NASA Will Attempt to Observe Rocket Part’s Lunar Impact

The Moon’s rocky, uneven, and otherworldly surface features are highlighted by the terminator – the difference between light and darkness.

NASA

Using ground-based telescopes and space-based assets, NASA and SpaceX are tracking a used Falcon 9 upper stage from a commercial mission expected to impact the Moon on Wednesday, Aug. 5, near the Einstein and Bell craters. The impact poses no danger to Earth and NASA scientists are planning to collect lunar data from the event and refine techniques for tracking objects in space. 

On Jan. 15, 2025, SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket and successfully deployed Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander to the Moon under NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. Solar activity and gravitational forces caused the stage’s unplanned return to the Moon. NASA and SpaceX remain in communication about the upper stage and its flight path.

Independent astronomers first identified the trajectory using publicly available data. NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which tracks natural objects that could pose hazards to Earth, later confirmed the stage has a 100% chance of impacting the Moon. NASA will continue tracking it as part of training operations.

Because the Moon has no atmosphere to slow incoming objects, it is struck by meteoroids daily. Human‑made object impacts are far less common but do occur. The rocket stage is expected to create a crater about 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep and throw dust and rock outward as ejecta. For comparison, a meteoroid with the same energy as the upper stage hits the Moon about every six days, so the lunar surface is constantly absorbing impacts with the same force. Despite the disturbance, observing impacts gives scientists valuable insight by revealing how ejecta plumes behave, helping to understand the Moon’s geology and refine models that guide future exploration and science missions.

The impact will not be visible to the naked eye on Earth, but NASA will attempt to observe it in real time. The Meteoroid Environments Office at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, will use ground‑based telescopes to image the impact; however, weather and lighting conditions may make viewing difficult.

Additionally, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the ShadowCam instrument aboard South Korea’s Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter will look for chances to image the site before and after the impact. Image availability will depend on lighting, orbital timing, and spacecraft position, and it may take several days to receive imagery. Any data collected will help scientists better understand artificial impacts and their exploration implications.

Although unplanned in this instance, disposing of upper stages on the lunar surface is a technically accepted and safe method and, in some cases, can be the only practical option for missions in low lunar orbit. Many operators choose controlled impacts because they provide predictable and trackable end of life outcomes.

NASA is committed to debris mitigation and demonstrating responsible disposal practices that safeguard Earth, its orbital environment, and other planetary bodies while enabling discoveries that deepen our understanding of the solar system and benefit humanity. 

Source: NASA Will Attempt to Observe Rocket Part’s Lunar Impact - NASA 

Experimental drug turns cancer's favorite fuel against it - Chemistry & Biochemistry

PFKL is an enzyme in cancer cells that metabolizes sugar. This image shows the protein structure of PFKL bound to two parts of the experimental cancer drug XJ-4-85 (blue and orange). When XJ-4-85 binds the sites K677 and K315 on PFKL (inset), it boosts sugar metabolism and releases a payload (not shown) that shuts down fatty acid metabolism. Credit: Eric Lynch (University of Washington) and Xiaoding Jiang (University of Texas at Austin).

Cancer cells have a voracious appetite for sugar—using it to fuel their rapid growth. This is why many scientists have tried to develop drugs that block cancer cells' metabolism by cutting off their sugar supply.

Now a team led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin report in Nature Chemical Biology that they have found a completely different approach. Instead of starving cancer cells, they trick them into consuming even more sugar than usual. At the same time, the drug blocks their backup fuel source—fat.

By attacking both fuel sources at once, the experimental drug puts cancer cells under so much stress that many of them die. They demonstrated the drug's effectiveness in treating an aggressive form of melanoma in mice.

"I like to think of this technology like a two-headed dragon," said Xiaolu (Lulu) Lim Ang Cambronne, an associate professor of molecular biosciences at UT and co-corresponding author. "We are putting one part of the cell into overdrive while simultaneously weakening another part. It appears to be extremely potent."

A chemical alternative to ADCs

In lab experiments, the drug was effective against several types of human cancer cells, including melanoma, leukemia, breast cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer and neuroblastoma. In mice with melanoma, most cancer cells died, while noncancerous cells were much less affected.

Drugs that attack cancer with this kind of one-two punch are not entirely new. A growing class of compounds called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) use an antibody to target cancer cells, then deliver a payload of chemotherapy directly to the tumor. But ADCs have many limitations.

"Antibodies are difficult to make, and because they're so large, they're only able to target proteins on the surface of cancer cells," said Ken Hsu, an associate professor of chemistry at UT and co-corresponding author. "We think of this new compound as a fully chemical counterpart to ADCs. They are much easier to manufacture. And because they are smaller, they are able to target even proteins that are inside cells."

How the two-part drug works

The drug has two parts. The targeting agent, a molecule called XJ-4-85, acts on an enzyme called PFKL, speeding up glycolysis (the breakdown of sugar) inside cancer cells. After XJ-4-85 binds, it releases its payload, a compound that acts on another enzyme called CPT2. CPT2 normally helps cells break down fatty acids for energy. By disrupting both of the cells' major energy sources at the same time, it shuts down cancer growth.

"The way this drug works was totally unexpected," said Xiaoding Jiang, a postdoctoral fellow in the Hsu Lab, who designed the molecule. "A lot of research was required to figure out what it was doing on the molecular level. We were also surprised to see how selectively it binds to cancer cells."

Early promise, broader potential

The research is still in its early stages. Although the results are promising, much more laboratory testing is needed before the drug can be studied in people.

Beyond this particular drug, the researchers say the research also illustrates a broader approach for designing these two-part medicines, which they call "electrophile-drug conjugates" or EDCs. "They have the potential to be useful beyond cancer, for other kinds of diseases as well," Cambronne said.

The team members emphasize the importance of collaboration in making this discovery possible, bringing together experts from across UT—and beyond. "This project took a village," Hsu said. 

Provided by University of Texas at Austin 

by University of Texas at Austin

edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan 

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