A gigantic asteroid impact likely shifted Ganymede’s axis. Jupiter’s moon, the largest in the Solar System, shows signs of a major impact event in its past. New research suggests that this impact, which likely happened 3 billion years ago, may have been by an asteroid with a diameter of around 300 kilometers (185 miles), about 20 times larger than the one that hit the Earth 65 million years ago. The impact would have been powerful enough to tilt Ganymede’s axis, pointing its north pole away from Jupiter (pictured in this artist’s impression). Image credit: HIRATA Naoyuki.
NASA’s solar sailing spacecraft has deployed its sails. The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) is now fully deployed in Earth orbit. The mission, which drew on the lessons learned from The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 solar sailing spacecraft, will next test the maneuvering capabilities of the sail in space.
Boeing’s Starliner will return to Earth empty on Sept. 6. The capsule, which was meant to return astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home from the International Space Station, has been facing multiple technical issues and will return to Earth uncrewed on Friday. Wilmore and Williams are now slated to return in a SpaceX capsule in February 2025.
BepiColombo’s arrival at Mercury will be delayed. The joint ESA-JAXA mission to Mercury will have to adjust its trajectory, delaying its orbital insertion by almost a year because of problems with its electric thrusters. The mission, which will now arrive at Mercury in November 2026, will still be able to carry out all of its science objectives.