NASA killed a new X-ray telescope mission on Thursday, two years before its planned launch. The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer mission, or GEMS for short, was supposed to blast off in 2014 to study black holes and neutron stars. But external reviews found the project would likely come in considerably over budget. Read more
Goddard-Led GEMS Mission to Explore the Polarised Universe An exciting new astrophysics mission led by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Md., will provide a revolutionary window into the universe. Named the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS), the satellite will be the first to systematically measure the polarisation of cosmic X-ray sources.