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© 2026 Developments Today. All rights reserved.

a map of the us showing the possible aurora view line for tonight courtesy of NOAA

Solar Storm Sends Auroras Across 18 US States Tonight

Multiple CMEs are producing a G3-G4 geomagnetic storm, pushing aurora visibility as far south as Illinois
Prime viewing window is 10 PM to 2 AM local time; face north and dark-adapt for 15 minutes before judging
Solar Cycle 25 has exceeded activity predictions, contributing to frequent mid-latitude aurora events

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 19, 2026·4 min read·via space.com

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Tons of stars are seen against a dark sky.

Astronomers Find Rare Second-Generation Star From Ancient Universe

Astronomers discovered an extremely rare, iron-deficient second-generation star that formed from a single Population III supernova
The star's chemical fingerprint provides direct evidence of how the universe's first stars seeded heavy elements
Such stars were detected using high-resolution spectroscopy across databases of millions of stellar spectra
The findings help constrain the mass and explosion energetics of the universe's first stellar generation

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 19, 2026·4 min read·via space.com

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a large silver rocket stands on a launch pad at sunset

SpaceX Fires Up Next-Gen V3 Starship for First Time

SpaceX completed the first static fire test of its V3 Starship Super Heavy booster on March 16
The V3 variant features upgraded Raptor engines targeting 100+ metric tonne payload capacity to LEO
An April launch is targeted pending FAA clearance and post-static-fire inspection results
Booster catch-and-reuse capability is key to achieving the rapid relaunch cadence SpaceX requires

DE

DT Editorial Team·Mar 19, 2026·4 min read·via space.com

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Photo taken by Bettymaya Foott as part of an astrophotography project with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Very Large Array (VLA).
Credit: Bettymaya Foott, NRAO/AUI/NSF

Scientists Call for SETI to Expand Beyond Narrow Radio Spectrum

A new paper argues that 60+ years of narrow radio/microwave SETI searches have produced no results and the methodology needs rethinking
Authors propose expanding to optical, infrared, gamma-ray, and X-ray frequencies plus broader technosignature detection
Modern machine learning tools make a wider-spectrum search computationally practical for the first time

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 18, 2026·4 min read·via universetoday.com

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Artemis 2 Moon Rocket Rolls to Pad March 20, Launch Set for April 1

NASA will roll the Artemis 2 SLS rocket to Launch Complex 39B on March 20, maintaining an April 1 crewed lunar launch target
The mission is a free-return trajectory around the Moon, testing all Orion systems with four astronauts aboard
Artemis 2 will set a record for the farthest human travel from Earth, surpassing Apollo 13's distance

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 18, 2026·3 min read·via space.com

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The asteroid Ryugu, a sample collected from it and the five nucleobases of DNA and RNA

Ryugu Asteroid Sample Holds All Five DNA Building Blocks

All five DNA/RNA nucleobases confirmed in Ryugu asteroid material returned by Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft
Contamination-controlled sample collection makes this the most definitive extraterrestrial nucleobase detection to date
Supports the hypothesis that carbonaceous asteroids delivered life's chemical building blocks to the early Earth

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 18, 2026·3 min read·via space.com

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a row of compact satellites are seen orbiting above a blue and white planet

SpaceX Crosses 10,000 Active Starlink Satellites in Orbit

SpaceX surpassed 10,000 active Starlink satellites in LEO after two same-day Falcon 9 launches on March 17
The density milestone enables consistent sub-30ms latency — additional satellites now add capacity more than coverage
SpaceX has FCC authorization for 12,000 first-gen satellites and has applied for up to 30,000 second-generation additions

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 18, 2026·3 min read·via space.com

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An aircraft resting on a section of runway as seen from the side. The X-59 has a long, thin nose that accounts for nearly a third of its length, along with sleek wings and an engine mounted above its body, just below its tail. The early morning sky is dark in the background with the sunrise just starting to emerge.

NASA's X-59 Quiet Supersonic Jet Heads Into Test Flights

NASA's X-59 experimental aircraft is advancing through early test flights as part of the Quesst quiet supersonic mission
The aircraft is designed to produce a 75-decibel sonic thump instead of disruptive booms from conventional supersonic planes
Successful tests could support FAA regulatory changes to allow commercial supersonic flights over land for the first time since the 1970s

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 17, 2026·3 min read·via nasa.gov

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SpaceX Reaches 10,000 Starlink Satellites in Orbit

SpaceX Reaches 10,000 Starlink Satellites in Orbit

SpaceX now has more than 10,000 Starlink satellites simultaneously active in low Earth orbit
The milestone was crossed less than seven years after the first Starlink launch in May 2019
The 615th Falcon 9 flight achieving the milestone coincided with the 100th anniversary of Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 17, 2026·4 min read·via spaceflightnow.com

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illustration of two bluish-white spheres colliding in deep space

Big Bang Matter May Lurk Inside Neutron Stars

Neutron star cores may contain quark-gluon plasma — the primordial state of matter from microseconds after the Big Bang
Gravitational wave data from mergers and NICER X-ray observations provide indirect but consistent evidence
Next-generation detectors like Einstein Telescope could detect post-merger signals carrying quark matter signatures
Confirming quark matter in neutron stars would validate quantum chromodynamics across an extraordinary range of conditions

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 16, 2026·5 min read·via space.com

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a man stands next to a tall wire frame cone-shaped object in a snowy field

Robert Goddard's Rocket: 100 Years Since the First Flight

March 16, 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of Robert Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket flight in Auburn, Massachusetts
The rocket flew for 2.5 seconds, reaching 41 feet altitude and traveling 184 feet in distance
Goddard developed gyroscopic guidance, cryogenic propellant handling, and other innovations that underpin all modern rocketry
From a cabbage patch landing in 1926 to weekly orbital launches today, Goddard's proof of concept set the trajectory

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 16, 2026·6 min read·via space.com

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a massive underground chamber lined wall-to-wall with golden orbs

Underground Detector May Catch Light From Stars Older Than Earth

Deep underground detectors are nearing sensitivity to detect the diffuse supernova neutrino background
The signal encodes the complete history of stellar death across 13.8 billion years
Hyper-Kamiokande and DUNE represent a step change in neutrino astrophysics capability

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 16, 2026·3 min read·via space.com

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NASA Inspector General Flags Moon Lander Risk Management Gaps

NASA's OIG found the Artemis Human Landing System risk registry is incomplete and schedule assumptions are overly optimistic
OIG recommends NASA negotiate enhanced safety verification rights for SpaceX's Starship lunar configuration
NASA agreed with most recommendations and committed to updating risk tracking and schedule review processes

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 15, 2026·3 min read·via oig.nasa.gov

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NASA Clears Artemis 2 for Another Shot at Moon Launch

NASA cleared Artemis 2 for its second launch attempt after fixing SLS quick-disconnect fittings and Orion thermal protection issues
Mission will carry four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby — first crewed flight beyond Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972
Success is critical for the path to Artemis 3's planned Moon landing, with China aiming to land taikonauts before 2030

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 15, 2026·3 min read·via space.com

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Daily Minor Planet

NASA's Asteroid Hunt Gets a More Powerful Telescope

Daily Minor Planet project expanded to include Bok 2.3m telescope data, detecting asteroids 2-3x fainter
Citizen scientists identify faint moving objects that automated pipelines miss at the detection limit
Deeper, ecliptic-focused coverage will substantially increase near-Earth asteroid discoveries and confirmations

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 15, 2026·2 min read·via science.nasa.gov

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Volunteers

Citizen Scientists Find That Persistent Sunspots Are Far More Dangerous

Long-lived solar active regions are 3-6x more likely to produce X-class solar flares than typical regions
Citizen scientists classified Solar Dynamics Observatory image pairs to build the dataset behind this finding
Result could significantly improve space weather forecasting by flagging persistent active regions as high-risk

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 15, 2026·2 min read·via science.nasa.gov

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Astroscale selects Isar Aerospace to launch ELSA-M mission

Astroscale Picks Isar Aerospace to Launch Its Space Debris Cleanup Mission

Astroscale selected Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket to launch its ELSA-M multi-client satellite deorbiting mission
ELSA-M is designed to sequentially deorbit multiple satellites in a single mission, dramatically reducing the per-satellite cost of debris removal
Low Earth orbit now contains over 36,500 tracked debris objects, with Kessler syndrome cascade risks growing as mega-constellations expand

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 14, 2026·4 min read·via spacenews.com

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China is developing low-cost lunar cargo options for its expanding moon program

China Is Building a Budget Lunar Cargo System for Moon Base Construction

A Chinese state space contractor unveiled a concept for a low-cost lunar cargo transport system to supply its planned Moon base
China's ILRS program targets a permanent lunar research station by the early 2030s, requiring massive cargo logistics at sustainable cost
Reducing lunar cargo costs from tens of thousands to a few thousand dollars per kilogram could transform Moon base economics

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 14, 2026·4 min read·via spacenews.com

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Credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/AURA/H. Stockebrand

Third Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Marks New Era of Detection

Three interstellar objects detected since 2017 after millennia of none, due to better telescopes
Vera Rubin Observatory could detect dozens of interstellar visitors during its decade of operations
Each visitor carries unique chemical data about the planetary system that ejected it

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 14, 2026·4 min read·via universetoday.com

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Images of the 2024 solar storm captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory's instruments, developed by the ESA/NASA. The bright spots to the right of the Sun are Jupiter and Venus. Credit: NASA/ESA

Solar Superstorm Slams Mars, Disrupting ESA Spacecraft

ESA's Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter experienced radiation-induced glitches during the storm
Mars's ionosphere expanded dramatically as solar particles deposited energy into the atmosphere
Data directly informs radiation shielding requirements for future crewed Mars missions

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DT Editorial Team·Mar 14, 2026·4 min read·via universetoday.com

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