Science News Roundup: SpaceX project clears U.S. FAA environmental review; Astra's NASA mission suffers failure, loss of weather satellites and more

The FAA published a finding of "No Significant Impact" but is placing some limitations on launches and requiring steps to limit environmental impacts, the agency said, clearing a hurdle to the program. Pandemic stress may disrupt ovaries; blood test may improve immunity assessment The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

SpaceX project clears U.S. FAA environmental review

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Monday approved a final environmental assessment of the proposed SpaceX Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket program in Boca Chica, Texas after requiring more than 75 conditions. The FAA published a finding of "No Significant Impact" but is placing some limitations on launches and requiring steps to limit environmental impacts, the agency said, clearing a hurdle to the program.

Pandemic stress may disrupt ovaries; blood test may improve immunity assessment

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Pandemic stress may subtly impact ovaries

Astra's NASA mission suffers failure, loss of weather satellites

Rocket firm Astra Space's mission to send tiny storm-monitoring NASA satellites to orbit on Sunday failed after a second-stage booster engine shut down early in space. The failure occurred roughly 10 minutes after a successful liftoff of Astra's Rocket 3.3 at 1:43 p.m. ET (1743 GMT) from a launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.