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India safely launches a $1.5 billion satellite for NASA

30 July 2025 at 17:18

After more than a decade of development, NASA's science leadership traveled to India this week for the launch of the world's most expensive Earth-observation satellite.

The $1.5 billion synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite, a joint project between NASA and the Indian space agency ISRO, successfully launched into orbit on Wednesday aboard that nation's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, a medium-lift rocket.

The mission, named NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), was subsequently deployed into its intended orbit 464 miles (747 km) above the Earth's surface. From this Sun-synchronous orbit, it will collect data about the planet's land and ice surfaces two times every 12 days, including the infrequently visited polar regions in the Southern Hemisphere.

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Β© ISRO

Here’s why Trump appointed the secretary of transportation to lead NASA

10 July 2025 at 01:32

Six weeks after he terminated the nomination of Jared Isaacman to become NASA administrator, President Trump moved on Wednesday evening to install a new temporary leader for the space agency.

The newly named interim administrator, Sean Duffy, already has a full portfolio: He is serving as the secretary of transportation, a Cabinet-level position that oversees 55,000 employees at 13 agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration.

"Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country's Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control systems, while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient, and beautiful, again," Trump wrote on his social media network Wednesday evening. "He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time."

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Β© Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images

US air traffic control still runs on Windows 95 and floppy disks

9 June 2025 at 15:36

On Wednesday, acting FAAΒ Administrator Chris RocheleauΒ told the House Appropriations Committee that the Federal Aviation Administration plans to replace its aging air traffic control systems, which still rely on floppy disks and Windows 95 computers, Tom's HardwareΒ reports. The agency has issued a Request For Information to gather proposals from companies willing to tackle the massive infrastructure overhaul.

"The whole idea is to replace the system. No more floppy disks or paper strips," Rocheleau said during the committee hearing. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the project "the most important infrastructure project that we've had in this country for decades," describing it as a bipartisan priority.

Most air traffic control towers and facilities across the US currently operate with technology that seems frozen in the 20th century, although that isn't necessarily a bad thingβ€”when it works.Β Some controllers currently useΒ paper stripsΒ to track aircraft movements and transfer data between systems using floppy disks, while their computers run Microsoft'sΒ Windows 95 operating system, which launched in 1995.

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Β© Getty Images

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