NASA discusses its upcoming test flight to the moon. Plus, another look deep into the history of our universe, and we remember a beloved fictional pioneer in spaceflight. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us “The Week in Space.” …

President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order that the White House said would protect access to abortion care, part of the continuing fallout from a June Supreme Court reversal of its landmark 1973 ruling establishing a right to abortion. With each of the 50 states now free to write abortion laws as it sees fit, an early test came Tuesday when voters in the Midwestern state of Kansas voted decisively to keep that state’s right to abortion. But several states now outlaw the practice, sometimes even in the case of rape or incest. “This is just extreme,” Biden said before signing the order, which aims to help people seeking abortions travel to a state where it remains legal. “You know, even the life of the mother is in question in some case — in some states. “Republicans in Congress and their extreme MAGA ideology are determined to go …

Two invasive species — the brown tree snake and the American bullfrog — cost the world more than $16 billion between 1986 and 2020, according to a study.  Researchers say the already-hefty price tag should be seen as a lower limit on the true cost of invasive reptiles and amphibians, especially in under-studied regions such as Africa and South America. The study results were published in the online journal Scientific Reports.  Invasive species are animals, plants or other living things that aren’t native to the places where they live and damage their new environments. Humans spread many of the more than 340 invasive reptile and amphibian species — as stowaways in cargo or through the exotic pet trade, for instance.  Invasive reptiles and amphibians can damage crops, destroy infrastructure, spread disease and upset ecosystems. The damage is costly, but scientists still don’t fully understand the extent of the economic impact wrought …

A bill enhancing health care and disability benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits won final approval in the Senate on Tuesday, ending a brief stalemate over the measure that had infuriated advocates and inspired some to camp outside the Capitol. The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 86-11. It now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Biden described the legislation as the biggest expansion of benefits for service-connected health issues in 30 years and the largest single bill ever to comprehensively address exposure to burn pits. “I look forward to signing this bill, so that veterans and their families and caregivers impacted by toxic exposures finally get the benefits and comprehensive health care they earned and deserve,” Biden said. The Senate had overwhelming approved the legislation back in June, but a do-over was required to make a technical fix. …

The United States sued Idaho on Tuesday over a state law that it says imposes a “near-absolute ban” on abortion and also sought to block the Western state from prosecuting or disciplining doctors, according to a court filing. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Idaho, seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction against the state prohibiting enforcement of the law and asked the court to rule that the state law violates federal statutes. The lawsuit also alleges the state law interferes with the United States’ pre-existing agreements with hospitals under Medicare, referring to the federal health care program for seniors. “Today, the Justice Department’s message is clear … if a patient comes into the emergency room with a medical emergency jeopardizing the patient’s life or health, the hospital must provide the treatment necessary to stabilize that patient,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference in Washington …

India is accelerating action against the monkeypox virus after reporting its first death due to monkeypox in the southern state of Kerala, that of a 22-year-old man who had recently returned from the United Arab Emirates. The death of the young man is the first due to monkeypox in Asia, where several countries have reported outbreaks of the viral infection that has been declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization. Kerala health authorities announced the death on Monday after it was confirmed that the man had monkeypox. He had died in a hospital on Saturday, about a week after returning from the UAE, where his family said he had tested positive for the infection. By the time doctors were informed, he was already critical. Samples from the man that were tested in India also detected the virus, according to Kerala Health Minister, Veena George. This is …

The public health response to the outbreak of monkeypox in the United States has so far failed to prevent significant community spread of the disease, leading to a call for a reassessment of the strategy for containing it. Since the first reported U.S. case of the outbreak on May 17, the number of infections has soared to more than 5,000, with the majority found among men who have sex with men. Although reporting of case numbers is scattered across different agencies, the U.S. appears to account for more than 25% of global cases identified during the current outbreak, which the World Health Organization has identified as a “public health emergency of international concern.” ‘You have to act fast’ Infectious disease experts have been dismayed by what they saw as a lack of urgency on the part of U.S. public health agencies in the early weeks of the outbreak. “What I …

New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency Monday over the spread of monkeypox. “This order will bolster our existing efforts to educate, vaccinate, test, and treat as many New Yorkers as possible and ensure a whole-of-government response to this outbreak,” Adams said in a statement released with the executive order. The order allows Adams to suspend local laws and temporarily impose new rules to control the spread of the outbreak. Similarly, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency last Friday. She previously announced that over the next four to six weeks, the federal government would distribute 110,000 vaccine doses to the state in addition to the 60,000 already distributed. As of Monday, New York City has reported 1,472 cases, according to monkeypox data on the NYC Health website. Most cases worldwide have affected men who have sex with men. In an announcement Saturday declaring a …