I spy with new eyes

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may have discovered its first exoplanet. Using the flagship observatory, astronomers have found what looks like a Saturn-sized planet lurking in a disk of dust around the young star TWA 7. With JWST’s coronagraph, the researchers were able to block out light from the star and search for planets. JWST has used this method to study already-known worlds before, but it had never discovered a planet this way before. Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, A.M. Lagrange, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)

The Axiom-4 mission launched at last. The private space mission to the International Space Station (ISS) includes one of the astronauts selected for India’s human spaceflight program, as well as the first Polish and Hungarian astronauts to reach space in more than 40 years. Axiom-4 was delayed for nearly a month, in part because of an air leak on the ISS.

ispace has figured out why its lunar lander crashed. The Japanese company says that its Resilience spacecraft, which did not survive its hard landing on the Moon earlier this month, had an issue with the laser rangefinder that measured its altitude on the fly. Though they are still narrowing down why the rangefinder failed, ispace expects to fix the problem in time for its next two lunar missions in 2027.

A private company will soon be selling pictures of the Moon. Firefly Aerospace announced that its Blue Ghost 2 mission will include an orbiter, called Elytra, that will sell images of the lunar surface with about twice the resolution of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The spacecraft will launch next year. With LRO now over 15 years old, scientists have been advocating for new orbiters to support lunar science.

Another world-class telescope is one step closer to first light. The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), which aims to be one of the most powerful ground-based observatories of all time, has entered its final design phase. Join Sarah Al-Ahmed on this week’s Planetary Radio, as she speaks with Rebecca Bernstein, chief scientist for the GMT Organization and astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science, about the civilization-scale science this observatory will accomplish. Image credit: GMTO Corporation

We’re preparing our next efforts to Save NASA Science. Now that we have delivered our petition — along with its 20,000+ signatures — to the U.S. Congress, what comes next? Jack Kiraly, our director of government relations, breaks down what the future might hold. With both the House and Senate planning to hold hearings soon, we expect more advocacy ahead.

Shoemaker award-winners are making a difference. Over just the past two years, our support for advanced amateur astronomers has helped volunteers take thousands of observations of potentially dangerous near-Earth objects (NEOs). We checked in with our awardees to hear about their latest accomplishments. Highlights include critical measurements of asteroids that recently made headlines, as well as studies of others that ended up impacting Earth.

When should you worry about an asteroid impact? Our handy new guide to the Torino impact hazard scale breaks the answer down so that anyone can tell which NEOs might spell catastrophe — and which are just clickbait.

July's book club is coming up! Next month, The Planetary Society’s book club will consider what it means to view Earth from space. Join Mat Kaplan and Frank White on Tuesday, July 8, at 9 pm ET, for a live virtual event to discuss White’s new book, “The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution,” in our Book Club Q&A. White originally coined the term “overview effect” in the 1980s. Members can join the event in the online member community and participate in discussions with the author. Not yet a member Join today.