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Elon Musk on Tuesday said his aerospace company SpaceX could help NASA produce spacesuits for its Artemis Moon mission after the US space agency’s Inspector General reported that it was facing significant challenges, making the manned lunar landing impossible in 2024. Among the biggest challenges was the delay in the production of the first two flight-ready Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuits. The agency was scheduled to prepare these spacesuits by November 2024, but now NASA Office of Inspector General says that there’s going to be a delay and the suits won’t be ready for the flight until at least April 2025.

On Tuesday, CNBC’s space reporter Michael Sheetz quoted from the Inspector General report titled, “NASA’s Development Of Next-generation Spacesuits,” saying, “NASA’s Inspector General says delays in spacesuit development are another factor making a 2024 astronaut Moon landing impossible.” He added that with $420 million (roughly Rs. 3,125 crores) spent and another $625 million (roughly Rs. 4,650 crores) expected, the spacesuits won’t be ready for flight until April 2025 at the earliest.

Responding to Sheetz’s tweet, Musk, himself a space enthusiast, wrote: “SpaceX could do it if need be.”

NASA says in its report that these delays — attributed to funding shortfalls, COVID-19 impacts, and technical challenges — left no schedule margin for delivery of the two flight-ready spacesuits. Given the integration requirements, the suits won’t be flight-ready until April 2025 at the earliest, says the report. Moreover, by the time two flight-ready xEMUs are available, NASA will have spent over $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,445 crores) on the development and assembly of its next-generation spacesuits, it further said.

Delay precludes 2024 Moon landing

In another section of the report, the Inspector General said that prior to 2019, NASA was expected to design, test, and develop the xEMU and provide flight-ready spacesuits to the ISS by 2023. Back then, NASA was expected to provide suits for Artemis III Mission by 2028, according to the report, but when the mission was accelerated to 2024, the space agency was also required to fast-track its work by the same time.

Not just that, NASA was supposed to provide these suits to its HLS Program for integration by March 31, 2023. That date now stands delayed by 20 months to November 2024 after the reduced funding for spacesuit development in FY 2021, COVID-19 impacts, and ongoing technical issues, the report said.

According to the information on its website, as part of the Artemis Mission, NASA will land the first woman and first person of colour on the Moon. It will also be using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever in the past. 

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

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July 2, 2025

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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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July 2, 2025

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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.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who’sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading:
257Sg, seaborgium, K-isomer, superheavy, elements, nuclear stability, fission, GSI, TASCA, Physical Review Letters, element 120, island of stability

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

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July 2, 2025

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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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