Reuters Science News Summary

Astra declined to say how many satellites were involved in the agreement. NASA looks to launch Artemis test flight again on Nov. 14 NASA is targeting Nov. 14 for its next attempt to launch Artemis I, the space agency said on Wednesday, after technical difficulties and bad weather forced it to delay the first uncrewed test flight of a capsule to carry humans back to the moon.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Astra Space to supply engines for Maxar satellites

Rocket builder Astra Space Inc signed an agreement with Maxar to supply electric propulsion engines for the Earth observation firm's future low-earth orbiting satellites, Astra announced on Tuesday. The value of the agreement was not disclosed. Astra declined to say how many satellites were involved in the agreement.

NASA looks to launch Artemis test flight again on Nov. 14

NASA is targeting Nov. 14 for its next attempt to launch Artemis I, the space agency said on Wednesday, after technical difficulties and bad weather forced it to delay the first uncrewed test flight of a capsule to carry humans back to the moon. The next attempt to launch the Space Launch System rocket that will carry the Orion spacecraft is planned during a 69-minute window that opens at 12:07 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 14, NASA said on its website. The agency plans to roll the rocket back to the launch pad as early as Friday, Nov. 4.

On New Zealand farm, scientists reduce cow burps to save the world

More than a dozen calves wait at a research farm in New Zealand to be fed Kowbucha, a punnily named probiotic that studies show reduces burps -- or methane emissions. The Kowbucha powder is blended into a milk-like drink fed to the calves at the Massey University farm in Palmerston North.

Arizona cryonics facility preserves bodies to revive later

Time and death are "on pause" for some people in Scottsdale, Arizona. Inside tanks filled with liquid nitrogen are the bodies and heads of 199 humans who opted to be cryopreserved in hopes of being revived in the future when science has advanced beyond what it is capable of today. Many of the "patients," as Alcor Life Extension Foundation calls them, were terminally ill with cancer, ALS or other diseases with no present-day cure.

Asteroid's path altered in NASA's first test of planetary defense system

The spacecraft NASA deliberately crashed into an asteroid last month succeeded in nudging the rocky moonlet from its natural path into a faster orbit, marking the first time humanity has altered the motion of a celestial body, the U.S. space agency announced on Tuesday. The $330 million proof-of-concept mission, which was seven years in development, also represented the world's first test of a planetary defense system designed to prevent a potential doomsday meteorite collision with Earth.

SpaceX to take entrepreneur Dennis Tito on Starship around the moon

Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX said on Wednesday that the world's first space tourist Dennis Tito and his wife Akiko have signed up to fly around the moon on the space exploration firm's Starship rocket. Engineer turned financial analyst Tito, 82, was the first private individual to pay for a trip to space on Russia's Soyuz TM-32 mission in 2001, when he spent nearly eight days aboard the International Space Station.

'Although not alive, I can still create art,' robot Ai-Da tells UK lawmakers

A "robot artist" called Ai-Da told British lawmakers on Tuesday that although it was an artificial creation, it was still capable of producing art, as it spoke at a parliamentary inquiry into how new technologies will affect the creative industries. Described as "the world's first ultra-realistic AI humanoid robot artist", it appeared in one of parliament's ornate wood-panelled rooms, wearing a short black-haired wig and denim dungarees.

Japan's Epsilon rocket failed after launch - Kyodo

The Japanese space agency's Epsilon rocket failed after it was launched on Wednesday, Kyodo News and other domestic media reported. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sent a destruction order signal to the rocket after detecting trouble, Kyodo said. Public broadcaster NHK said the signal was sent after JAXA determined that rocket was not able to fly safely.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)