🚀 NASA Nominee Takes the Hot Seat

University of Oxford researchers Lyla Jung and Madalina Tudorache led a study discovering a massive cosmic filament where embedded galaxies rotate in sync with the entire structure's larger spin.

The team used MeerKAT radio telescope data to find a 50-million-light-year-long filament containing a row of galaxies rotating in sync at 68 miles (110 kilometers) per second.

Madalina Tudorache stated this filament is a "fossil record of cosmic flows," helping scientists piece together how galaxies acquire their spin and grow over time from larger cosmic structures.

Private astronaut Jared Isaacman appeared before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for his confirmation hearing, defending his proposed reform plans for the space agency.

Isaacman defended his "Project Athena" plan, characterizing the 62-page document as a "living document" meant to be refined with data and consistent with his prior testimony and interactions.

Isaacman testified that America is in a "great competition" with China, urging for action because falling behind in space could shift the balance of power here on Earth.

NASA technicians at the Goddard Space Flight Center have completed the full assembly of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, joining its inner and outer portions in a clean room.

The observatory's Wide Field Instrument features a 288-megapixel camera that will gather data hundreds of times faster than Hubble, amassing 20,000 terabytes over its five-year primary mission.

Senior project scientist Julie McEnery expects Roman to unveil more than 100,000 distant worlds and billions of galaxies, rapidly expanding our understanding of the universe after its launch.

Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, removed veteran cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev from the upcoming SpaceX Crew-12 mission, citing a transfer to another job just months before the scheduled February launch.

The Insider reported Artemyev was removed for violating International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) after he allegedly photographed SpaceX engines and other sensitive tech with his phone at SpaceX headquarters.

Launch analyst Gregory Trishkin has said that an interdepartmental investigation has been launched, noting it is difficult to imagine an experienced cosmonaut inadvertently committing such a gross violation.

A University of Hong Kong (HKU) team led by Dr. Tianyang Lyu used advanced numerical models to study planetary tectonics, seeking to explain why Earth is active while Venus is not.

Their statistical analysis of mantle convection models quantitatively identified six distinct tectonic regimes for the first time, including a newly discovered "episodic-squishy lid" that alternates between active and inactive states.

Dr. Maxim Ballmer noted the models link mantle convection with magmatic activity, providing a unified framework for understanding Earth's history, Venus's current state, and the search for habitable exoplanets.