New Scientist: A rocket launched 23 May from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia released four spacecraft. Three of those craft are believed to be military communications satellites. The fourth is something of a mystery. Instead of settling into a stable orbit like the other spacecraft, it has been changing course repeatedly and on 28 October approached the rocket that put it into orbit. Those sorts of maneuvers are mostly associated with two types of spacecraft: satellite repair robots and antisatellite weapons (ASATs). Russia officially stopped developing ASATs in the 1980s, but in 2010 Russian space commander Oleg Ostapenko said that the country had begun work on the technology again in response to rising tensions between Russia and Western nations.
Despite the tumultuous history of the near-Earth object’s parent body, water may have been preserved in the asteroid for about a billion years.
October 08, 2025 08:50 PM
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Physics Today - The Week in Physics
The Week in Physics" is likely a reference to the regular updates or summaries of new physics research, such as those found in publications like Physics Today from AIP Publishing or on news aggregators like Phys.org.