A NASA technology experiment on the International Space Station completed its first laser link with an in-orbit laser relay system on Dec. 5, 2023. Together, they complete NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system.

NASA’s LCRD (Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) and the new space station demonstration, ILLUMA-T (Integrated LCRD Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal), successfully exchanged data for the first time. LCRD and ILLUMA-T are demonstrating how a user mission, in this case the space station, can benefit from a laser communications relay located in geosynchronous orbit.

When we look out at the Universe, even with Hubble, we’re only seeing the closest, biggest, brightest galaxies. Here’s where the rest are.

Galactic winds enable the exchange of matter between galaxies and their surroundings. In this way, they limit the growth of galaxies, that is, their star formation rate. Although this had already been observed in the local universe, an international research team led by a CNRS scientist1 has just revealed — using MUSE, 2 an instrument integrated into the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope — the existence of the phenomenon in galaxies which are more than 7 billion years old and actively forming stars, the category to which most galaxies belong.

The team’s findings, to be published in Nature on 6 December 2023, thus show this is a universal process.

Galactic winds are created by the explosion of massive stars.

Hours prior to the secretive spacecraft’s launch, SpaceX stood down from the 7th planned liftoff of the U.S. Space Force’s own X-37B reusable space plane, and even removed the Falcon Heavy rocket containing it from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad. The mission, known as USSF-52, was scrubbed on Wednesday (Dec. 13) to “perform additional system checkouts.” Exact reasons for this delay remain unknown, and a new date has yet to be set for launch.

Related: China’s mysterious space plane returns to Earth after 9-month orbital mission

Much like the X-37B, little is known about China’s reusable space plane, subbed Shenlong, or “Divine Dragon.” From what bits of information are available to the public, though, the spacecraft appears to be used for testing new payloads and orbital operations. It launches vertically atop a rocket, conducts its mission and then lands horizontally on a runway similar to NASA’s space shuttle.