European Space Agency announced on Thursday that it signed contracts with three European launch startups to develop small launch vehicles under its Launcher Challenge. Rocket Factory Augsburg received 186.9 million euros, mainly funded by Germany and the United Kingdom, to develop the RFA One rocket. PLD Space was awarded 158.9 million euros, primarily from Spain with German contributions, for the Miura 5 rocket. Isar Aerospace received 197.8 million euros, mainly from Germany with Austrian and Norwegian contributions, for the Spectrum launcher. A contract with MaiaSpace is pending finalization.

Galactic Energy said it is prepared to attempt the first orbital launch of its Pallas‑1 liquid‑propellant rocket between 22:52 ET on August 31 and 00:09 ET on September 1. The two‑stage vehicle has a 3.35 m diameter core, a 4.2 m fairing, a liftoff mass of 283 tons and thrust of 350 tons, with a maximum payload capacity of 7,000 kilograms to low‑Earth orbit. No recovery of the first stage is planned for the inaugural flight.

SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said the company will invest up to $100 billion to build Starship factories and launch facilities in coastal Louisiana, covering about 125,000 acres near Pecan Island. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with an initial launch targeted for 2029. The site will include propellant production, power generation, deep‑water shipping, vehicle processing and an airport.

The last planned Starlink mission using a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral occurred on Tuesday. SpaceX vice president Kiko Dontchev said future Starlink flights from Florida will use Starship, while the West Coast will continue launches from Vandenberg. The next Falcon Heavy launch, carrying NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, is set for August 30 from Kennedy Space Center.

NASA said the Roman Space Telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday and will launch on a Falcon Heavy on August 30 after a launch readiness review on Friday.

China’s Manned Space program announced that the Chang’e 7 lunar mission will not proceed during the planned 2026 launch window. The agency cited a comprehensive assessment that the mission does not meet launch conditions, and a later window is expected in early 2027.

Arianespace is scheduled to launch the MTG‑I2 meteorological satellite on an Ariane 62 configuration from French Guiana on Thursday, marking the fourth Ariane 6 launch of the year and the rocket’s first geostationary mission.

Upcoming launches include Ariane 6 with MTG‑I2 on August 27, Falcon Heavy with Roman on August 30, and Electron with an around‑the‑world payload on August 31.

On 3 September 2026, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission will begin its arrival phase at Mercury. The Mercury Transfer Module will separate from the Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter. ESA will livestream the event starting at 13:45 CEST from its European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, and will make the stream available on YouTube and LinkedIn. The separation is the first step in a sequence that will see the two orbiters enter Mercury orbit in November 2026. After that, the orbiters will separate in December 2026 and begin science operations in April 2027. Mission control teams will monitor signal acquisition and perform initial health checks after separation. The livestream will include live views of mission control, expert commentary, and a live chat for audience questions. BepiColombo launched on 20 October 2018 as a joint mission between ESA and JAXA. It is the first dual‑spacecraft mission to Mercury and the second mission ever to enter orbit around the planet. Science objectives are to map the surface, study the interior, and characterize the magnetosphere. The mission aims to provide detailed data on Mercury’s geology and environment, with results expected beginning in 2027.

President Trump signed an executive order on August 28, 2026, establishing a NASA‑led U.S. Space Academy while presenting the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II crew at Johnson Space Center in Texas.

The order creates a White House commission tasked with developing the academy’s governance, curriculum and service requirements, and gives NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman authority to chair the commission pending White House approval.

The academy will be modeled after the United States Military Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy and the Coast Guard Academy, and will combine rigorous technical training with leadership development and a commitment to public service.

Vice Chairs Michael Kratsios and Kevin Hassett and Executive Director Matt Anderson, along with members including Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, OMB Director Russell Vought and acting National Security Adviser Marco Rubio, will oversee the effort.

Trump said the academy will serve the U.S. Space Force, civilian spaceflight companies and NASA, and will train engineers, scientists, technicians, operators and astronauts for lunar and Mars missions.

Isaacman said the initiative will provide the workforce needed for a Moon Base, nuclear power projects, an orbital economy and continued scientific discovery.

During the ceremony, astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, and the full NASA astronaut corps stood in attendance.

Trump announced that a site for the academy will be selected soon, noting that multiple locations are under consideration.

He also praised the upcoming launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, describing it as hundreds of times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope.

The commission has 120 days to submit recommendations to the President, after which the academy’s structure and legislative needs will be determined.

On August 28, 2026, President Donald J. Trump presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen for their service on the Artemis II mission.

The Congressional Space Medal of Honor, authorized by Congress in 1969, recognizes astronauts who demonstrate exceptional bravery and contributions to the nation and humanity. Thirty‑four individuals have received the award since the program’s inception, including the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia, who were honored posthumously.

The Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight around the Moon since the Apollo era, launched in 2025 and completed a lunar orbit before returning to Earth. The four astronauts were recognized for their professionalism and technical contributions during the mission.

The ceremony underscores the United States' continued investment in human spaceflight as NASA prepares subsequent Artemis missions.

President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on Friday to establish the United States Space Academy, the nation’s first academy designed to train a new generation of space professionals, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. President Trump said the rapid growth of the U.S. Space Force and commercial space industry requires educating a generation of engineers, scientists and operators, and that an executive order will begin the process of creating a national academy. The order specifies that the academy will focus on technical education combined with leadership development, discipline and a commitment to public service, supporting U.S. interests in space. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has been designated to chair a new Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy, and NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson will serve as the commission’s executive director. The commission, which will also include Vice Chairs Michael Kratsios, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Kevin Hassett, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, along with other White House and interagency representatives, is required to submit a report to the President within 120 days containing recommendations on governance structure, service obligations for graduates, the academy’s physical location, legislative requirements and related matters. The signing ceremony at the Johnson Space Center included the presentation of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II crew members. The executive order follows earlier Trump administration actions on space, such as the December 2025 Ensuring American Space Superiority directive and an August 20 memorandum on National Space Transportation Policy. The commission’s findings are expected to inform the academy’s development and its contribution to upcoming lunar surface missions, nuclear power initiatives, orbital economic expansion and broader scientific exploration.

The European Space Agency released a series of images documenting activities from 24 to 28 August 2026. The collection includes observations of Earth's surface, satellite deployments, and activities aboard the International Space Station. Each day's images highlight different missions and scientific experiments. The images are available on the ESA website for further reference.

Congaree National Park in South Carolina is defined by the Congaree River floodplain, which covers about 80 percent of the park. The river’s meandering course creates a landscape of old‑growth bottomland hardwood forest, oxbow lakes, and sloughs that support diverse wildlife.

The park contains one of the largest remaining tracts of old‑growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. The floodplain formed as the Congaree River shifted across flat terrain, carving bends, point bars, and abandoned channels over time.

Water moves faster on the outer banks of bends, causing erosion, while slower flow on the inner banks deposits sediment and builds point bars. When a bend is cut off from the main channel, it forms a U‑shaped oxbow lake. Weston Lake, 1.2 miles from the visitor center, remains deep and lacks the shallow sediment layer found in many other oxbow lakes. Bates Old River, a roughly 4‑mile abandoned channel, is one of the longest oxbow lakes in South Carolina. Low‑lying water‑filled features such as sloughs host cypress‑tupelo forests adapted to frequent flooding.

Logging attempts in the 1880s were limited by flooding, muddy roads, and mosquito conditions, allowing most of the floodplain forest to remain intact. Congress designated the area a national monument in 1976, and it became a national park in 2003. The river overflows its banks several times per year, typically in winter and early spring, and after hurricanes or heavy rains. These floods deposit nutrient‑rich silt that sustains the forest and contributes to the high number of large trees recorded in the park.

Species such as possumhaw, water hickory, loblolly pine, laurel oak, swamp tupelo, and sweetgum have held size records at various times. Ongoing monitoring continues to track tree sizes and floodplain dynamics, with the potential for climate variability to alter flood frequency and ecosystem composition.

The park remains a focus for ecological research and public recreation, with future studies expected to clarify how changing precipitation patterns may affect the floodplain.

Researchers recruited 1,000 volunteers from 25 countries to assess soil decomposition using a test that inserts pairs of cotton underpants into the ground. The study, published in Plants People Planet, introduced the “underpants index,” a citizen‑science tool that uses visual and tactile cues from buried underpants to gauge microbial activity, complementing traditional soil samples. Volunteers placed two pairs of organic cotton men’s underpants side by side in each selected site, along with six teabags for comparison, and collected soil samples before refilling the holes. After 30 days they retrieved the first pair and after 60 days the second, sending the materials to the research team for analysis. The study reported that private gardens exhibited the fastest decomposition and highest organic matter, indicating high microbial activity, while lawns showed the lowest microbial activity. Agricultural fields and meadows fell in between, and temperature, moisture and nutrient levels also influenced decomposition rates. The authors concluded that the underpants index provides a direct visual measure of soil health comparable to conventional biological indicators and is suitable for citizen‑science projects and broader awareness of soil issues. Further validation across diverse climates will be needed to confirm the method’s broader applicability.

Researchers found cacao residues in pottery sherds from an 11th‑century feast at Etowah, an Indigenous city in present‑day Georgia, indicating trade with Central America.

The analysis identified theobromine, theophylline, caffeine and paraxanthine—chemical signatures of cacao—and ancient DNA from Theobroma cacao. Although yaupon holly, a local plant, also contains similar compounds, the DNA evidence confirms the presence of imported cacao.

Etowah was part of the Mississippian culture, which flourished before European contact. The site included large earthen mounds and ceremonial plazas. The cacao residues date to the early construction phase of a major platform mound, suggesting long‑distance exchange early in the city’s development.

The study compares these findings with trade evidence from Chaco Canyon in the Southwest, where similar imports were documented, highlighting a broader network of Indigenous exchange across North America. Researchers note that additional archaeological evidence is needed to map the full extent of these trade routes.

The results provide the earliest direct evidence of cacao trade into the eastern United States and contribute to ongoing discussions about the origins of Mississippian societal complexity.

Dr Karen Mitchell, a consultant with a business studies background, published a 2024 study that identified 20 attributes of high-functioning psychopathic personalities across four clusters. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) was developed in 1980 by Professor Robert Hare using data from incarcerated men, which limited its applicability to non-incarcerated and female populations. Mitchell's five-year qualitative research involved interviews with professionals in human resources, social work, law enforcement, academia, and religious leadership who had encountered individuals displaying predatory traits in non-criminal contexts. Participants reported concerns that such individuals could damage careers, seek revenge, or cause severe personal harm, illustrating the difficulty of recognizing these behaviors in professional settings. The study categorized the attributes into four clusters: a need for control and grandiose self-view; predatory, exploitative, and cruel behavior with disregard for laws and boundaries; a façade of normality that is deceptive and manipulative; and emotional detachment, callousness, and lack of remorse. Mitchell noted that these traits differ from clinical definitions that emphasize impulsivity, arguing that Hare's instrument was derived from a low-functioning prison sample and does not capture high-functioning presentations. Essi Viding, professor of developmental psychopathology at University College London, said that the confidence and untruthfulness displayed by these individuals can short-circuit detection of danger signals, allowing damage to occur before recognition. Scholars such as Andrew Lobaczewski and Harrison Koehli have described how public figures may employ deceptive statements that create widespread confusion, a phenomenon they call the 'big lie'. A 2019 French court ruling linked workplace torment by executives to multiple suicides at France Télécom, illustrating the broader impact of predatory behavior outside criminal contexts. Research suggests that individuals with high levels of these traits cause extensive harm, and experts recommend developing inoculation strategies to protect people from victimization. Mitchell concluded that recognizing the red flags of high-functioning psychopathic behavior is essential for reducing the widespread harm they cause.

A partial lunar eclipse will be visible in Northern Ireland early Friday morning, with up to 93% of the Moon's diameter covered at its peak.

The Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon during a lunar eclipse, casting a shadow that can partially cover the Moon.

The first phase of the eclipse begins at 02:23 BST when the Moon enters Earth's penumbra.

At approximately 05:00 BST the Moon will be 93% covered, making the event appear close to a total eclipse.

In Belfast the eclipse ends at 06:34, in Dublin at 06:38 and in Enniskillen at 06:41.

Viewers will need an unobstructed view toward the western horizon, as the Moon remains low in the sky.

No equipment such as binoculars or telescopes is required, though they may aid in observing color changes.

Clear skies are important; forecasts suggest western areas are more likely to have favorable conditions than central and eastern regions.

The next partial lunar eclipse visible from the region is expected in 2026, though exact timing has not been announced.