Science News

NASA's Psyche spacecraft has successfully completed a close flyby of Mars, using the planet's gravity to gain speed and redirect its path toward the asteroid Psyche. On May 15, the spacecraft passed within 2,864 miles (4,609 kilometers) of the Martian surface, receiving a crucial gravitational assist without using additional onboard fuel. "We've confirmed that Mars gave the spacecraft a 1,000 mile-per-hour boost and shifted its orbital plane by about 1 degree relative to the Sun.

Some 50,000 residents of Garden Grove, California remain under an evacuation order Sunday as emergency response teams struggle to deal with a potentially explosive situation at a nearby aerospace manufacturing plant. Nobody was killed, but windows were blown out as far as 600 ft. There are still many environmental and health hazards The company which owns the plant, GKN Aerospace, said on Sunday that it was "working around the clock to mitigate the risk of a leak."

SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. This week, another wealthy space tourist — Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang — announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission.

Getting enough vitamin B12 to meet current health guidelines may not actually be enough to protect the aging brain.

Aging research is entering a new phase as scientists rethink one of the body's most mysterious cell types: senescent cells, often nicknamed "zombie cells." Despite growing excitement in the field, researchers caution that major challenges remain before senescence-targeting therapies can be widely used in medicine. Rather than viewing all senescent cells as dangerous, researchers increasingly believe the future of anti-aging medicine may depend on distinguishing harmful cells from beneficial ones.

SpaceX's latest version of it's mega rocket Starship goes through testing as it is prepared for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Eric.