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A lunar mission involving a rocket-powered hopper is set to launch later this month. The spacecraft, named Athena, is expected to carry multiple payloads, including ‘Gracie,’ a small robotic explorer developed through a collaboration between Intuitive Machines and NASA. The launch is scheduled to take place from Florida’s Space Coast within a four-day window opening on February 26. If the landing proceeds as planned, Athena will touch down on a plateau approximately 160 kilometres from the Moon’s south pole, a region believed to contain water ice deposits.

Gracie’s Mission Objectives and Design

As reported by space.com, Gracie is designed to perform five controlled hops across the lunar surface using thrusters. The initial hop is expected to reach 20 metres in height, followed by progressively higher leaps, culminating in a descent into a shadowed lunar crater known as Crater H. This crater, located approximately 500 metres from Athena’s landing site, has a depth of around 20 metres.

Trent Martin, Senior Vice President of Space Systems at Intuitive Machines, stated in a NASA press conference that the hopper is intended to operate in extreme conditions, with its final hop aiming to explore the crater floor. Efforts are being made to maintain communication during this phase through Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communication System, which aims to establish the first 4G/LTE network on the Moon.

Scientific Exploration and Data Collection

Gracie is expected to collect data using its onboard instruments. A key feature is the ‘water snooper’ sensor, designed to detect water ice in the surrounding environment. Additionally, the hopper is equipped with cameras, which will provide images of the lunar surface and its movements. The mission is intended to demonstrate alternative exploration methods beyond traditional rover-based designs, with Gracie’s success potentially influencing future lunar exploration strategies.

Additional Payloads on Athena

The Athena lander is set to carry several other payloads. NASA’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1 (PRIME-1) will conduct subsurface sampling using a drill capable of reaching depths of one metre. A mass spectrometer will be used to analyse these samples for signs of water and other volatile compounds. Another payload, the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP), developed by Lunar Outpost, will explore the lunar surface with high-resolution optical and thermal cameras. A smaller rover known as AstroAnt, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will also be deployed from MAPP to collect temperature data.

Expected Landing and Operational Timeline

If Athena’s landing is successful, operations on the Moon are expected to last approximately ten Earth days. The lander and its payloads will function until the lunar night sets in, cutting off solar power. This mission follows the success of Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission, which landed the Odysseus spacecraft on the lunar surface in February 2024, marking the first private soft landing on the Moon. Despite minor landing issues, Odysseus provided valuable insights, setting a precedent for future commercial lunar missions.

Additional lunar missions by private companies are currently underway, including Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and Tokyo-based ispace’s Resilience lander, both launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket in January. These missions form part of an increasing number of private sector efforts aimed at exploring and utilising lunar resources.

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Virginia Tech Engineers Craft Durable, Self‑Repairing, and Recyclable PCBs

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Virginia Tech Engineers Craft Durable, Self‑Repairing, and Recyclable PCBs

A team of scientists has developed a new kind of self-healing circuit board that stays functional even after severe mechanical damage and can be reshaped or recycled entirely using heat. Infused with liquid metal and built using a polymer known as vitrimer, the new circuit boards could dramatically cut electronic waste and transform the durability of consumer electronics. Vitrimer retains the strength of traditional thermoset materials while allowing flexibility and repair, making it possible to reconfigure damaged boards without compromising electrical performance.

As per a study published in Advanced Materials on June 1, the boards were created by blending vitrimer with just 5% by volume of liquid metal droplets. This combination nearly doubled the material’s strain-at-break, or stretchability, compared to vitrimer alone. The embedded droplets are flexible as well, serving as flexible conductors in place of metal wiring used in traditional boards. Using a rheometer, tests showed the material was able to return to its original shape after heat-induced deformation ranging from 170°C to 200°C, which conventional epoxy-based thermosets cannot achieve.

Engineers also demonstrated that the material remains highly conductive and can recover its electrical function after being damaged. “Modern circuit boards simply cannot do this,” said Josh Worch, co-lead author of the study. His team designed the dynamic composite with the aim of building a circular economy around electronics. The design addresses a major environmental concern: most circuit boards today use thermosets that cannot be recycled and end up in landfills.

Electronic waste has more than doubled in 12 years, from 34 to 62 billion kilograms, as noted in a 2024 UN report. Despite containing valuable metals like gold, current boards are difficult to break down and reclaim due to the permanent nature of thermosetting plastics. The new vitrimer-based design, by contrast, allows for easy separation and reuse of materials. “Even if the board is damaged,” said Michael Bartlett, another co-lead author, “electrical performance will not suffer.”

More work needs to be done to improve the recovery of some elements, but the advance is a big step toward greener electronics, the researchers say. The technology could one day be in many different types of devices, from phones and laptops to wearables and TVs, changing the way devices are made, operated, and recycled.

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Newly Detected Seaborgium-257 Offers Critical Data on Fission and Quantum Shell Effects

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Newly Detected Seaborgium-257 Offers Critical Data on Fission and Quantum Shell Effects

German Scientists at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung found a new superheavy isotope, 257Sg, named Seaborgium, which reveals unexpected details about the stability and nuclear fission. This study was published in Physical Review Letters and describes how this isotope, made by fusing chromium-52 with lead-206, survived for 12.6 milliseconds, longer than usual. The rare longevity and decay into 253Rf provide new indications of how K-quantum numbers or angular momentum impact the fission resistance. The findings fill in the gaps and give us an understanding of the effects of quantum shells in superheavy nuclei, which is crucial for preventing immediate disintegration.

Challenging Traditional Views on K-Quantum Numbers and Fission

As per the study by GSI, it challenges conservative views on how K-quantum numbers impact fission. Previously, it was found that the higher K values lead to greater fission hindrance, but after getting the findings from the GSI team, a more complex dynamic emerged. They found that K-quantum numbers offer hindrance to fission, but it is still ot known that it is how much, said Dr. Pavol Mosat, the study’s co-author.

Discovery of First K-Isomeric State in Seaborgium

An important milestone is the identification of the first K-isomeric state in seaborgium. In 259Sg, the scientists found that the conversion of the electron signal occurs 40 microseconds after the nuclear formation. This is clear evidence of the high angular momentum K-isomer. These states have longer lifetimes and friction in fission in a more effective way than their ground-state counterparts.

Implications for the Theorised Island of Stability

This discovery by the scientists provides key implications for the Island of stability, which has long been theorised. It is a region where superheavy elements could have comparatively long half-lives. If K-isomers are present in the still undiscovered elements such as 120, they can enable scientists in the detection of nuclei that would otherwise decay in just under one microsecond.

Synthesising 256Sg with Ultra-Fast Detection Systems

This team of German Scientists under GSI is now aiming to synthesise 256Sg, which might decay quicker than observed or predicted. Their success is dependent on the ultra-fast detection systems created by GSI, which are capable of capturing events within 100 nanoseconds. This continued research by the team may help in reshaping the search and studying the heaviest elements in the periodic table.

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NASA CODEX Telescope on ISS Reveals Hidden Secrets of the Sun’s Corona

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NASA CODEX Telescope on ISS Reveals Hidden Secrets of the Sun’s Corona

A mini solar telescope aboard the International Space Station caught the first-ever images, which reveal the subtle and never-seen changes in the outer atmosphere of the Sun. It is known as the Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX) and has been designed to understand the solar corona, the outer layer of the Sun, in depth. This mini telescope functions like a coronagraph, which blocks the Sun’s disk to imitate the total solar eclipse. CODEX was delivered through SpaceX Dragon on November 5, 2024. It was mounted on the ISS using the Canadarm2 robotic arm on November 9, 2025.

Revolutionising Solar Observation

According to the report by NASA, the unique design of CODEX consists of an occulting disk the size of a tennis ball held by three arms made up of metal. It allows it to block the intense sunlight when imaging the faint corona. The first images were revealed on June 10, 2025, at the time of the American Astronomical Society’s meeting in Alaska. These comprised pictures of coronal streamers and footage of the temperature fluctuations in the outer corona over many days. This offers a fresh perspective on solar dynamics.

Measuring Solar Wind Like Never Before

CODEX is unlike the previous coronagraphs as it is the first to measure both the speed and temperature of the solar wind. There is a constant flow of superhot particles from the Sun. With the help of four narrowband filters, in which two are used for determining the temperature and two for speed, astronomers compare brightness to decode these properties, which helps in solving the mystery of how the solar wind reaches 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit.

Tackling the Solar Weather Challenge

To know the solar wind, it is crucial to predict the geomagnetic storms triggered by the coronal holes. Shortly, the storms observed on June 13, 2025 and June 25, 2025, caused auroras because of these events. After refining the analysis of solar wind, CODEX can help in mitigating and forecasting such kind of disturbances.

A Timely Launch Amid Solar Peak

NASA’s CODEX started operations at a suitable moment, just as the current solar maximum comes to its end. As the magnetic field of the Sun shifts during the solar battle zone, CODEX is ready to catch the critical data that can change our understanding of the weather in space.

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