
NASA Goes Live: First Twitch Stream from Space Station (nasa.gov)
For the first time, NASA is hosting a live Twitch event from about 250 miles off the Earth aboard the International Space Station, bringing new audiences closer to space than ever before.
Space Exploration, Twitch, NASA, Live Streaming
5 points by mildmelon 12 days ago | 1 comments
How Far Away Could We Detect Ourselves? (universetoday.com)
New research asks if an ETI with our current level of technology could detect our technosignatures, and from how far away.
Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Space Exploration, Science, Astronomy
11 points by amichail 12 days ago | 1 comments
NASA solar mission data recovering after server room flood fiasco (theregister.com)
They can put a man on the Moon - but back on Earth, a busted water pipe managed to knock out NASA's solar mission data for months.
Space Exploration, NASA, Data Loss, Accidents
8 points by LinuxBender 12 days ago | 0 comments
New boss for Roscosmos as Yury Borisov binned (theregister.com)
Roscosmos boss Yury Borisov has been fired from the Russian space agency by executive order of the country's president, Vladimir Putin.
Russia, Space Exploration, Leadership Changes
3 points by LorenDB 12 days ago | 0 comments
Boeing has informed its employees that NASA may cancel SLS contracts (arstechnica.com)
The primary contractor for the Space Launch System rocket, Boeing, is preparing for the possibility that NASA cancels the long-running program.
Space Exploration, NASA, Boeing, Government Contracts
7 points by pentel-0_5 12 days ago | 0 comments
A tiny satellite showed it can take high-res pics from space (theverge.com)
A satellite the size of a suitcase sent back these 2.5-meter resolution photos of the Earth’s surface.
Space Exploration, Satellites, Photography, Technology
8 points by jonbaer 12 days ago | 2 comments
Do aliens exist? We studied what scientists think (theconversation.com)
News stories about the likely existence of extraterrestrial life, and our chances of detecting it, tend to be positive. We are often told that we might discover it any time now. Finding life beyond Earth is “only a matter of time”, we were told in September 2023. “We are close” was a headline from September 2024.
Extraterrestrial Life, Science, Space Exploration, Opinion
7 points by squircle 13 days ago | 1 comments
Boeing is preparing for the possibility that NASA cancels the SLS rocket (arstechnica.com)
The primary contractor for the Space Launch System rocket, Boeing, is preparing for the possibility that NASA cancels the long-running program.
Space Exploration, NASA, Boeing, SLS Rocket
9 points by ironyman 13 days ago | 0 comments
Two Grand Canyon-size valleys on far side of the moon formed within 10 minutes (cnn.com)
Space Exploration, Geology, Moon
91 points by pseudolus 13 days ago | 73 comments
Boeing, Boeing, burned: Over half a billion dollars by Starliner (theregister.com)
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner project has added a reach-forward loss of $523 million for the aviation giant, taking total losses for the program beyond the $2 billion mark.
Space Exploration, Business, Finance, Boeing
6 points by LinuxBender 14 days ago | 0 comments
Europe has the worst imaginable idea to counter SpaceX's launch dominance (arstechnica.com)
It is not difficult to understand the unease on the European continent about the rise of SpaceX and its controversial founder, Elon Musk.
Space Exploration, Europe, SpaceX, Elon Musk
6 points by pitwin 15 days ago | 2 comments