Explore research, public records and open questions.
NASA’s Oct. 7 media advisory sets coverage for SpaceX CRS-35, an ISS cargo flight targeted for launch on Oct. 13, 2026 and docking on Oct. 15, with all times subject to change. The notice also lists an Oct. 8 teleconference, more than 6,300 pounds of supplies, and highlighted payloads including solar arrays, artificial retinas hardware, heart-tissue models, glass studies, and brain organoids.
NASA’s Glenn Research Center says it is seeking Phase 1 proposals for the design and construction of the Aerospace Power Systems Laboratory. The advisory says the planned facility would support testing and development of power systems and provide modern test facilities for power research. NASA lists a proposal deadline of Oct. 30, 2026, and an anticipated contract award date of Dec. 16, 2026, but this remains an announcement, not proof the project is complete.
Life beyond Earth is a research question spanning chemistry, geology, biology and planetary environments.
A useful life-detection claim specifies the measurement, its biological interpretation and the non-biological alternatives.
The history of the universe provides context while life-detection claims require their own evidence.
A peer-reviewed measurement constrains ocean chemistry; it does not identify an organism.
ARTIST’S CONCEPT · NASA/JPL-CaltechCassini data revealed phosphorus in material from Saturn’s ocean moon. What the measurement supports, and what it leaves open.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI InstituteBeneath Europa’s fractured ice may lie an ocean. The next question is whether it could support life — and what evidence would answer it.
ARTIST’S CONCEPT · NASA/JPL-CaltechDetecting a planet is the start of investigating its properties and environment.
Life in difficult environments helps researchers design better questions about other worlds.
A useful orbital concept becomes misleading when treated as a guarantee of a living world.
An object from beyond the Solar System is not automatically a technological artifact.
Past water and present measurements support environmental research, not an automatic detection of life.
Prebiotic chemistry and early environments can be investigated without assuming a settled pathway.
Geology, atmospheres and mission measurements help distinguish chemistry from biological interpretations.
Searches examine signals while controlling for interference and repeatability.
ARTIST’S CONCEPT · NASA/JPL-CaltechRadio searches, atmospheric chemistry and waste heat offer different ways to look for technology beyond Earth.