United News of Bangladesh

NASA has delayed its much-anticipated crewed mission around the moon until at least March after hydrogen fuel leaks disrupted a key fueling test of its new mega rocket. The problem surfaced during a full dress rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center, forcing officials to stop the countdown. Similar hydrogen leaks had also delayed the debut of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket three years ago. Hydrogen, while efficient, is highly flammable and difficult to manage. “This issue caught us by surprise,” said John Honeycutt, NASA’s SLS program manager, speaking hours after Monday’s test was halted. Before the leaks, NASA had hoped to launch as early as this weekend, marking humanity’s first return to the moon since 1972. According to NASA, the delay of about a month will give engineers time to run another fueling test before committing the four-member crew three Americans and one Canadian to the lunar flyby mission. It remains unclear when the next rehearsal will take place. Officials said any damaged seals or parts can likely be fixed at the launch pad. Moving the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building would cause a much longer delay. The leaks appeared early during the loading of super-cold liquid hydrogen and reappeared later, eventually stopping the countdown at five minutes. Controllers aimed to reach the final 30 seconds, but hydrogen levels rose above safety limits. NASA teams tried several fixes, including pausing the fuel flow to warm the area and adjusting hydrogen flow rates methods that helped during the uncrewed SLS launch in 2022. This time, however, the leaks persisted. NASA research plane makes emergency landing in Texas after gear failure With the launch now pushed to at least March 6, mission commander Reid Wiseman and his crewmates have been cleared to exit quarantine in Houston. They will reenter quarantine two weeks before the next launch attempt. Wiseman said he was proud of the launch team’s work despite the challenges. NASA officials said cold weather did not cause the leaks. Heaters kept the Orion capsule warm, while protective systems safeguarded the rocket. Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s associate administrator, reminded reporters that the SLS is still an experimental vehicle and that long gaps between tests add to the challenge. The nearly 10-day mission will send astronauts around the moon to test life-support and other critical systems. They will not land or enter lunar orbit. The Artemis program ultimately aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface this time near the moon’s south pole—and support longer stays in the years ahead.

NASA scientists have discovered ammonia-bearing compounds on the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, shedding new light on the moon’s subsurface ocean, according to a recent analysis of decades-old space data. The breakthrough comes from a re-examination of information collected by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, which orbited Jupiter from 1989 until 2003. Researchers created a composite image of a 400-kilometre-wide area on Europa using the spacecraft’s solid-state imaging camera, revealing dark, crossing bands on the moon’s surface that indicate cracks in the ice. Data from Galileo’s Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) was overlaid on the image. Red pixels mark areas where ammonia compounds were detected, while purple pixels show regions without such compounds. The NIMS data was collected during Galileo’s 11th orbit of Jupiter in 1997. Scientists suggest that the ammonia-rich compounds near these fractures could have been transported by cryovolcanic activity, potentially bringing liquid water from Europa’s subsurface ocean to the surface. The discovery provides fresh insights into the moon’s geological activity and its potential to host conditions favourable for life beneath the ice, NASA reported.   With inputs from NDTV

A NASA research plane made an emergency landing in Texas on Tuesday after experiencing a malfunction that prevented its landing gear from deploying, officials said. The WB-57 aircraft touched down at Ellington Airport, southeast of Houston, sliding across the runway on its belly. Social media footage showed flames and smoke trailing from beneath the plane as it descended and came to a stop. NASA confirmed that the crew is safe and reported the incident as a "mechanical issue" that will be investigated. Local news outlets captured images of the aircraft stationary on the runway with emergency responders and fire trucks attending to the scene. The WB-57, known for its thin fuselage and two-seat cockpit, has been used in scientific research missions since the 1970s. It is capable of flying at high altitudes above 63,000 feet (19,200 meters) for about six and a half hours. Read More: NASA’s new moon rocket rolls to launch pad ahead of possible February astronaut mission According to NASA, the aircraft remains a valuable tool for atmospheric and space research.  

NASA’s massive new moon rocket rolled out to the launch pad early Saturday, marking a major step toward the first crewed lunar fly-around in more than 50 years, which could lift off as early as February. The 322-foot Space Launch System rocket began its slow journey from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak, moving at about one mile per hour on a giant transporter. The four-mile trip to the pad was expected to take most of the day. Thousands of NASA workers and their families gathered in the early morning chill to watch the long-awaited rollout, an event that had been delayed for years. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and the four astronauts assigned to the mission led the cheering crowd. Weighing about 11 million pounds, the rocket and its Orion crew capsule were carried by a transporter first used during the Apollo and space shuttle eras and later upgraded for the heavier SLS. Study warns ocean chemistry changes could weaken sharks’ teeth The only previous SLS launch took place in November 2022, when an uncrewed Orion capsule was sent into orbit around the moon. This time, astronauts will be aboard. “This one feels very different, putting crew on the rocket and taking them around the moon,” said NASA’s John Honeycutt. The upcoming 10-day mission will be commanded by Reid Wiseman, with Victor Glover as pilot and Christina Koch as mission specialist. They will be joined by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, making his first spaceflight. The astronauts will not land on the moon or enter lunar orbit. That milestone is planned for a later Artemis mission. NASA plans to conduct a fueling test on the launch pad in early February before setting a final launch date. The agency has a narrow window of five days in the first half of February before the schedule shifts into March. If successful, the mission will mark humanity’s first return to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, when Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt завершed the era of lunar landings.

NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance has discovered rocks in an ancient dry river channel that could contain potential signs of past microscopic life, scientists reported Wednesday. Researchers emphasized that detailed analysis of the samples collected by Perseverance—ideally in laboratories on Earth—is necessary before any conclusions can be drawn. While noting that the findings “certainly are not the final answer,” NASA’s science mission chief, Nicky Fox, described the discovery as “the closest we’ve actually come to finding ancient life on Mars.” Perseverance, which has been exploring the Martian surface since 2021, cannot detect life directly. The rover is equipped with a drill to collect rock samples and tubes to store them from locations considered most likely to have supported life billions of years ago. The samples are awaiting eventual return to Earth, although NASA is exploring faster and more cost-effective ways to achieve this. Calling the discovery “exciting,” independent scientists Janice Bishop of the SETI Institute and Mario Parente of the University of Massachusetts Amherst cautioned that non-biological processes could also explain the findings. Lead researcher Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University told The Associated Press, “All we can say is that one possible explanation is microbial life, but there could be other processes that created these features.” He added that the sample is the most compelling candidate so far in the rover’s search for signs of ancient life. The discovery was published in the journal Nature. Collected last summer, the sample comes from reddish, clay-rich mudstones in Neretva Vallis, a river channel that once flowed into Jezero Crater. The sedimentary outcrop, known as the Bright Angel formation, was studied by Perseverance’s science instruments before the rover drilled into it. In addition to organic carbon, a key building block of life, Hurowitz’s team found tiny mineral specks, nicknamed “poppy seeds” and “leopard spots,” enriched with iron phosphate and iron sulfide. On Earth, these compounds form when microorganisms consume organic material. “There is no evidence of microbes on Mars today,” Bishop and Parente wrote in an accompanying editorial, “but if any had existed on ancient Mars, they might have produced sulfides by reducing sulfate minerals in a lake at Jezero Crater.” Although there is no evidence of present-day Martian life, NASA has long targeted past watery environments on Mars that may have supported life billions of years ago. Perseverance was launched in 2020, with initial plans to return samples to Earth by the early 2030s. However, the timeline has now been pushed into the 2040s due to rising costs, currently estimated at $11 billion. Until the samples are transported back to Earth, scientists will rely on Earth-based experiments to study their potential for harboring ancient life, Hurowitz said. NASA acting Administrator Sean Duffy noted that budgets and timing will guide future efforts and suggested that advanced equipment might be sent to Mars to analyze the samples on-site. “All options are on the table,” he said. Ten titanium sample tubes were previously deposited on the Martian surface as a backup to those aboard the rover, forming part of NASA’s ongoing but still uncertain sample return mission.

NASA has released the first high-resolution images of the main-belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, revealing its unusual peanut-like shape following a key encounter by the Lucy spacecraft earlier this year. The images were captured on April 20, when the Lucy mission performed a fly-by of the asteroid, located in the solar system’s main asteroid belt. The milestone serves as a crucial test ahead of the mission’s primary goal — exploring Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. Using its L'LORRI imager, Lucy captured the high-resolution images just minutes before its closest approach to the asteroid. The photos reveal that Donaldjohanson is larger than previously estimated, measuring approximately 8 kilometers long and 3.5 kilometers wide at its broadest point. Its elongated, peanut-like shape features a rough, cratered surface. According to NASA, the asteroid rotates slowly, taking 251 hours to complete one full rotation. Scientists are now analyzing the fly-by data to gain further insights into the asteroid's structure and composition. Sharing the newly released image, NASA wrote, “Asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy spacecraft from a range of about 1,700 miles (2,700 km), about 3.2 minutes before closest approach on April 20, 2025. This is the highest resolution image yet of the entire asteroid, taken just before it overfilled the L'LORRI field of view. The smallest visible features are about 130 feet (40 meters) across. The illumination conditions, with the Sun almost behind Lucy, greatly reduce the contrast of topographic details.” Chinese scientists develop new device to convert tire friction into clean energy The asteroid is named after anthropologist Donald Johanson, who discovered the famous fossilised skeleton known as “Lucy,” a key find in the study of human ancestry. NASA’s Lucy mission takes its name from the fossil, the agency confirmed. NASA scientists described the successful fly-by as a "dress rehearsal," demonstrating that both the spacecraft and mission team are prepared for the main objective — exploring Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. The spacecraft is currently in a quiet cruise phase, traveling through the main asteroid belt at speeds exceeding 30,000 mph (50,000 km/h). Lucy is expected to begin its Trojan asteroid encounters in August 2027, starting with asteroid Eurybates. Over the course of less than 15 months, the mission will conduct four encounters and observe at least six asteroids, including two small satellites identified by the Lucy team. Source: NDTV

NASA’s Lucy mission has captured stunning new images during its latest asteroid flyby, revealing a bizarre, elongated space rock with an uneven, lumpy shape. Released on Monday, the photos came just one day after Lucy’s close encounter with the asteroid, which served as a trial run ahead of more high-stakes missions near Jupiter. The asteroid, dubbed Donaldjohanson, turned out to be larger than scientists had predicted — stretching roughly 5 miles (8 kilometers) in length and about 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) across at its widest. With its peculiar, bowling pin-like form, the asteroid was too large to be fully captured in the spacecraft’s first image set. NASA expects that more data downloaded in the coming week will provide a clearer picture of the asteroid’s structure and dimensions. Lucy came within just 600 miles (960 kilometers) of Donaldjohanson during Sunday’s flyby, which took place in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid was named in honor of paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson, who discovered the famous early human fossil “Lucy” in Ethiopia 50 years ago — the spacecraft’s namesake. Launched in 2021, Lucy is on a long-term mission to explore the mysterious Trojan asteroids that orbit near Jupiter. Over the next eight years, it’s set to perform flybys of eight different Trojans, with the final one scheduled for 2033.                

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is gearing up for a close encounter with a small asteroid this weekend, offering scientists a glimpse into the early days of the solar system—and a test run for a bigger journey to come. Launched in 2021, Lucy is on a 12-year mission to study a total of 11 asteroids, including a rare group known as the Trojans that orbit near Jupiter. Sunday’s flyby marks the second asteroid encounter for the spacecraft and will serve as a trial ahead of its first Trojan asteroid rendezvous in 2027. AI-enabled drone deployed in Germany to accelerate wildfire detection and response   This weekend, Lucy will pass wihin 596 miles (960 kilometers) of an asteroid named Donaldjohanson, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid is roughly 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) long, though its exact dimensions and shape remain uncertain—a mystery Lucy aims to help solve as it speeds by at over 30,000 mph (48,000 kph). Donaldjohanson is believed to be a fragment of a much larger object shattered in a cosmic collision around 150 million years ago. Unlike typical round space rocks, scientists suspect this one could have an unusual shape—possibly elongated like a bowling pin or snowman, similar to Arrokoth, the distant Kuiper Belt object NASA explored in 2019. There’s also a chance it could be two separate elongated asteroids. “We don’t know what to expect. That’s what makes this so cool,” said Hal Levison, the mission’s lead scientist at the Southwest Research Institute. “It’s not going to be a basic potato. We already know that.” Lucy will power up all three of its science instruments during the flyby to collect images and data. But because the spacecraft must rotate its antenna away from Earth to track the asteroid, no live communication will be possible during the encounter. Scientists at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Control in Colorado expect to begin receiving data roughly 12 minutes after it’s transmitted across the 139 million miles (223 million kilometers) separating Earth from the asteroid. Among those watching closely will be Donald Johanson, the paleontologist for whom the asteroid is named. He discovered the famous human ancestor “Lucy” in Ethiopia 50 years ago—after whom the spacecraft is named—and plans to be at Mission Control for the flyby. If all goes as planned, Lucy’s brief encounter with the asteroid will offer valuable practice and insights before it moves on to its ultimate target: the mysterious Trojan asteroids near Jupiter, remnants from the solar system’s formation more than 4 billion years ago.    

International Hope School Bangladesh (IHSB) is making its fourth appearance at the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC), representing Bangladesh on a global stage once again. This year, IHSB is the only high school team from Bangladesh selected to participate in both categories of the competition—the human-powered challenge and the remote-controlled challenge. SSC, equivalent exams begin across country Hosted annually by NASA, the HERC is a renowned event that engages students from around the world in hands-on engineering challenges inspired by real-world problems in space exploration. The 2024 edition kicked off on April 10 at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, USA. As a returning participant, IHSB is showcasing its continued dedication to STEM innovation. With an expanded team and enhanced vision, the 26-member group has been working tirelessly on research, design, and testing to prepare for this year's challenge. The team is being mentored by advisors Abul Kalam Azad and Moonzoor Morshed, with technical guidance from Shahidul Hassan Monti and Iftekhar Hossain. Student team leads Shajadi Ayman Sultana and Mahjabin Alam Roshni are leading the charge in this ambitious endeavour. Accompanying the team are Kamrul Ahsan, head of the senior section at IHSB’s Uttara branch; Rockibul Karim, deputy head of the Gulshan branch; and teachers Adnan Shihab Ahmed and Saima Samad. School chairman Timothy Donald Fisher encouraged the team with a heartfelt message: "You are not only representing the school but your country. Carry the green and red with honour and make Bangladesh proud." "We are extremely grateful for our technical advisor teachers. Their guidance, resilience, and patience helped us turn our rovers into reality,’ said the student team. SSC, equivalent exam begins Thursday "From research papers, presentations, to engineering – our team is dedicated to shining in all sectors of the challenge. This esteemed competition plays an integral role in providing young enthusiasts with an amazing opportunity, especially those with a keen interest in STEM and robotics,” the team also said. "Every member of the team brings passion and expertise to the table, and together, we’re building a project that is not just about competition; it is about creating a real-world impact, it added. NASA’s HERC continues to be a vital platform for encouraging student innovation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The event brings together student teams from around the globe to develop creative solutions to the challenges of space exploration.

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday said Bangladesh’s commitment to the Artemis Accords will enhance the country’s engagement with NASA and the international community. “By signing the accords, Bangladesh builds upon an important foundation for the open, responsible and peaceful exploration of space,” he said. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) congratulated Bangladesh as the 54th nation to commit to the safe and responsible exploration of space that benefits humanity. Dr Yunus to hold breakfast meetings with Chinese, Korean investors to fast-track investment Bangladesh and NASA signed the Artemis Accords, marking a significant step in non-military space exploration.