New research using NASA’s Perseverance rover has uncovered strong evidence that Mars’ Jezero Crater experienced multiple episodes of fluid activity — each with conditions that could have supported life.

SAN ANTONIO — September 17, 2025 — Two instruments developed by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) are integrated into a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite set to launch into space as a rideshare on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Sept. 23, 2025.

The closest technological species to us in the Milky Way galaxy could be 33,000 light years away and their civilisation would have to be at least 280,000 years, and possibly millions of years, old if they are to exist at the same time that we do, according to new research presented at the EPSC–DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki last week.

A rare glimpse into the wintry conditions of Mars’s north polar vortex has shown that temperatures inside the vortex are far colder than outside, and that the permanent darkness that winter brings to the martian north pole facilitates a surge in ozone in the atmosphere. The results of a study were presented by Kevin Olsen, of the University of Oxford, at the EPSC-DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki last week.

The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) has revealed an unexpected difference between the powerful winds launching from a disc around a neutron star and those from material circling supermassive black holes. The surprisingly dense wind blowing from the stellar system challenges our understanding of how such winds form and drive change in their surroundings.

SAN ANTONIO —September 17, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) will flight test novel electrolyzer technology to better understand chemical processes associated with bubble formation in low gravity. Designed to solve future space mission challenges, the project, led by SwRI’s Kevin Supak and UT San Antonio’s Dr. Shrihari Sankarasubramanian, is supported by a $125,000 grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) program, which fosters collaboration between the two institutions. It is also supported by the university’s Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design (KCEID) and the Center for Space Technology and Operation Research (CSTOR).