Research lab
NASA's Houston center for human spaceflight, overseeing astronaut training, mission control, and research on space biology and exploration systems.
NASA and Berkeley Lab researchers imaged heat-shield materials in 3D as they broke down at up to 900 degrees Celsius, using X-rays and a neural network. Engineers now have a record of how ablation starts, though their design simulations have yet to use it.
Reality
NASA-led researchers report in Mayo Clinic Proceedings that astronauts' hip fracture rates rose after spaceflights longer than 90 days. With missions beyond six months planned, the authors want bone checks that look past density scans.
Reality
Illinois and NASA researchers imaged two spacecraft ablators decomposing in 3D at up to 900 C, using X-ray tomography at Berkeley Lab. Modellers now have a real decomposition sequence to test against, though the heating stayed at least 750 C below reentry surface temperatures.
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A Science Advances paper says hitchhiking Earth microbes can persist in shadowed niches sometimes no bigger than a footprint, which moves contamination control from hardware treatment to traverse planning.
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A Form D records securities sold as of its filing date. Persona AI's puts $65.36 million against a $141.96 million target, with $76.6 million still to sell and pre-production shipyard deliveries due at the end of 2026.
Reality
Engineers have published spacing and holding strategies for spacecraft waiting their turn at lunar Gateway, well ahead of the landers and cargo craft that will have to fly them.
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