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NASA will launch its Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, in 2023 to get a closer view of the Moon’s South Pole and evaluate the concentration of water as well as other potential resources on its surface. The space agency is undertaking the mission to understand if it is possible for human life to sustain there, by using locally available resources. The VIPER mobile robot, NASA said, is the first resource mapping mission on any other celestial body. 

NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services  (CLPS) will be providing the launch vehicle and lander for what’s going to be a 100-day mission. Similar to a golf cart, VIPER measures 5 feet by 5 feet and weighs 430 kilograms, said the agency. On its website, NASA said that the Moon rover will directly analyse the water ice on the surface and sub-surface of the celestial body. The VIPER will also evaluate the same at varying depths and temperatures within four main soil environments on the moon.  

The Lunar rover will transmit the data to Earth which will then be utilised in the creation of resource maps. It will also help scientists determine the location and concentration of frozen water on the Moon and varied forms such as ice crystals or molecules chemically bound to other materials. NASA said that VIPER’s findings will inform “future landing sites under the Artemis program by helping to determine locations where water and other resources can be harvested” to sustain humans over extended stays.

The agency added that the findings could be a game-changer, especially because it’s not possible to bring everything to the Moon, Mars, and beyond for long-term exploration. It will use the data that VIPER collects to determine where the water ice is most likely to be found and the easiest to access. This is going to be a critical step forward in NASA’s Artemis programme to establish a sustainable human presence on the surface of the Moon by 2028, the agency said.

NASA said satellites orbiting the Moon as part of the past missions have helped us understand that there is water ice on its surface. However, in order to use it one day, they have to learn more about it — up close and personal. “VIPER will roam the Moon using its three instruments and a 3.28-foot (1m) drill to detect and analyze various lunar soil environments at a range of depths and temperatures,” the agency said. “The rover will venture into permanently shadowed craters, some of the coldest spots in the solar system, where water ice reserves have endured for billions of years.”

There are challenges, too, of extreme temperature conditions, dynamic lighting, and complex terrain. The near real-time driving of the rover will also pose new engineering and design challenges to the team.

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Supermassive Black Hole Burps Matter at Near-Light Speeds After Consuming Gas Too Fast

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June 25, 2025

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Supermassive Black Hole Burps Matter at Near-Light Speeds After Consuming Gas Too Fast

A distant supermassive black hole has stunned astronomers by expelling matter at speeds nearing a third of light velocity after consuming material at an extreme rate. Designated PG1211+143, this cosmic powerhouse lies in a Seyfert galaxy 1.2 billion light-years away and boasts a mass 40 million times greater than the Sun. Researchers using the ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray telescope tracked an influx of gas equivalent to 10 Earths over just five weeks, only to find the black hole burping out excess matter at around 0.27 times the speed of light.

Supermassive Black Hole’s Outflows May Halt Star Formation and Alter Galaxy Evolution Permanently

As per a report in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, these ultra-fast outflows followed the inflow by a delay of a few days, heating the surrounding active galactic nucleus (AGN) to millions of degrees. The radiation pressure generated was powerful enough to push out surrounding gas, potentially starving the black hole’s galaxy of star-forming material. This feedback loop, scientists suggest, might represent the transition from active star-birth sites to galaxies entering a quieter period.

The winds ejected at more than 181 million mph most likely blew away clouds of cold gas, which were necessary for stellar births. The evidence found allowed Pounds to observe a black hole as it grew, even though there is not much matter to feed the black hole, even if it is large.

This discovery can enable people to understand the influence of quasars and AGNs on galaxy life cycles. High-speed ejections of outflowing matter paralyse the star-formation process and turn star-forming regions into barren space. However, additional monitoring in pursuit to determine their frequency and global pattern of cosmic evolution.

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Amazon’s Kuiper Launches 27 Satellites, Eyes 2025 LEO Broadband Rollout

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June 25, 2025

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Amazon's Kuiper Launches 27 Satellites, Eyes 2025 LEO Broadband Rollout

Demand for broadband connectivity is driving a surge in satellite constellations in low Earth orbit (LEO). LEO systems offer lower-latency links to remote areas and the potential to connect underserved communities. Amazon’s Project Kuiper and SpaceX’s Starlink head this wave. GeekWire notes that each Kuiper launch is “another significant step toward competing with SpaceX’s global Starlink network”, and Amazon is joining a “growing list of companies” seeking to challenge Starlink in the rapidly evolving LEO broadband arena. Indeed, filings show Amazon expects Kuiper to begin offering service by 2025.

Project Kuiper’s Ambitious Launch Plans

According to Amazon, Kuiper project is now moving into full deployment. It first flew two prototype satellites in late 2023, and on April 28, 2025 it launched 27 production satellites aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. Kuiper aims for roughly a 3,200-satellite constellation, and Amazon has pre-booked dozens of heavy-lift launches to build it. For example, Space.com reports Kuiper will require “more than 3,200 satellites… after 83 launches on Atlas V, ULA’s Vulcan, Blue Origin’s New Glenn and Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rockets”. In December 2023 Amazon also secured three SpaceX Falcon 9 launches. These multi-provider launch contracts (costing many billions) are intended to spread schedule risk and ensure Kuiper’s constellation is delivered on time.

Amazon expects to begin customer service in late 2025, driving its schedule. To meet this timeline, it has reserved dozens of launch slots on Atlas V, ULA’s new Vulcan, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, Arianespace’s Ariane 6 and even SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. These commitments ensure the required satellites will launch quickly to meet Amazon’s deployment milestones.

Global Competition in LEO Broadband

SpaceX’s Starlink leads with over 7,600 satellites already in orbit. SpaceX has flown dozens of Starlink launches this year to expand coverage. Meanwhile, rivals aim even higher: China’s state-backed Guowang project plans roughly 13,000 satellites, and the Shanghai-led “Thousand Sails” (Qianfan) network targets about 14,000. SpaceNews noted that these Chinese launches “advance [China’s] ambitious LEO network to rival Starlink and other global systems”. This worldwide build-out underscores that LEO broadband is evolving into a critical new domain of internet infrastructure.

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Soviet Venus Probe Kosmos-482 Re-enters Earth’s Atmosphere After 52 Years, Location Unclear

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June 25, 2025

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Soviet Venus Probe Kosmos-482 Re-enters Earth’s Atmosphere After 52 Years, Location Unclear

More than five decades after orbiting the Earth, the Soviet-era Venus probe Kosmos-482 re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on May 10, 2025, this time perplexing scientists about its precise re-entry. The mission was first flung into space in 1972, but a rocket failure left the probe stuck in high orbit around Earth instead of sending it on a course to Venus. The spacecraft’s descent capsule, which weighed about 495 kilograms, is believed to have fallen to Earth in the Indian Ocean, off Jakarta. However, various tracking models pointed to different locations of the exact impact, evidencing the severe limitations of predicting re-entries of space debris.

Tracking Soviet Probe Kosmos-482’s Reentry Exposes Gaps in Space Object Forecasting Models

As per a report from Space.com, other organisations, including Roscosmos, the U.S. Department of Defence, and the European Space Agency, made conflicting predictions demonstrating just how hard it is to estimate when a space object will re-enter. The module’s robust design—built to withstand Venus’s intense conditions—likely enabled it to survive reentry, but atmospheric variability, object orientation, and solar activity complicated tracking efforts.

Experts suggest Kosmos-482’s descent illustrates the need for improved reentry models. “Even a small deviation can translate into thousands of kilometres on Earth’s surface,” noted Aerospace Corporation’s Marlon Sorge. The “oddball” shape of the lander and its ability to possibly skip across atmospheric layers further blurred precise modelling.

Some scientists, like Pavel Shubin, believe the capsule could still be afloat, while others argue it may have sunk beyond recovery. With reentry predictions still confounded by “unhelpful physics” and data gaps, Kosmos-482 serves as a reminder that better tools and open-source collaboration, like TU Delft’s Tudat, may be crucial to future space traffic safety and planetary defence.

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Tecno Spark Go 2 With 5,000mAh Battery, Free Link App Support Launched in India: Price, Specifications

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