Boeing's Starliner ready for Saturday launch to space station, first flight with crew on board - CBS News

All systems are "go" for a second attempt to launch Boeing's oft-delayed Starliner crew ship Saturday on a long-awaited test flight to the International Space Station, the capsule's first with astronauts aboard, NASA managers said Friday.

"From a station standpoint, from our crew, from our ground teams, we are ready to go fly this mission," said Dana Weigel, manager of NASA's space station program. "We're excited that we are on the doorstep of this historic mission."

The Starliner spacecraft and its Atlas 5 rocket were hauled back to pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday, setting the stage for another launch try Saturday. United Launch Alliance

Liftoff of the Starliner atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is targeted for 12:25 p.m. EDT Saturday, roughly the moment Earth's rotation carries pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station into alignment with the station's orbit.

ULA engineers are expected to start fueling the rocket around 6:30 a.m. Veteran NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams, acting as commander and co-pilot respectively, plan to strap in three hours later to await liftoff.

It will take the Atlas 5 about 12 minutes to propel the Starliner into orbit, kicking off a 25-hour rendezvous with the space station. Docking is expected at 1:50 p.m. Sunday. If all goes well, Wilmore and Williams will undock and return to Earth on June 10, landing that morning at a desert site in Arizona or New Mexico depending on the weather.

"I've talked to them, and they have every confidence in our rocket, they have every confidence in our spacecraft, in our operations teams and in our management teams," said astronaut Mike Fincke, training to command a Starliner mission next year. "They are definitely ready to go."

Speaking of being ready to "go," the Starliner will be carrying a urine processor pump module that was added at the last minute to replace one that failed aboard the station earlier this week. To make room for the 150-pound component, some of the crew's clothing and other personal items were taken off the ship, but generic clothing is stored aboard the lab and no problems are expected.

"The two specific suitcases that came off had clothes for both Butch and Sonny in them and also some ... of their own unique hygiene materials," Weigel said. "Of course, we have generic shampoo, soaps, etc., on board that they can just use from the generic supplies. Same with clothing, and so that's what they'll do."

Starliner commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore, left, and co-pilot Sunita Williams, both veteran NASA astronauts and Navy test pilots, flew back to Florida from Texas earlier this week to await liftoff. NASA

The Starliner's long-awaited flight marks a major milestone in NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which funded the development of SpaceX's Crew Dragon ferry ships and Boeing's Starliner to provide post-shuttle transportation to and from the space station without having to rely on Russia for rides aboard the Soyuz spacecraft.

From the beginning, NASA wanted spacecraft from different vendors to ensure uninterrupted access to the space station even if problems grounded one ferry ship for an extended period.

SpaceX began flying astronauts aboard Crew Dragon ships in 2020 and has now carried 50 astronauts, cosmonauts and civilians into orbit in 13 flights. Boeing's Starliner, in contrast, has suffered a steady stream of problems that have delayed the first piloted flight by four years, costing the company more than $1 billion to correct.

Wilmore and Williams were finally cleared for launch on May 6. They were in the process of strapping in for takeoff when ULA engineers reported problems with a relief valve used to maintain the proper pressure in an oxygen tank inside the rocket's Centaur upper stage. Not comfortable with the valve's performance, mission managers ordered a scrub.

The Atlas 5 was hauled back to ULA's Vertical Integration Facility where a replacement valve was installed, tested and cleared for flight. In the meantime, Boeing engineers were assessing data collected after the scrub that indicated a small helium leak in plumbing used to pressurize the Starliner's propulsion system.

The leak eventually was traced to the plumbing leading to a specific reaction control system jet, one of 28 such thrusters mounted around the Starliner's drum-shaped service module. After extensive tests and analysis, mission managers concluded the spacecraft could safely fly as is with no credible threat to flight safety.

If the leak drastically worsened in flight, the helium manifold in question would be isolated, disabling its thrusters. That would prevent a normal re-entry using more powerful thrusters at the end of the mission, but backup plans are in place to carry out the de-orbit "burn" using two long firings of unaffected RCS jets.

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William Harwood

Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News.

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James Webb space telescope photographs most distant known galaxy - The Guardian

The most distant known galaxy has been captured in a record-breaking image by the James Webb space telescope.

The galaxy, called JADES-GS-z14-0, is revealed as it was just 290m years after the big bang, at the dawn of the universe. The telescope’s previous record holder was a galaxy seen at 325m years after the big bang, which happened nearly 14bn years ago.

The newly observed galaxy is much brighter than expected, suggesting that the first generation of stars were either more luminous or formed much more rapidly than conventional cosmological theories have predicted.

“The universe at these early stages was different than it is today,” said Dr Francesco D’Eugenio, of the University of Cambridge, one of the team behind the discovery. “Early galaxies – this is the most distant found but there are others – seem to be brighter than expected from the models.”

The $10bn James Webb space telescope, launched in 2021, can see further across the cosmos than any previous telescope. Due to the expansion of the universe, the light from distant galaxies stretches to longer wavelengths as it travels, an effect known as redshift. In these galaxies the effect is extreme, stretching by a factor of 15, and moving even the ultraviolet light of the galaxies to infrared wavelengths where only the James Webb space telescope has the capability to see it.

These incredibly distant observations reveal the universe in its infant state and are already transforming scientists’ understanding of the early universe. An emerging theme is that galaxies and black holes appear to have grown much more rapidly than was expected.

Dr Stefano Carniani, of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, the lead author on the discovery paper, said: “JADES-GS-z14-0 now becomes the archetype of this phenomenon. It is stunning that the universe can make such a galaxy in only 300m years.”

This suggests that either the earliest stars were far more luminous than those seen today or that the galaxy was much more massive. “We’re not quite sure which one it is,” D’Eugenio said.

The unexpected brightness of these early galaxies means that the telescope could make even more distant observations.

Prof Brant Robertson, of the University of California-Santa Cruz, said: “We could have detected this galaxy even if it were 10 times fainter, which means that we could see other examples yet earlier in the universe – probably into the first 200m years. The early universe has so much more to offer.”

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Another chance to see northern lights, plus another solar spectacle - WCVB Boston

Another coronal mass ejection from the sun could make the northern lights visible again over parts of New England on Friday night. Even if the aurora's geomagnetic glow doesn't light up the skies over Massachusetts, there is still a spectacular opportunity to see a different solar phenomenon. Three weeks ago, a solar storm erupted from a massive cluster of sunspots, causing the colorful glow of the aurora borealis to be more potent and visible further south than is normal. Skywatchers in Massachusetts saw beautiful green and pink colors in the night sky. The same cluster of sunspots rotated around the sun and is now back in view of Earth. According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, it produced a strong, long-duration flare on Wednesday morning. In anticipation of material from that coronal mass ejection reaching Earth, the SWPC issued a G2-level Geomagnetic Storm Watch. This is significantly weaker than the G5-level storm that brought the northern lights to Massachusetts earlier this month, but strong enough to potentially make the aurora visible over parts of the United States. "The aurora may become visible over some northern and upper Midwest states from New York to Idaho," the SWPC said. Skies over Massachusetts are expected to be mostly clear overnight but, sadly, the strength of this event does not appear likely to create the same kind of show for our region as last time.However, anyone who still has a pair of solar eclipse glasses left over from that marvel in April can go outside today and see a different solar spectacle. When viewed safely through those eclipse glasses, the sunspot from which the recent flare erupted can be seen as a dark dot on the sun.

NEEDHAM, Mass. —

Another coronal mass ejection from the sun could make the northern lights visible again over parts of New England on Friday night. Even if the aurora's geomagnetic glow doesn't light up the skies over Massachusetts, there is still a spectacular opportunity to see a different solar phenomenon.

Three weeks ago, a solar storm erupted from a massive cluster of sunspots, causing the colorful glow of the aurora borealis to be more potent and visible further south than is normal. Skywatchers in Massachusetts saw beautiful green and pink colors in the night sky.

The same cluster of sunspots rotated around the sun and is now back in view of Earth. According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, it produced a strong, long-duration flare on Wednesday morning.

In anticipation of material from that coronal mass ejection reaching Earth, the SWPC issued a G2-level Geomagnetic Storm Watch. This is significantly weaker than the G5-level storm that brought the northern lights to Massachusetts earlier this month, but strong enough to potentially make the aurora visible over parts of the United States.

"The aurora may become visible over some northern and upper Midwest states from New York to Idaho," the SWPC said.

Skies over Massachusetts are expected to be mostly clear overnight but, sadly, the strength of this event does not appear likely to create the same kind of show for our region as last time.

However, anyone who still has a pair of solar eclipse glasses left over from that marvel in April can go outside today and see a different solar spectacle.

When viewed safely through those eclipse glasses, the sunspot from which the recent flare erupted can be seen as a dark dot on the sun.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

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The ESA is visiting the asteroid punched by NASA’s DART mission - The Verge

This is Hera’s asteroid framing camera being used in Spain for testing navigation algorithms.

Image: MPS / GMV

The European Space Agency (ESA) is running some of the final tests required to launch its Hera mission this October, which aims to investigate the asteroid that NASA intentionally slammed a spacecraft into back in 2022. The goal is to gather more accurate information about the collision to help develop systems that can protect our planet by deflecting asteroids that head our way.

The spacecraft for the Hera mission is undergoing preflight testing, alongside the Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) system it needs to maneuver around the Dimorphos and Didymos binary asteroid system. The GNC system is being validated via virtual tests conducted in Spain and Germany using replicas of Hera spacecraft components.

“The system for Hera’s interplanetary cruise phase — which of course is the most critical to be ready for launch — is now fully tested using the actual spacecraft flight model,” said ESA GNC engineer Jesus Gil Fernandez in the announcement blog. “This phase will end at asteroid arrival when camera images will be used to distinguish the asteroid from background stars by spotting its gradual motion across successive images.”

Here’s a timeline of the Hera mission following its launch this October.

Image: ESA – Science Office

The main objective of the autonomous Hera mission is to assess what actually happened to Dimorphos, the smaller asteroid that NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission impacted, to help guide planetary defense systems. Even for a space mission, the nature of the paired asteroid system — which has a combined gravity field tens of thousands of times weaker than Earth — makes it a difficult destination to navigate. The collision with NASA’s DART spacecraft has also shifted the orbit around Didymos and likely made some major changes to its overall shape.

The ESA is currently focused on the GNC for the follow-on proximity operations phase of Hera’s mission, according to Gil Fernandez, which is needed to bring the spacecraft as close as one kilometer (0.6 miles) to the two asteroids.

Like the technology behind autonomous cars, Hera’s GNC system will use a variety of different data sources to operate safely around Didymos. “Its main data source will be its main Asteroid Framing Camera, whose images are being used both for science and navigation,” said Gil Fernandez. “These images will be combined with other inputs to make a robust estimate of its position.”

You can read all the specific technical details about how the ESA is planning for Hera to overcome these navigational issues, including surface feature tracking and repeat velocity changes, in the agency’s blog post. 

Provided the Hera mission is launched successfully this October, the spacecraft is expected to spend two years journeying through space — making a flyby past Mars to gain speed and observe its moon Deimos — before reaching the Didymos binary asteroid system in October 2026.

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Watch Russian cargo ship launch toward the ISS this morning - Space.com

A Russian cargo ship will launched toward the International Space Station early Thursday morning (May 30).

The robotic Progress 88 freighter lifted off atop a Soyuz rocket from the Russia-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday at 5:43 a.m. EDT (0943 GMT; 2:43 p.m. local time at Baikonur).

Progress 88 is packed with about 3 tons of food, propellant, and other supplies for the astronauts living aboard the International Space Station (ISS). 

Related: Facts about Roscosmos, Russia's space agency

The Progress 88 freighter launches on its journey to the International Space Station on Thursday (May 30) (Image credit: NASA)

With the launch going according to plan, the freighter will now deliver this bounty to the ISS on Saturday (June 1). It's scheduled to dock to the space-facing port of the orbiting lab's Poisk module that day at 7:47 a.m. EDT (1147 GMT), according to NASA officials. You can watch this rendezvous live as well; coverage will begin Saturday at 7:00 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT).

Progress 88 will stay at the ISS for about six months. Astronauts will then fill the freighter with trash and it will head back down toward Earth, ultimately burning up in our planet's atmosphere.

The Progress 88 freighter streaks through the sky on Thursday (May 30) on its way to the ISS (Image credit: NASA)

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Three robotic spacecraft currently ferry cargo to the ISS: Progress, Northrop Grumman's Cygnus vehicle and SpaceX's Cargo Dragon capsule. Cygnus and Progress are designed for one-time use, whereas Dragon is reusable; it returns safely to Earth for parachute-aided ocean splashdowns.

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

Two freighters are docked at the ISS at the moment — Progress 87 and a Cygnus — and Progress 86 just departed on Tuesday (May 28). The orbiting lab also currently hosts two crewed spacecraft: the Crew Dragon that's flying SpaceX's Crew-8 astronaut mission for NASA and a Russian Soyuz vehicle.

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European-Japanese satellite blasts off to space | BBC News - BBC News

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Historic Aurora-Causing Sunspot Returns - Newsweek

The enormous sunspot that sparked the spectacular aurorae across the globe earlier this month is about to face toward the Earth again.

This sunspot, AR3664, was around 15 times as wide as Earth when it fired off a series of coronal mass ejections on May 10. These slammed into our planet's magnetic field, triggering the northern lights to be seen across all 50 U.S. states and beyond in the most powerful geomagnetic storm for decades.

This sunspot rotated away from the Earth as the sun slowly spun around, but now it's due to reappear, putting our planet in its firing line once again.

"This activity was associated with a huge sunspot, now going around the far side of the Sun, which takes about a month to rotate. A sunspot group this big typically lasts a long time so it should be visible again in a couple of weeks and come to a central "dangerous" position in about three weeks (it then takes 2-3 days for the effects to get to us)," Martin Connors, a professor of space science and physics at Canada's Athabasca University, told Newsweek just after the May 10 storms.

Sunspots are regions on the sun's surface with reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic field activity, appearing as spots darker than the surrounding areas. This increased magnetic activity means that sunspots are prone to bursts of radiation–solar flares—and burping out huge plumes of solar plasma known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

Stock image of the northern lights (main) and NOAA image of sunspot AR3664 on May 7. This huge sunspot caused widespread aurorae on May 10 and is about to face the Earth again. Stock image of the northern lights (main) and NOAA image of sunspot AR3664 on May 7. This huge sunspot caused widespread aurorae on May 10 and is about to face the Earth again. ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS / NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center

When the charged particles of a CME reach Earth, they interact with the planet's magnetosphere, the protective magnetic bubble surrounding it, causing a geomagnetic storm. Depending on their strength, these geomagnetic storms are ranked on a scale of G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme).

The May 10 storm, triggered by a train of CMEs hitting the Earth, was the first G5 geomagnetic storm we have seen since 2003 and is considered to be one of the most powerful storms our planet has experienced in the past few centuries.

"G5 storms happen roughly once per decade. They're uncommon because they represent the strongest category of geomagnetic storms, which occur much less frequently than weaker events," Jim Wild, a professor of space physics at Lancaster University, told Newsweek.

The solar particles collide with the gas in our atmosphere during a geomagnetic storm, causing them to glow in the stunning colors seen during the aurorae. Different gases emit different colors: oxygen produces green and red light, while nitrogen emits blue and purple light.

Stock image of a solar storm. "G5 storms happen roughly once per decade," space physics professor Jim Wild told Newsweek. Stock image of a solar storm. "G5 storms happen roughly once per decade," space physics professor Jim Wild told Newsweek. ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

Now that AR3664 is rotating back toward our planet, we may once again be at risk of powerful solar flares and CMEs heading our way.

The sunspot is clearly still very active. Only yesterday, it was seen throwing out an X2.8-class solar flare that sparked a radio blackout over East Asia and was accompanied by a CME that missed the Earth. It should be fully facing the Earth by the end of the week and could lead to more uncommonly widespread northern lights.

"I would say make a note in your calendar to be alert for auroras starting about three weeks from now," Connors said three weeks ago.

Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about sunspots? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.

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Chinese astronauts conduct record-breaking spacewalk (video) - Space.com

Two Chinese astronauts just set a new spacewalking record for the country.

Ye Guangfu and Li Guangsu, two members of China's three-person Shenzhou 18 mission, spent about 8.5 hours working outside the Tiangong space station today (May 28). 

That's longer than any previous Chinese spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA), according to the nation's state-run Xinhua news service.

Related: 1,000 days in space! Core module of China's Tiangong space station hits milestone

Chinese astronauts conduct the Shenzhou 18 mission's first spacewalk, on May 28, 2024. The excursion lasted about 8.5 hours, setting a new duration record for the nation. (Image credit: CMSA)

Ye and Li "completed the installation of the space station's space debris protection device and the inspection of extravehicular equipment and facilities," officials with the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) wrote in an update today. (Translation via Google.)

Space junk is a genuine worry for Chinese space officials; Tiangong suffered a partial power loss recently after a debris strike on its solar arrays, for example.

Today's EVA was the first for Li and the second for Ye, who also stepped outside Tiangong during the Shenzhou 13 mission in December 2021. The third member of the Shenzhou 18 mission, Li Cong, assisted the EVA from inside Tiangong, monitoring the spacewalkers and their activities.

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The spacewalkers installed space-debris protection gear outside the Tiangong space station, among other tasks. (Image credit: CMSA)

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This was the first EVA for the six-month-long Shenzhou 18 mission, which launched to Tiangong in late April. China's previous crewed flight, Shenzhou 17, performed two spacewalks outside Tiangong. Shenzhou 15 set the nation's single-mission mark with four EVAs.

Shenzhou 18 may be similarly active. "According to the plan, a large number of scientific experiments and technical tests, as well as astronaut crew extravehicular activities and application payload extravehicular missions, will be carried out during the Shenzhou 18 manned flight mission," CMSA officials wrote in today's update.

Chinese astronauts have now conducted a total of 16 spacewalks to date, according to Xinhua. The nation's first EVA occurred on Sept. 27, 2008, when Zhai Zhigang ventured outside his Shenzhou 7 capsule for about 20 minutes.

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'A force more powerful than gravity within the Earth': How magnetism locked itself inside our planet - Livescience.com

The image of an atom, with electrons swarming around a central nucleus bulging with protons and neutrons, is as iconic in our perception of science as the DNA helix or the rings of Saturn. But however much we scratch the surface of these scientific fundamentals, we can go even deeper, focusing that microscope further and discovering even more forces that govern our world.

In his new book "CHARGE: Why Does Gravity Rule?", theoretical physicist Frank Close explores the fundamental forces that govern our world, posing questions along the way that seek to explain how the delicate balance of positive and negative charges paved the way for gravity to shape our universe.

In this except, he explains how magnetism, the most tangible fundamental forces, was discovered, where it comes from and how it got its name.   

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The force within

Magnetism is a manifestation of electricity, and vice versa. Electricity and magnetism were imprinted into our surroundings from the beginning. Five billion years ago when the new-born Earth was a hot plasma of swirling electrical currents, these flows created magnetic fields. As the magma cooled to form what is today the world's solid outer crust, magnetism was locked into minerals containing iron, such as magnetite.

Today, the Earth's liquid core is still a terpsichorean frenzy of electric currents, which generate a magnetic field. This extends into the atmosphere and far beyond, invisible to our normal senses. But in spreading from its source in the molten core to the heavens above, it first permeates the Earth's crust. This is where it leaves a tangible imprint, evidence that there exists a force more powerful than gravity at work within the Earth whose influence extends very far.

Way back in the earliest Precambrian, four billion years ago, as the surface cooled, atomic elements accumulated in the strata. The most stable of these, iron, is today one of the most abundant elements in the crust. Igneous rocks formed from volcanic lava. These rocks have the property that in the presence of a magnetic field, their atoms of iron act like soldiers on parade as they themselves become magnetic. This is exploited in popular demonstrations where the magnetic field of a bar magnet can be made visible.

Magnetic field. A bar magnet induces magnetism in pieces of iron, revealing the presence of its magnetic field spreading from one pole to the other. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Small filings of iron are first scattered on the surface of a table and then a magnet is placed carefully among them. Its magnetic field induces magnetism in the iron filings, turning them into thousands of miniature magnets. Each of these duly orients itself in the magnetic field, revealing how the direction of the magnetic force varies from place to place. 

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Related: Why do magnets have north and south poles?

The bar magnet is a simple model illustrating what happens for the magnetic Earth itself. Earth's north and south magnetic poles are analogous to those of the bar magnet, our planet's magnetic field extending far into space. There are no iron filings out in space, but there are large amounts of iron ores in the hills, cliffs, and mountains on Earth. In some places, by chance, these magnetic clusters are quite extensive, as on the Isle of Elba and Mount Ida in Asia Minor, where large outcrops retain the magnetic imprint in rocks known historically as lodestone, now named magnetite. 

There are legends how thousands of years ago in ancient Greece, a shepherd wearing leather shoes held in place by iron nails stumbled — literally — across magnetite when the powerful magnetism gripped the nails in his footwear. Whether or not a shepherd named Magnes discovered the eponymous rock, and if so whether it was in Magnesia, north of Athens, or on Mount Ida in Asia Minor, or even another Mount Ida in Crete, it is very likely that such experiences, if less dramatic than in the story, would have happened on various occasions. 

Certainly, the power of magnetism would have been apparent ever since the Iron Age. Lightning is a flash of electric current which generates intense magnetic fields and magnetizes ferrous rocks. Smelting to retrieve the pure iron metal from these sources would have revealed their magnetic attraction. So, the phenomenon has probably been known for some 3,000 years. Like the discovery of fire, that of magnetism probably arose in several places independently, all inspired by the natural magnetization of iron in rocks. 

For magnetic rocks are ubiquitous. By the sixteenth century travellers recorded the best examples, from East India and the Chinese coast: "Very massive and weighty, [the stone] will draw or lift up the just weight of itself in iron or steel" [Robert Norman, The Newe Attractive, 1581]. As knowledge of the phenomenon spread from Greek myth to Latin, and on to English, the names morphed into 'Magnes rock' or 'magnet'. 

© [Oxford University Press]

Extract from CHARGE: Why Does Gravity Rule? by Frank Close, published by Oxford University Press, available in hardback and eBook formats 

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CHARGE: Why Does Gravity Rule? By Frank Close — $21.99 on Amazon

If you enjoyed this extract, the rest of the book builds on this brief history of magnetism and delves ever deeper into the subatomic world to explore the fundamental questions of physics. It's complex stuff, but esteemed theoretical physicist Frank Close guides you through the topic with clarity, making for a highly enjoyable read. We especially enjoyed the section about the search for proton decay, which required the filling of an underground pool with 8,000 tonnes of purified water — twice. 

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Rivers of Lava on Venus Reveal a More Volcanically Active Planet - The New York Times

Witnessing the blood-red fires of a volcanic eruption on Earth is memorable. But to see molten rock bleed out of a volcano on a different planet would be extraordinary. That is close to what scientists have spotted on Venus: two vast, sinuous lava flows oozing from two different corners of Earth’s planetary neighbor.

“After you see something like this, the first reaction is ‘wow,’” said Davide Sulcanese, a doctoral student at the Università d’Annunzio in Pescara, Italy, and an author of a study reporting the discovery in the journal Nature Astronomy, published on Monday.

Earth and Venus were forged at the same time. Both are made of the same primeval matter, and both are the same age and size. So why is Earth a paradise overflowing with water and life, while Venus is a scorched hellscape with acidic skies?

Volcanic eruptions tinker with planetary atmospheres. One theory holds that, eons ago, several apocalyptic eruptions set off a runaway greenhouse effect on Venus, turning it from a temperate, waterlogged world into an arid desert of burned glass.

To better understand its volcanism, scientists hoped to catch a Venusian eruption in the act. But although the planet is known to be smothered in volcanoes, an opaque atmosphere has prevented anyone from seeing an eruption the way spacecraft have spotted them on Io, the hypervolcanic moon of Jupiter.

In the 1990s, NASA’s spacecraft Magellan used cloud-penetrating radar to survey most of the planet. But back then, the relatively low-resolution images made spotting fresh molten rock a troublesome task.

By using modern software to peruse Magellan’s data, scientists have now found two unambiguous lava flows: one tripping down the flank of Sif Mons, a broad shield volcano, and another winding its way across a western part of Niobe Planitia, a flat plain pockmarked with numerous volcanic mountains.

Many planetary scientists reckoned Venus was effervescing with eruptions. “But it’s one thing to strongly suspect it and quite another to know it,” said Paul Byrne, a planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis who was not part of the new study.

Venus lacks the plate tectonics of Earth. But its similarly rocky constitution and comparable size suggests that something must still be cooking inside the sun’s second planet — and it should be volcanically active.

There is indirect supporting evidence: Volcanic gases linger in Venus’s skies, and the way that parts of the planet glow suggests they were painted over by lava in the recent geologic past.

Direct evidence of volcanic fury finally, and surprisingly, emerged in 2023, when researchers caught sight of a volcanic vent doubling in size and possibly filling with lava in old Magellan data. Other scientists still yearned for signs of an unequivocal lava flow, an almost literal smoking gun.

Mr. Sulcanese granted their wish. He found bright, riverlike patches on Sif Mons and Niobe Planitia in later Magellan survey images that weren’t present in earlier data. After carefully ruling out other possibilities, including landslides, his team concluded that lava was the only reasonable explanation.

“Magellan is the gift that keeps on giving,” said Stephen Kane, a planetary astrophysicist at the University of California, Riverside, who was not involved with the new study.

Both lava flows are comparable in size to the output of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii during its three-month paroxysm in 2018. And using these two eruptions, the study’s authors estimate that there is considerably more eruptive activity than previously assumed — and that it’s happening elsewhere on the planet in the present day.

“Venus is active,” said Giuseppe Mitri, an astronomer also at the Università d’Annunzio and an author of the study.

More important, volcanically speaking, Venus “is Earth-like,” said Anna Gülcher, a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology who was not involved with the work.

The result also complicates the tentative detection of phosphine in Venus’s atmosphere; phosphine is a substance that is usually associated on Earth with living things. But other explanations for its possible presence on Venus couldn’t be ruled out. Volcanic activity can also make phosphine, but rebuttals to that idea have suggested that Venus simply doesn’t have sufficient volcanism to make it.

“Well, apparently there is,” Dr. Kane said.

The only way to find better answers — on phosphine, Venus’s volcanic cadence, its cataclysmic transformation — is to revisit the planet. Fortunately, a fleet of new spacecraft is set to do just that in the 2030s.

While we wait, Magellan’s memories will continue to offer unexpected gifts.

“We can start to think of Venus as a living, breathing world,” Dr. Byrne said.

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SpaceX is now targeting Tuesday morning for Starlink launch from Cape - Florida Today

Launch day recap: Scroll down for live coverage of the scrubbed launch attempt from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40.

SpaceX is standing down from the Memorial Day Starlink launch. The scrubbed launch attempt comes after pushing the liftoff target multiple times. While SpaceX has not given a reason for today's scrub, there has been word of heavy marine traffic in the area.

SpaceX is now planning to launch this Starlink mission at 7:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 28 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Launch Complex 40. Traveling in a southeast trajectory, the Falcon 9 rocket will deliver the next batch of 23 Starlink satellites to orbit.

When is the next Florida rocket launch?Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida

After eight and a half minutes into the flight, the Falcon 9 booster will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. No local sonic booms are expected.

According to the 45th Weather Squadron, weather conditions for the launch window are predicted to be 90% favorable.

SpaceX scrub!

Update 10:43: SpaceX has just announced today's launch has been scrubbed!

The next attempt is tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. EDT.

SpaceX has not provided a reason for standing down from today's launch.

SpaceX Falcon 9 booster slated to fly 10th mission

Update 10:39 a.m..: This morning’s booster is flying for the 10^th time.

It is best remembered for NASA Crew-6 mission in early 2023.

SpaceX Starship Update

Update 10:29 a.m.: We are at T-1 hour for today's Starlink launch!

Pending regulatory approval, SpaceX could launch its fourth Starship test flight in Boca Chica, Texas as soon as Wednesday, June 5.

In other Starship news, local meetings will be held on June 12-13 in Brevard for FAA officials to collect comments from locals on the proposed Starship site at KSC Pad 39A.

A virtual meeting will be held on the 17^th for those who cannot make it in person.

SpaceX launch prep underway in Brevard

Update 10:16 a.m.: Earlier this morning, Brevard County Emergency Management officials activated the agency's launch operations support team ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 launch.

This morning’s SpaceX launch weather outlook

Update 10:05 a.m.: The 45^th Weather Squadron called for 90-95% favorable conditions for this morning’s launch window.

However, SpaceX has pushed the launch time multiple times this morning. The radar shows some weather activity near the landing zone.

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.

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