Astronomers report the most distant known galaxies — detected and confirmed by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb) is an orbiting infrared observatory that will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope. It covers longer wavelengths of light, with greatly improved sensitivity, allowing it to see inside dust clouds where stars and planetary systems are forming today as well as looking further back in time to observe the first galaxies that formed in the early universe.

One thing the Star Trek franchise has no shortage of across its many iterations and separate series storylines is the array of world-ending technological horrors always facing the constantly hounded Federation, and The Original Series started it all with this planet-destroying weapon of unknown origin which appeared in the episode of the same name.

Though the crew never quite figures out exactly what it is or where its origins lay, Kirk theorized it was constructed as a bluff to deter one side of an undetermined galactic war, reflecting the Mutual Assured Destruction fears of the time between the U.S. and Russia. It’s pretty much Star Trek’s famous answer to the Death Star, albeit ten years before Episode 4 would make its debut.

Scientists now believe that a burst of life known as a gamma ray may have helped play a vital role in the origins of life on Earth. Further, the finding may actually provide some clues as to how the ingredients of life formed in space. According to a new study published this month, scientists may have actually proven how those ingredients formed, too.

The Tokyo-based company will also achieve the first Japanese lunar landing.

Tokyo-based ispace is set to become the world’s first private company to land a lunar lander on the moon this December. “ispace, inc., a global lunar exploration company, released an updated launch schedule for its Mission 1 (M1) lunar lander, now scheduled to liftoff from SLC-40 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station no earlier than Dec. 11, 2022. The M1 lander, part of the HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket,” said a press statement on ispace’s website.

The mission was initially scheduled to launch on November 30, but the launch date was delayed.

ispace.

“ispace, inc., a global lunar exploration company, released an updated launch schedule for its Mission 1 (M1) lunar lander, now scheduled to liftoff from SLC-40 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station no earlier than Dec. 11, 2022. The M1 lander, part of the HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket,” said a press statement on ispace’s website.