Science News Roundup: In detecting alien life on a faraway planet, methane may be the key; U.S. astronaut, 2 Russian cosmonauts poised to share Soyuz ride from orbit and more

Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft was scheduled for liftoff on Tuesday from the company's launch site in rural west Texas at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT) with six would-be citizen astronauts strapped into the crew cabin atop the fully autonomous launch vehicle, standing nearly six stories tall. Towering ice volcanoes identified on surprisingly vibrant Pluto A batch of dome-shaped ice volcanoes that look unlike anything else known in our solar system and may still be active have been identified on Pluto using data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, showing that this remote frigid world is more dynamic than previously known.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

In detecting alien life on a faraway planet, methane may be the key

For humankind, evidence of life beyond Earth is unlikely to be as dramatic as an alien spaceship landing, say, next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It is more likely to come from telescope observations of a faraway planet bearing atmospheric chemicals suggestive of biological activity. Researchers on Monday said methane may be the first detectable sign of extraterrestrial life if discovered in the atmosphere of a rocky planet orbiting in the "habitable zone" - the area not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the planetary surface - around a sun-like star.

U.S. astronaut, 2 Russian cosmonauts poised to share Soyuz ride from orbit

A U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts were set to depart the International Space Station (ISS) together on a Soyuz capsule back to Earth on Wednesday, despite heightened U.S.-Russian antagonism over the war in Ukraine. The Russian Soyuz capsule carrying NASA's Mark Vande Hei and his cosmonaut peers Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov was scheduled to undock from ISS at 2:45 a.m. EDT (0645 GMT) and make a parachute landing in central Kazakhstan nearly five hours later.

Exclusive-SpaceX ending production of flagship crew capsule -executive

SpaceX has ended production of new Crew Dragon astronaut capsules, a company executive told Reuters, as Elon Musk's space transportation company heaps resources on its next-generation spaceship program. Capping the fleet at four Crew Dragons adds more urgency to the development of the astronaut capsule's eventual successor, Starship, SpaceX's moon, and Mars rocket. Starship's debut launch has been delayed for months by engine development hurdles and regulatory reviews.

Blue Origin's 4th astro-tourism flight set to launch without big names

The fourth commercial flight of Jeff Bezos' space tourism venture Blue Origin, offering short suborbital joyrides to well-heeled thrill-seekers and celebrity guests, has been delayed by two days because of poor weather conditions, the company said. Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft was scheduled for liftoff on Tuesday from the company's launch site in rural west Texas at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT) with six would-be citizen astronauts strapped into the crew cabin atop the fully autonomous launch vehicle, standing nearly six stories tall.

Towering ice volcanoes identified on surprisingly vibrant Pluto

A batch of dome-shaped ice volcanoes that look unlike anything else known in our solar system and may still be active have been identified on Pluto using data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, showing that this remote frigid world is more dynamic than previously known. Scientists said on Tuesday that these cryovolcanoes - numbering perhaps 10 or more - stand anywhere from six-tenths of a mile (1 km) to 4-1/2 miles (7 km) tall. Unlike Earth volcanoes that spew gases and molten rock, this dwarf planet's cryovolcanoes extrude large amounts of ice - apparently frozen water rather than some other frozen material - that may have the consistency of toothpaste, they said.

Israeli startup to test brain-activity gear on space mission to ISS

Israel's Brain. Space, a four-year-old startup that studies data on brain activity, is set to put its gear to test on astronauts in space next week during a SpaceX shuttle flight to the International Space Station (ISS). Three astronauts on the planned private space-flight firm Axiom Space's mission to the ISS will use a special electroencephalogram (EEG)-enabled helmet made by Brain.Space, the company said on Monday.