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© 2026 Developments Today. All rights reserved.

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flying above Rogers Dry Lake in California with its landing gear extended during a test flight on May 12, 2026. The aircraft’s long, nose and white fuselage are visible against the light tan desert surface below.

NASA’s X-59 nears a pivotal first supersonic flight

NASA expects the X-59 to make its first supersonic flight in early June.
A later test aims for Mach 1.4 at about 55,000 feet.
Current flights focus on performance and shock-wave data, not quiet-boom demonstrations.

DE

DT Editorial Team·May 29, 2026·via nasa.gov

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NASA astronaut performs spacewalk while working onboard the ISS

NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan retires after 12 years at the agency

Andrew Morgan retired from NASA after a 12-year agency career.
He spent 272 days aboard the ISS and completed seven spacewalks in one mission.
Four of those spacewalks focused on Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer repairs.

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DT Editorial Team·May 28, 2026·via nasa.gov

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Galactic Neighborhoods infographic

NASA’s Roman telescope aims to uncover 100,000 exoplanets

NASA expects Roman to reveal around 100,000 exoplanets.
The telescope will search regions of the Milky Way largely missed by prior surveys.
Scientists hope to compare how planet formation varies across different galactic environments.

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DT Editorial Team·May 28, 2026·via nasa.gov

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Artist's impression of astrophysical calibration. Credit: Carl Knox/OzGrav/Swinburne

LVK researchers say a new ‘astrophysical calibration’ technique could improve how gravitational-wave detectors recover a

The LVK collaboration has developed a post-processing method called astrophysical calibration.
The approach uses strong signals and general relativity expectations to improve detector data.
Researchers demonstrated the technique on two prominent gravitational-wave events.

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DT Editorial Team·May 28, 2026·via universetoday.com

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A star in the Large Magellanic Cloud briefly got brighter, perhaps a microlensing event (Credit : NASA/Ames Research Centre)

Mysterious microlensing flash points to rogue world or primordial black hole

Astronomers detected a one-hour microlensing event in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The lensing object may have a mass about three times that of Earth’s Moon.
Possible explanations include a rogue planet, an extragalactic planet, or a primordial black hole.

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DT Editorial Team·May 28, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Sentinel-6 satellite map of the Pacific Ocean (Mar 2, 2026) showing sea level anomalies in false color: red/orange = above average, green = normal, blue = below average.

Sentinel-6 spots Pacific warming that points to El Niño later this year

Sentinel-6 observed a warm Kelvin wave reach the Pacific off South America in May.
NASA says the sea-level signal indicates El Niño will likely emerge later in 2026.
The mission tracks ocean height globally every 10 days, helping scientists spot large-scale climate shifts early.

DE

DT Editorial Team·May 27, 2026·via nasa.gov

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NASA takes steps toward building Moon Base, including discussing a "perimeter"

NASA Pushes Moon Base Plans Forward With Rover and Lander Awards

NASA awarded rover contracts to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost.
Blue Origin will deliver the two rovers to the lunar surface.
The agency also stressed how much remains unknown about real lunar surface conditions.

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DT Editorial Team·May 27, 2026·via arstechnica.com

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NASA commits nearly $1 billion to the first Moon Base support missions

NASA commits nearly $1 billion to the first Moon Base support missions

NASA awarded major contracts for two lunar terrain vehicles and their delivery.
Blue Origin will use Blue Moon Mark 1 to carry the rovers to the Moon.
The first robotic missions are meant to prepare for sustained operations near the lunar south pole.

DE

DT Editorial Team·May 27, 2026·via spaceflightnow.com

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An image of the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0416 with a three-color composite image of LAP1-B in "velocity space" (inset). Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/K. Nakajima et al. (2026)

JWST Spots the Most Chemically Primitive Early Galaxy Yet Seen

Astronomers studied LAP1-B, a galaxy seen 800 million years after the Big Bang.
The team says it is the most metal-poor early-universe galaxy yet observed.
The result offers a new route to studying conditions near the first generations of stars.

DE

DT Editorial Team·May 27, 2026·via universetoday.com

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NASA meatball

NASA Sets June 9 Reveal for Artemis III Crew and Mission Update

NASA has scheduled an Artemis III crew announcement for June 9.
The event will include a mission progress update.
Artemis III is meant to test docking between Orion and commercial lunar landing systems.
NASA positions the mission as a bridge to future lunar surface operations.

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DT Editorial Team·May 27, 2026·via nasa.gov

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Atmospheric fallout from the destructive re-entry of the ATV-3 vehicle taken from the Expedition-33 mission. Credit - NASA

Satellite megaconstellations may be creating an unexpected climate tradeoff

Researchers warn that megaconstellation launches may claim a growing share of launch-related climate impact.
The key concern is soot that can remain in the stratosphere for years.
The issue broadens space-policy debates beyond debris and astronomy impacts.

DE

DT Editorial Team·May 26, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Antarctic

NASA’s PUEO Turns Antarctica Into a Detector for the Extreme Universe

PUEO launched from Antarctica on Dec. 20, 2025 and flew for 23 days.
The mission uses Antarctic ice as a detection volume for radio signals from ultrahigh-energy neutrino interactions.
NASA says the instrument also can detect radio signatures from high-energy cosmic-ray air showers.

DE

DT Editorial Team·May 26, 2026·via science.nasa.gov

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Two people practice underwater operations in a Moon like environment. The person on the left is holding an U.S. flag.

NASA’s Artemis Surface Planning Runs Through Jaclyn Kagey

Jaclyn Kagey leads planning for Artemis lunar surface activities.
NASA says Artemis crews will explore the Moon’s South Pole.
Her work includes spacewalk timelines, training, and real-time operations planning.

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DT Editorial Team·May 26, 2026·via nasa.gov

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Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, NASA’s High Performance Spaceflight Computing processor packs the power of a full system-on-a-chip. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s New AI Space Processor Clears an Early Test Milestone

NASA’s HPSC chip completed its first round of environmental tests.
The processor is designed to deliver about 100 times the computing power of current systems.
The project aims to give future spacecraft more autonomy and faster onboard data analysis.

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DT Editorial Team·May 26, 2026·via universetoday.com

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This artist's illustration shows a pair of asteroids passing by the modern-day Earth. New research shows that impact craters on the ancient Earth could have created "oxygen oases," where hydrothermal activity supercharged the growth of cyanobacteria and their stromatolite structures. It suggests that the Late Heavy Bombardment could have played a role in the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere, paving the way for complex life. Image Credit: ESA/P.Carril

Impact Craters May Have Helped Early Earth Build Oxygen-Rich Niches

Researchers found stromatolites in the Hapcheon impact crater in South Korea.
The study links post-impact hydrothermal lakes to local oxygen-producing microbial blooms.
Frequent impacts on early Earth may have created repeated habitable niches.

DE

DT Editorial Team·May 25, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Mission commander Chun Wang works on his laptop with Earth looming outside the window of SpaceX's Dragon capsule during the Fram2 mission in 2025. (Chun Wang / SpaceX via X)

Private Space Ambition Shifts From Lunar Tourism Toward a Mars Flyby Pitch

Private astronaut Chun Wang said he is working toward a future Starship flyby of Mars.
SpaceX reportedly said such a round trip would take two years, though no timeline was given.
Wang also plans a lunar flyby as a nearer-term step.

DE

DT Editorial Team·May 25, 2026·via universetoday.com

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The Drake Equation: a mathematical formula for estimating the probability of finding advanced civilizations in the Universe. Credit: University of Rochester

SETI’s ‘brief window’ idea keeps the Fermi paradox grounded in timing rather than aliens alone

Universe Today revisits the idea that civilizations may be detectable only for a short time.
The concept centers on Frank Drake’s longevity factor in the Drake Equation.
The theory offers a practical explanation for the Fermi paradox without exotic assumptions.

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DT Editorial Team·May 25, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Illustration depicting how alien life could be incorrectly identified on some worlds while being correctly identified on other worlds. (Credit: NASA)

AI May Help Space Missions Avoid Missing Signs of Alien Life

Researchers argue false negatives in astrobiology deserve more attention.
Life could be missed because it is sparse, inactive, unfamiliar, or beyond instrument reach.
The study suggests AI could help detect subtle patterns that human analysts overlook.

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DT Editorial Team·May 25, 2026·via universetoday.com

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SpaceX Targets Its 60th Orbital Flight of 2026 With Another Starlink Launch

SpaceX Targets Its 60th Orbital Flight of 2026 With Another Starlink Launch

SpaceX plans to launch 29 more Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral.
The mission would be the company’s 60th orbital flight of 2026.
Booster B1078 is slated for its 28th flight and a drone-ship landing.

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DT Editorial Team·May 24, 2026·via spaceflightnow.com

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Image of 3I/ATLAS captured by the Subaru Telescope on December 13th, 2025. Credit: NAOJ

Two Jupiter Missions Helped Scientists Study an Interstellar Comet From Both Sides

JUICE and Europa Clipper observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS at the same time from different positions.
The ultraviolet data captured hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon emissions from material released after solar heating.
Researchers reported higher-than-expected carbon emissions compared with Solar System comets.

DE

DT Editorial Team·May 24, 2026·via universetoday.com

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