Vera C. Rubin Observatory Begins 10-Year Sky Survey, Cyborg Cockroaches Learn to Dive, NASA Announces Moon Base Missions
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile has started its decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time, capturing high-definition images of the universe every 40 seconds. Meanwhile, scientists have equipped cyborg cockroaches with diving suits to survive underwater for hours, and NASA has selected three companies for 2028 Moon base deliveries.
Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Cosmic Movie
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, home to the world's largest digital camera at 3,200 megapixels, officially began its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) on June 30. Over the next ten years, it will capture an image approximately every 40 seconds, repeatedly scanning the southern sky to create a time-lapse record of the universe. Initial test images, taken last summer, revealed millions of galaxies, countless stars, and thousands of previously unknown asteroids. Throughout the survey, each patch of sky will be revisited around 800 times, generating about 1,000 images per night and roughly ten terabytes of data daily. Brian Stone from the National Science Foundation described it as the greatest cosmic movie ever made, while Darío Gil of the Department of Energy noted that the observatory will redefine modern cosmology and astrophysics by studying dark energy and dark matter.
Cyborg Cockroach Diving Suits
Researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Waseda University in Japan have developed a flexible diving suit that allows cyborg cockroaches to survive underwater for up to three hours. The cyborgs are living Madagascar hissing cockroaches equipped with electronic controllers. The suit includes an oxygen generation tank, a flexible shell, and four silicone tubes connected to the roaches' spiracles. The tubes can be removed painlessly. The team published their findings in Nature Communications, noting that cyborg insects could assist in search and rescue operations by accessing hard-to-reach spaces. These roaches were already deployed after a devastating earthquake in Myanmar earlier this year.
NASA's 2028 Moon Base Deliveries
NASA has awarded contracts totaling nearly $600 million to Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines for four missions to the Moon, scheduled for late 2028. These missions will deliver science payloads for the planned Moon base, using updated lander designs based on previous CLPS program missions. Each delivery will carry three identical instruments: SCALPSS (Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume Surface Studies) to gather landing data, LRA (Laser Retroreflector Array) for precise spacecraft positioning, and LETS (Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer) to measure space radiation. Joel Kearns of NASA explained that flying the same instruments on multiple landers will help build a comprehensive lunar environmental network, similar to weather stations on Earth.
Other Science Highlights
The article also mentions that Rocket Lab is buying satellite company Iridium to compete with Starlink and Amazon's Leo network. Amazon is preparing to deploy its Leo satellite broadband service. The Space Shuttle Endeavour will go on public display later this year, and a NASA mission to rescue the falling Swift observatory has launched.
