The first stars in the early universe could've formed far earlier than scientists first believed, new findings from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest, opening new questions about the evolution of galaxies shortly after the Big Bang. Researchers had expected to find so-called Population III stars in the latest Hubble observations, but turned up empty-handed.
NASA is lending some of its supercomputing muscle to COVID-19 research. NASA's supercomputers have been working on a range of projects, including basic science, on how the virus interacts with the cells in the human body to genetic risk factors to screening for potential therapeutic drugs. NASA's joined a consortium of institutions that is pairing up supercomputing resources with proposals for using high-end computing for COVID-19 research studies.
It's not the first time that men and women have been catapulted into space but NASA, SpaceX, and mankind reached a historic milestone last Saturday nonetheless. May 30, 2020 will be remembered by many as the first time NASA astronauts made such a journey aboard a SpaceX commercial spacecraft. That was literally only half the journey and, Sunday morning, that lucky pair made history again, this time being the first to board the International Space Station from that same commercially-made capsule.
NASA and SpaceX have made space history, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying two American astronauts safely blasting off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida today. The launch had been delayed, after plans last week had been scrapped at the last minute because of inclement weather.
Weeks ago, NASA revealed that it was working on a special ventilator designed specifically for COVID-19 patients. The prototype was created by NASA engineers in a little over a month and soon after was granted an Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA. Now, only a couple of weeks later, the space agency is back with an update: it has selected eight US companies to make the ventilators.
So remember that SpaceX Startship SN3 implosion we witnessed back in early April of this year? Today SpaceX SN4 and its Raptor engine took part in a static fire test. The main bit of the test went great... then something went very wrong. NOTE: This explosion has no direct relation to the SpaceX launch still scheduled to take place on May 30, 2020 (tomorrow).
NASA has dedicated years to searching for potentially habitable Earth-like planets called exoplanets. The space agency has a huge list of these planets, some of which are more interesting than others. One such exoplanet is Kepler-1649c; it orbits the red dwarf star Kepler-1649, which is around 300 light-years from our own planet and is the subject of a newly published piece of artwork.
Today the SpaceX/NASA launch was scrubbed due to imperfect atmospheric conditions. This was expected partway through the day due to inclement weather - and the appearance of a tornado in the area. NASA reported that, had they been working with a slightly more open launch window, they might've been able to launch a little later T-0, but this was an "instantaneous launch window" that could not be changed.
![SpaceX NASA launch: How to watch live [UPDATE: Scrubbed]](https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/spaceagwea-1280x720.jpg)
Today NASA's Commercial Crew Program will launch NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on a SpaceX Crew Dragon to the ISS. The International Space Station will receive the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft after the 4:33 EDT launch today on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. To participate and watch live, you'll want to take a few steps.
NASA has equipped its Mars rover Perseverance with two tools named after a popular fictional duo. Called "Sherloc" and Watson, each tool is part of a system that will enable NASA to investigate Mars rocks as small as a grain of sand. Sherloc is located on the rover's robotic arm; it includes a laser and spectrometers that work alongside the Watson camera.
NASA has been conducting experiments to learn how fire grows and spreads in space. The most recent experiment was Saffire IV, and it had longer and stronger flames inside a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft than in past tests. NASA wants to know how flames grow and spread in space, so it can help protect astronauts as they travel to the moon and beyond.
The COVID-19 coronavirus has put many plans on hold, some indefinitely even. The events of the past months may have forced many to lose sight of the future but these events give humanity even more reason to rise up to the challenge. As the saying goes, "ad astra per aspera" and SpaceX and NASA are taking that to its literal next step when SpaceX makes history with its first crewed mission this week.