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NASA has shared a fascinating photograph featuring three different galaxies. And with that, the space agency has also explained how these galaxies don’t let any “labels define them”. Confused? Let’s unpack. On June 13, NASA posted a photograph of three galaxies — one right in the centre and the other two spotted on the extreme right and bottom of the picture. The photo was captured by the wide-field camera 3 of NASA’s Hubble telescope. Now, let’s understand what makes these galaxies unique. In its Instagram post, the agency said that the galaxy pictured in the middle was “difficult to classify” and the reasons are very interesting.

While it is sometimes classified as a spiral galaxy, similar to our own Milky Way, it is also sometimes classified as a lenticular galaxy,” the agency says. “Lenticular galaxies are a galaxy type that sits between spiral and elliptical varieties.” Now, that makes it more complex, right?

But here’s a simpler way of looking at it. NASA says the galaxies grow just as we do. “While the spiral arms of this galaxy are distinguishable, they’re not clearly defined. Pictured here, the tip of one arm appears to be diffused,” it says.

Galaxies are not static, and their morphologies (and therefore their classifications) vary throughout their lifetimes, says NASA in a separate note published on its website.

“Spiral galaxies are thought to evolve into elliptical. This can happen by merging with one another, causing them to lose their distinctive spiral structure,” NASA says further in its Instagram post, explaining how even the galaxies change their composition with time.

The agency says that the spiral galaxy NGC 4680 in the middle is flanked by two other galaxies as we explained above. Interestingly, NGC 4680 enjoyed a wave of attention in 1997, playing host to a supernova explosion known as SN 1997bp, says NASA.

NASA shared the same picture on Twitter as well and a user wondered if the space agency ever flirted with the idea of sending its astronauts to one of these galaxies.

Another user, though, explained why it was nearly impossible for NASA to undertake any such mission.

Here are some more Twitter reactions to the picture:

The Hubble telescope, which captured the picture, was launched in 1990 as a collaboration project between NASA and the European Space Agency. The telescope has an unobstructed view of the universe.

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NASA Confirms Solar Wind Stripped Mars’ Atmosphere Using MAVEN Data

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June 7, 2025

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NASA Confirms Solar Wind Stripped Mars’ Atmosphere Using MAVEN Data

Mars used to be a wetter world. Scientists have long pointed to evidence like dried-up riverbeds and ancient lake basins. For that much water to exist, Mars would have needed a thicker atmosphere — one that could hold in heat and pressure. But today, Mars is cold, dry, and barely has any air. For the first time, NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft has directly observed a long-suspected process responsible for stripping away Mars’ atmosphere — sputtering. Understanding when and how that atmosphere disappeared is crucial for reconstructing the planet’s climate history and assessing its past potential to support life.

Sputtering

According to MAVEN’s findings from a new study, sputtering is a significant mechanism in atmospheric escape. In this mechanism energetic particles from solar wind collide with Mars’ upper atmosphere. These collisions, in principle, transfer enough energy to neutral atoms and help break them free from the planet’s gravitational pull, flinging them into space.

“It’s like doing a cannonball in a pool,” Shannon Curry, the principal investigator of the MAVEN mission at the University of Colorado Boulder who led the new study, said in a statement. “The cannonball, in this case, is the heavy ions crashing into the atmosphere really fast and splashing neutral atoms and molecules out.”

Using nine years of data, scientists created detailed maps of argon. The study also revealed that sputtering happens at a rate four times higher than previous models predicted, and intensifies during solar storms.

This suggests the process was far more extreme billions of years ago, when the young sun was more active and Mars had already lost its magnetic field. Without magnetic protection, the planet’s atmosphere was vulnerable to relentless solar wind. This accelerated the loss of atmosphere and leading to the disappearance of surface water.

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Japanese Private Lunar Lander Resilience Fails Mission, Crashes on Moon

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June 6, 2025

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Japanese Private Lunar Lander Resilience Fails Mission, Crashes on Moon

A Japanese spacecraft attempting to achieve the country’s first private moon landing instead crashed on the lunar surface, according to mission officials. The Resilience lander, developed by Tokyo-based ispace, lost communication one minute and 45 seconds before its scheduled soft touchdown on June 5 at 3:17 p.m. EDT. The descent was targeted for the Mare Frigoris region on the Moon’s near side. ispace had its second problem on the moon when its laser rangefinder broke, which is a big improvement over its prior failure in April 2023.

Japan’s Resilience Lunar Lander Crashes in Hard Landing, ispace Vows to Learn and Rebuild

As per an official statement from ispace, telemetry from Resilience revealed that the rangefinder’s delayed data caused a failure in adjusting landing speed. This likely led to a “hard landing”, suggesting the spacecraft hit the moon’s surface too fast to survive or complete its mission. The lander, carrying five payloads, such as a Tenacious rover and scientific instruments, crashed with no survivors. The firm’s CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, apologised and remarked that the company would use the mission to learn about future missions.

The Hakuto-R Mission 2 team launched a 7.5-foot-tall, 2,200-pound Resilience lander into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in early May. But with a perfect orbit, the lander smashed into the lunar surface at 192 metres – an echo of Mission 1’s mission failure in 2023, which crashed because a fault in one of its altitude sensors was not corrected.

The Resilience crash adds to private attempts to explore the moon, including the unsuccessful Beresheet and Peregrine missions. Crewed landings such as Odysseus and Blue Ghost prove that dreams of commercial space are possible. The second Hakuto-R mission was a private attempt and a blow to Japan’s space ambitions. Failure has not stopped ispace development for Mission 3 and Mission 4 with its larger Apex 1.0 lander.

Hakamada mentioned that the priority for the team was now to find out what caused the crash. “Supporters are disappointed,” CFO Nozaki says, “but ispace has yet to cover the moon, and the road does not end, even if Mission 2 didn’t go as planned.”

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ISRO Successfully Tests SE2000 Engine for Next-Gen LVM3 Rocket Upgrade

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June 3, 2025

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ISRO Successfully Tests SE2000 Engine for Next-Gen LVM3 Rocket Upgrade

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out the third hot test of its semi-cryogenic engine Power Head Test Article (PHTA) on 28 May 2025 at the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri. The test is part of a series of performance evaluations aimed at validating key subsystems of the 2000 kN-class SE2000 engine that will eventually power the SC120 propulsion stage intended to replace the existing L110 liquid core stage of the LVM3 launch vehicle. ISRO began this series of performance evaluations in March 2025, focusing on critical components such as low- and high-pressure turbo-pumps, the pre-burner, the start-up system, and various control mechanisms.

The three-phased trials

According to the official ISRO press release, the PHTA has undergone two hot tests earlier, which included all systems except the thrust chamber. The first test on 28.03.2025 demonstrated the smooth ignition & bootstrap operation over a short duration of 2.5 seconds. The second hot test on 24.04.2025 demonstrated the start transient build-up and tested the start-up sequence by carrying out a hot-firing for a duration of 3.5 seconds. The third test was carried out for a duration of 3 seconds to fine-tune further & finalize the start-up sequence.

The SE2000 employs an oxidizer-rich staged combustion cycle using liquid oxygen and kerosene. It is able to deliver a chamber pressure of 180 bar and a specific impulse of 335 seconds—an upgrade over the L110 stage’s hydrazine-based propulsion.

Future Integration and Impact on Indian Launch Capability

With the subsystem validations complete, ISRO will now begin integrated engine-level trials, moving toward full operational readiness. The SC120 stage powered by SE2000 is expected to increase LVM3’s payload capacity from 4 to 5 tonnes to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) and from 8 to 10 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

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