NASA’s Quantum Lab Aboard Space Station Gets Chilly Upgrade - NASA

• NASA's James Webb Space Telescope observed HD 80606 b, an exoplanet four times the mass of Jupiter with a highly elliptical orbit. • The planet experiences extreme heating as its orbit brings it exceptionally close to its Sun-like host star.

• NASA astronaut Anil Menon will be available for limited virtual media interviews starting at 9 a.m. EDT on Monday, June 22. • A native of Minneapolis, Menon is a colonel in the U.S. Space Force, a mechanical engineer, and an emergency medicine physician.

• U.S. scientists are increasingly leaving the United States for opportunities abroad, signaling a potential "brain drain" that could impact scientific progress for a generation. • The trend is driven by a desire for better research environments and professional growth, as illustrated by researchers like Long, who sought to move beyond small institutions like Tennessee Tech University.

• NASA's Chandra X-ray spacecraft has discovered the wreckage of a dead star located at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. • The supernova event occurred approximately 1,700 years ago, ejecting stellar debris at speeds of roughly 2 million mph.

• The traditional compact between American science and politics is fracturing, exemplified by budget hawks in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pressuring NASA to implement broad buyouts and early retirement packages. • This political interference extends to research constraints, where scientists like Christopher Reynolds face potential project cancellations and funding instability.

• A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station on June 16 at 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 GMT). • The robotic freighter is now beginning a 20-hour journey to return to Earth.

• Research scientist Nigel Meredith of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has collaborated with professional artists to transform space weather data into music. • The project converts radio waves, used by the BAS to study the links between outer space and Earth’s climate, into melodic and "weird" sounds.

• Astrobotic has unveiled the Griffin-1 lunar lander, designed to support NASA's Moon Base mission. • The lander is engineered to transport one of the heaviest payloads ever delivered to the lunar surface, including an Astrolab rover.

• NASA is reportedly shifting its priorities away from the active search for life on Mars, placing the long-standing quest in a state of limbo. • This pivot comes 50 years after the Viking 1 mission initiated the search for Martian organisms, a goal once championed by scientists like Carl Sagan and Joshua Lederberg.

• NASA's SpaceX CRS-34 Dragon spacecraft has returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean after completing its mission. • The spacecraft is transporting a significant volume of biological samples, materials samples, and tested hardware from the International Space Station.

• NASA is inviting digital creators and social media users to register for a "NASA Social" event to commemorate the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. • As NASA's next flagship astrophysics mission, the telescope is designed to study the outer solar system, dark energy, and the overall structure of the cosmos.