🚀 Space Superiority Race Shifts

🌌 Dwarf Stars Glittering Cosmos

🛰️ Comet ATLAS Unique Observation

🚀 American Space Superiority Quest

🚀 Russia Fixes Soyuz Pad

🔭 Hubble Sees Galactic Gas Flee

ESA/Webb scientists, using data from the EWOCS survey, captured a detailed portrait of the Westerlund 2 star cluster, a massive stellar breeding ground located 20,000 light-years away.

The Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) revealed hundreds of stars with discs and brown dwarfs as small as 10 times the mass of Jupiter.

This comprehensive data allows astronomers to study how planetary discs evolve in such extreme environments, facilitating a deeper understanding of planet formation, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) team used the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft to observe the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during its journey through our solar system.

The UVS instrument obtained a unique sunward view of the comet's tails and detected oxygen and hydrogen atoms from water molecules, confirming a period of high outgassing activity.

This data offers a deeper view into the comet's composition, helping scientists unravel its origin and evolution during its transit from another star system, according to SwRI project scientists.

The White House issued a new executive order detailing a comprehensive space policy focused on extending human reach, securing national interests, and growing a vibrant commercial space economy.

The directive mandates returning to the Moon by 2028, establishing a permanent lunar outpost by 2030, and deploying a lunar surface nuclear reactor within the same timeframe.

The policy aims to attract $50 billion in private investment, accelerate acquisition reform, and establish US leadership in cislunar security and space traffic management, according to the order.

Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, detailed its urgent plan to repair the critical Soyuz launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is essential for International Space Station (ISS) missions.

Pad 31 was damaged when a service structure fell into the flame trench during a Soyuz-2.1a launch, leaving the complex without its necessary service cabin for pre-flight preparations.

According to Roscosmos, over 130 staff are working to complete repairs by February 2026, which would allow critical cargo and crew flights to the space station to resume.

NASA/ESA (European Space Agency) scientists released a new Hubble Space Telescope image showcasing the spiral galaxy NGC 4388, a member of the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster.

The image captures the galaxy from a sideways orientation, revealing massive streams of gas being ejected from its central region, extending thousands of light-years into intergalactic space.

This gas stripping is likely caused by gravitational interactions within the dense Virgo cluster, a process that can ultimately halt star formation by removing the galaxy's essential fuel.