Reuters Science News Summary

The six-legged Athena lander, carrying 11 payloads and scientific instruments, touched down at a site some 100 miles (160 km) from the lunar south pole after launching atop a SpaceX rocket on February 26 from Florida. Fast-moving stars reveal supermassive black hole inside nearby galaxy The Large Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy residing near our Milky Way, visible to the naked eye as a luminous patch of light from Earth's southern hemisphere and named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who observed it five centuries ago.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

SpaceX's Starship explodes in space, again raining debris over Caribbean

SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft exploded in space on Thursday minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the FAA to halt air traffic in parts of Florida, in the second straight failure this year for Elon Musk's Mars rocket program. Several videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed.

US startup's moonshot apparently lands on its side - again

The second moon landing by Intuitive Machines appears to have suffered the same fate as its first try last year, with data indicating the Athena lander ended on its side on the lunar surface after problems with its laser rangefinders, the U.S. company said on Thursday. The six-legged Athena lander, carrying 11 payloads and scientific instruments, touched down at a site some 100 miles (160 km) from the lunar south pole after launching atop a SpaceX rocket on February 26 from Florida.

Fast-moving stars reveal supermassive black hole inside nearby galaxy

The Large Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy residing near our Milky Way, visible to the naked eye as a luminous patch of light from Earth's southern hemisphere and named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who observed it five centuries ago. New research is now providing a fuller understanding of the makeup of our galactic neighbor. A study based on the trajectory of nine fast-moving stars observed at the fringes of the Milky Way provides strong evidence for the existence of a supermassive black hole inside the Large Magellanic Cloud. Most galaxies are thought to have such a black hole at their core, but this represents the first evidence for one within the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Butterfly populations plummet by 22% in US since turn of century

The population of butterflies - the beautiful insects that play a vital role in pollination and the health of ecosystems - has fallen in the United States by more than a fifth this century, according to research spanning hundreds of species from the red admiral butterfly to the American lady to the cabbage white. Data from about 76,000 butterfly surveys conducted by various groups documenting millions of the insects representing 554 species showed that their numbers dropped by 22% from 2000 to 2020 in the contiguous United States, researchers said. The scientists attributed the decrease to factors including habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change.

Tools made from elephant and hippo bones show ingenuity of human ancestors

An assemblage of tools found in Tanzania that was fashioned about 1.5 million years ago from the limb bones of elephants and hippos reveals what scientists are calling a technological breakthrough for the human evolutionary lineage - systematic production of implements made from a material other than stone. The 27 tools, discovered at a rich paleoanthropological site called Olduvai Gorge, were probably created by Homo erectus, an early human species with body proportions similar to our species Homo sapiens, according to the researchers.

Europe's Ariane 6 deploys spy satellite in first full mission

Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket successfully deployed a French spy satellite in its first fully operational launch on Thursday, completing a return to space for a continent facing questions over its role amid a security rift with the United States. The uncrewed launcher lifted off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 1:24 p.m. local time (1624 GMT). Controllers later said its CSO-3 reconnaissance satellite had separated smoothly, completing a trio of military platforms.

L&T bets on space exploration as India expands private rocket and satellite industry

The Indian industrial conglomerate Larsen & Toubro said it is betting on aerospace as a potential growth engine, including launch vehicle and satellite manufacturing, as the country cuts reliance on imports and boosts private participation. L&T, considered a bellwether for India's infrastructure spending because of how many industries its work touches, is the country's largest private-sector defense manufacturer by revenue; its Precision Engineering and Systems unit posted revenue of 46.10 billion rupees ($548.3 million) in the 2024 fiscal year, up 41% from the previous year.

SpaceX Starship failure prompts diversions, Florida airports ground stops

The failure of a SpaceX Starship test flight on Thursday scattered debris over parts of the Caribbean, prompting numerous flight diversions around Turks and Caicos and temporary ground stops at four Florida airports. The Federal Aviation Administration issued ground stops for flights departing for Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Palm Beach airports for more than an hour before resuming normal operations at around 8 p.m. ET (0100 GMT on Friday).

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