Cyclones and Storms and Flares, Oh My!

The Sun had a pretty intense solar flare recently — but don’t worry, everything’s OK. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory says that on July 3, the Sun experienced an intense burst of radiation categorized as an X1.5-class flare (pictured). The eruption caused a brief but noteworthy radio blackout on Earth. Image credit: NASA/SDO.

Astronauts have completed the first spacewalk outside China’s new space station. On July 4, astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo wrapped up work outside the Tianhe module. The team, assisted by astronaut Nie Haisheng inside Tianhe, installed and tested various pieces of equipment, including a panoramic camera and robotic arm.

Ingenuity, the little helicopter that could, proves once again it’s capable of anything. On its ninth flight, the Mars ‘copter set new records for distance, time aloft, and groundspeed, all while traversing a challenging region of terrain. Ingenuity flew for about 166 seconds at a speed of 5 meters per second (about 11 miles per hour).

Do UFO reports tell us more about what’s out there or about what’s going on here on Earth? Sarah Scoles, author of the book They Are Already Here, which examines the culture and motivations behind ufology, joined Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition to discuss who does ufology and why, how journalism affects public perceptions, and how we should approach extraordinary claims with little supporting information. Pictured: A still from a video showing an unidentified object as recorded by a U.S. Navy jet. Image credit: U.S. Department of Defense.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has been cleared for launch later this year. This new instrument, expected to be 100 times as powerful as the Hubble Space Telescope, will no doubt reveal many more secrets of the cosmos. On this week’s Planetary Radio, host Mat Kaplan visits the Northrop Grumman clean room to see Webb in person and talk with three leaders of the effort to build, launch and deploy the mighty orbiting observatory.