Guardian Science
In today’s newsletter: Far from Earth and out of contact, the four‑person crew of Artemis II continues a journey designed to test endurance and the limits of deep‑space exploration Good morning. For a short period today, the four-person crew of the Artemis II mission will be alone in space, unable to contact anyone on Earth. Facing the far side of the moon, the astronauts will be further from our planet than anyone before them, divided from the rest of humanity by the enormous white rock we see in the sky at night. This is a crucial stage of their mission. All being well, the crew will spend most of their time documenting parts of the moon that no human has been able to see with their own eyes since the Apollo missions more than 50 years ago. Once done, the moon’s gravity will catapult their Orion spacecraft back to Earth. Middle East | Donald Trump issued an expletive-laden warning for Tehran to reopen the strait of Hormuz or the US will obliterate Iran’s power plants and bridges . Iran’s parliament speaker responded that the US president’s “reckless moves” would mean “our whole region is going to burn”. UK politics | Keir Starmer has criticised the Green party , claiming that voting for Labour’s rivals jeopardises advances such as the new workers’ rights set to take effect today. Immigration | Government ministers are working with Labour backbenchers to modify proposed immigration changes by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, that would extend to 10 years the time required for individuals to achieve settled status in the UK. Aliens | Jared Isaacman, the top official at Nasa, has said that the possibility of alien life is a core consideration in mission planning, emphasising that exploring the universe’s secrets includes asking the question: “Are we alone?” Hungary | Serbia’s claim that it found “explosives of devastating power” near a pipeline that carries Russian gas to Hungary sparked claims by the country’s leading opposition candidate of a possible “false flag” operation aimed at influencing elections in favour of the incumbent prime minister, Viktor Orbán. Continue reading...
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