NASA Calibration Instrument Records First Measurements in Space - NASA Science

• Miami-based City Labs has achieved a significant milestone with the BOHR mission, marking a first for commercial nuclear power in space. • The mission serves as a critical pathfinder designed to test the viability of nuclear power systems for future spacecraft.

• Environmental and scientific organizations are calling for mandatory federal environmental reviews of proposed space-based data center projects. • Critics argue that deploying potentially millions of orbiting data centers without oversight is "reckless" and irresponsible.

• NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers are currently testing a new spacecraft sensor designed to measure the rate of Arctic sea ice loss. • This effort follows a field campaign conducted in April, where scientists combined space-based instrument data with direct aerial observations to study ice patterns.

• Astronomers from the University of California, Irvine, have updated their findings on an exoplanet located just 25 light years from Earth. • A new study published in The Astrophysical Journal reveals the planet is significantly smaller than previously estimated, possessing roughly twice the mass of Earth.

• NASA's agency chief confirmed the capture of unexplained UFO imagery and stated his belief that "there's life everywhere" in the cosmos. • The agency revealed ambitious future plans to explore and "invade" other worlds to further investigate extraterrestrial life.

• President Trump has appointed Matthew Wielicki, a known climate skeptic and PragerU contributor, to lead the U.S. government’s flagship climate report. • Wielicki has a history of publicly criticizing established climate science, raising concerns about the objectivity of the government's environmental assessments.

• A Chinese spacecraft has captured the first-ever image of the asteroid Kamo‘oalewa, which is considered a "quasi-moon" of Earth. • Unlike many asteroids, Kamo‘oalewa is believed to be a solid, rigid rock rather than a loose collection of debris.

• A new preprint paper challenges a high-profile cosmology study recently published in the journal *Nature*, claiming the original research contains an "elemental" mistake. • Physicist Sawala argues that the error likely slipped through the traditional peer-review process, which relies on a small number of reviewers who may miss critical flaws.

• NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is currently in the clean room at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. • The telescope is preparing for its launch, which is scheduled to take place in August.

• MIT nuclear physicist Areg Danagoulian has proposed a method to detect nuclear weapons in Earth's orbit by utilizing the Van Allen radiation belts. • The strategy leverages the belts' high-energy charged particles, which are trapped by Earth's magnetic field and often travel at near-light speeds.

• A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched early Thursday morning, July 9, at 5:25 a.m. ET. • This specific booster has achieved a record-breaking milestone by flying for the 36th time.