Science News Roundup: Bionic hand can be updated with new gestures, anytime, anywhere; NASA’s giant U.S. moon rocket emerges for debut launch and more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Bionic hand can be updated with new gestures, anytime, anywhere

Australian swimmer Jessica Smith has had an uneasy relationship with prosthetics since a childhood accident, but her convictions are being challenged by a British bionic hand that can be updated remotely anywhere in the world. The 2004 Athens Paralympian was born without a left hand.

NASA’s giant U.S. moon rocket emerges for debut launch

NASA’s gigantic Space Launch System moon rocket, topped with an uncrewed astronaut capsule, began an hours-long crawl to its launchpad Tuesday night ahead of the behemoth’s debut test flight this month. The 322-foot-tall (98-meter) rocket is scheduled to embark on its first mission to space – without any humans – on Aug. 29. It will be a crucial, long-delayed demonstration trip to the moon for NASA’s Artemis program, the United States’ multibillion-dollar effort to return humans to the lunar surface as practice for future missions to Mars.

Redwire to launch first commercial space greenhouse in 2023

Redwire Corporation said on Tuesday it would launch the first commercial space greenhouse in Spring next year to boost crop production research outside Earth and support exploration missions. The space infrastructure company’s project will help deliver critical insights for NASA’s Artemis missions and beyond, said Dave Reed, Redwire’s manager for the greenhouse project.

Russia, planning to go it alone, unveils model of new space station

Russia’s space agency on Monday unveiled for the first time a physical model of what a planned new Russian-built space station will look like, suggesting Moscow is serious about abandoning the International Space Station (ISS) and going it alone. Russia, in the throes of what some Kremlin hardliners believe is an historic rupture with the West sparked by sanctions imposed over what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, is rushing to reduce its dependency on Western nations and forge ahead on its own or cooperate with countries like China and Iran.

(With inputs from agencies.)