QUICK TAKES

BRAIN DAMAGE

A study of five male cosmonauts who spent an average of 169 days aboard the International Space Station found longduration spaceflights lead to elevated levels of three biomarkers associated with brain damage: NFL, GFAP, and amyloid beta protein Aβ40.

LUNAR LOOT

In December 2020, China’s Chang’e 5 mission returned lunar samples to Earth for the first time in 45 years. Analyses show that lava was likely still flowing on the lunar surface less than 2 billion years ago, raising questions about how the Moon retained its heat for so long.

SUPER ERUPTIONS

Mars’ northern Arabia Terra region likely experienced thousands of massive volcanic eruptions within a roughly 500-million-year-long period some 4 billion years ago, according to recently analyzed images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

WHO’S CALLING?

A strange radio signal from the direction of our galaxy’s core has astronomers pondering the existence of a new type of stellar object. The mysterious radio waves are highly polarized and the direction of their polarization rotates with time. Additionally, their source varies in brightness by a factor of 100, flickering on and off seemingly at random.

LUCY’S LATCH

After launching Oct. 16, 2021, on a mission to explore eight asteroids, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft deployed its two expansive solar arrays. However, at the time of this writing, one of the circular arrays has failed to fully latch. For now, NASA says Lucy is not in danger and will continue to operate normally.

HONDA ROCKET

Japanese carmaker Honda unveiled its plan to develop and test launch a partially reusable rocket by 2030. Though details are scarce, the rocket will reportedly use liquid propellant to send small satellites (less than 1 ton) into low Earth orbit.