Air & Space Forces – about 48m ago
Japan is preparing for a historic round-trip mission to the Martian system, where its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft aims to collect and return soil samples from Mars's moon Phobos. In civil spaceflight news, the crew of NASA’s planned Artemis II mission was honored with the Stephen Hawking Medal at the Starmus festival. In military developments, defense officials detailed the effort required to deliver a legendary F-117A stealth aircraft to the Smithsonian Institution. On the scientific front, new computer simulations are exploring nuclear options for asteroid threat mitigation, while researchers report that salt crystals may offer clues to potential life beneath the icy surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Additionally, astronomers studying an isolated, starless cloud indicate it could be a "dark galaxy," and researchers have issued a public call for assistance to help detect "missing" black holes across the Milky Way. Looking ahead, skywatchers should prepare for the peak of the annual Orionid meteor shower next week.