Science & Tech news · 4 November 2026
NASA's Swift Observatory Falls Back to Earth After Failed Rescue Mission
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is predicted to re-enter Earth's atmosphere around 3:30 AM Eastern on November 4, roughly 22 years after its launch. An earlier attempt to rescue the decaying spacecraft failed when the robotic craft sent to boost its orbit lost control.
All Five DNA Building Blocks Found in Pristine Asteroid Ryugu Samples
A Japanese research team has detected all five nucleobases—the fundamental genetic letters shared by DNA and RNA—inside pristine material returned from asteroid Ryugu, strengthening the idea that life's chemical ingredients were delivered to early Earth from space.
Voyager 1 Approaches Record-Breaking One-Light-Day Distance from Earth
NASA's Voyager 1 probe is on track to become the first human-made object to reach one light-day from Earth on November 18—meaning signals now take nearly 24 hours one-way—as the 49-year-old spacecraft battles power shortages and recent thruster failures.
ESA's Hera Spacecraft Closes In on Dimorphos to Investigate DART Impact
Europe's Hera spacecraft has captured its first image showing Dimorphos and Didymos as two distinct objects, marking a key step in its mission to examine what NASA's 2022 DART collision did to the small asteroid.
Vera Rubin Observatory Discovers Two Hidden Companions of the Milky Way
Using early preview data released in July 2026, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has identified two previously unknown satellites of the Milky Way—a likely ultra-faint dwarf galaxy and a compact globular cluster hidden behind thick galactic dust—offering an early glimpse of what the observatory's full ten-year survey will uncover.