NASA picks Lockheed Martin to build the nuclear rocket that’ll take us to Mars: NASA and DARPA have chosen aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin to develop a spacecraft with a nuclear thermal rocket engine. Announced in January, the initiative — in which BWX Technologies will provide the reactor and fuel — is dubbed the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO). https://www.engadget.com/nasa-picks-lockheed-martin-to-build-the-nuclear-rocket-thatll-take-us-to-mars-170035659.html
NASA lab hopes to find life's building blocks in asteroid sample: A sample from the asteroid Bennu, which could be key to understanding the formation of the solar system and our own planet, is set to be analyzed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston after it reaches Earth in late September. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nasa-lab-life-blocks-asteroid.html
Massive, Cloud-Like Planet Discovered That's as Fluffy as Cotton Candy: The galaxy can throw some odd curveballs, but an exoplanet discovered 1,232 light-years away is one of the oddest yet. It's WASP-193b, and while it's nearly 50 percent bigger than Jupiter, it's so light and fluffy that its overall density is comparable to that of cotton candy. https://www.sciencealert.com/massive-cloud-like-planet-discovered-thats-as-fluffy-as-cotton-candy
NASA thinks space is teeming with planets that have gone rogue: Over the years, scientists have found worlds that appear to aimlessly wander space alone, called rogue planets. https://mashable.com/article/nasa-rogue-planets
Hubble images a starstruck galaxy: The irregular galaxy Arp 263 lurks in the background of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, but the view is dominated by a stellar photobomber, the bright star BD+17 2217. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-hubble-images-starstruck-galaxy.html
Unexpectedly calm and remote galaxy cluster discovered: Astronomers have discovered the most distant "relaxed" galaxy cluster to date—the farthest cluster ever spotted that is not being disrupted by violent collisions with other clusters of galaxies. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-unexpectedly-calm-remote-galaxy-cluster.html