Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

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Several scientific organizations have announced the detection of what appears to be an interstellar comet, which has consequently received the designation 3I/ATLAS. It could be a large comet, with an estimated width of around 20 kilometers, but the first estimates of the size of its nucleus are still very rough. Its trajectory will take it within the orbit of Mars, but, together with its considerable speed, it will only lead to a limited direction change by the Sun’s gravity. Unfortunately, it will never get close enough to Earth to allow detailed observations, but any interstellar object is very interesting for astronomers. This is the third officially recognized “visitor” after 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.

Arcadia Planitia on Mars

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ESA has published a photo of the Arcadia Planitia region on Mars captured by its Mars Express space probe’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). This is an interesting region from a geological point of view because it’s northwest of the large volcanoes of Tharsis, the largest in the entire solar system, and traces of ancient lava flows are still visible. It could be important for the exploration of the red planet if confirmation of the presence of frozen water right under the surface were to arrive.

The Crew Dragon Grace spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket to start its Ax-4 mission (Image NASA)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Grace spacecraft was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on the Axiom Mission 4, or simply Ax-4, mission. After about twelve minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage. It will spend up to 14 days in orbit, almost all of which will be docked at the International Space Station. It also serves commercial purposes in a collaboration between SpaceX, Axiom Space, and various companies and national space agencies to access the Station for the purpose of conducting tasks useful for the development of new technologies and for scientific research.

SpaceX's Starship 36 prototype exploding (Image courtesy Jerry Pike / NASASpaceflight)

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A few hours ago, SpaceX was setting up the Starship 36 prototype for a static fire test, the ignition of the six Raptor engines on the ground in preparation for what was supposed to be the 10th launch test to be conducted together with the Super Heavy rocket. It was just after 11 pm in Texas when Starship 36 exploded. Even the static fire tests are conducted in safe conditions, so the SpaceX staff was well away from the prototype, and no one was injured. It must be said that mishaps can happen more easily with prototypes, but it’s clear that, at best, there will be further delays on the development schedule of a spacecraft that has already suffered three failures in the latest flight tests.

The Sun observed across eight different wavelengths by the Solar Orbiter space probe

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ESA has released the first information, including the first images, of the Sun’s South Pole, captured between March 16 and 17, 2025, by the Solar Orbiter space probe, a mission operated in collaboration with NASA. Three of the scientific instruments on board made it possible to observe that area in different electromagnetic bands: Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI), Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), and Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE). The Sun’s poles aren’t visible from Earth, and Solar Orbiter is observing them as never before. The first observations have already revealed some surprises.