Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission has uncovered critical evidence of primitive lunar mantle materials at the Moon’s Shiv Shakti Point, shedding new light on the Moon’s volatile history and interior composition. Data from the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) aboard the Pragyan rover has revealed anomalously low sodium and potassium levels, alongside elevated sulfur concentrations in the southern high-latitude soils. This is a stark contrast to samples collected from Apollo, Luna, and Chang’e missions. The APXS data support the lunar magma ocean hypothesis, which states that the Moon’s crust formed as plagioclase crystals floated to the surface during early magma cooling. Additionally, the findings reinforce the Shiv Shakti Point’s value as a site for sampling primitive mantle materials, which could clarify the timing of lava crystallisation and volatile distribution during the Moon’s early evolution.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers embarked on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), marking a significant step in the station’s ongoing upgrades. The primary tasks of the astronauts included relocating a communications antenna used for contact with approaching and departing spacecraft, and installing a mounting bracket on the station’s truss structure. This bracket will support the future installation of the International Space Station Rollout Solar Arrays (IROSAs), which are designed to boost the station’s power generation by up to 30 percent.
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will study how muscle loss happens in space during his 14-day-long mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Shukla will launch to the ISS on May 29 to become the first Indian astronaut to go to the flying laboratory with the private Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission. Meanwhile, Myogenesis is the biological process by which muscle tissue forms and regenerates. In the microgravity environment of space, this process is disrupted, leading to muscle atrophy, a significant concern for astronauts on long-duration missions. This research is crucial for developing treatments to prevent muscle atrophy in astronauts during long space missions.
Let the cosmic mapmaking begin! ✨
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) May 1, 2025
SPHEREx has started its science mission, scanning the entire sky in 102 infrared wavelengths to chart the positions of hundreds of millions of galaxies and uncover the universe's hidden secrets. https://t.co/0XPWumDSXT pic.twitter.com/xsRCvCdr2f
(Credit: X/@NASAJPL)
NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day for the next two years to provide new insights about the origins of the universe, galaxies, and the ingredients for life in the Milky Way. From its perch in Earth orbit, SPHEREx peers into the darkness, pointing away from the planet and the Sun. The observatory will complete more than 11,000 orbits over its 25 months of planned survey operations, circling Earth about 14½ times a day. As the days pass and the planet moves around the Sun, SPHEREx’s field of view shifts as well so that after six months, the observatory will have looked out into space in every direction.
