**The Hunt for Space Cargo Landing Sites Hits a Snag**

In a surprising turn of events, the United States Space Force has put a halt to its ambitious plans for establishing a missile landing site in the Pacific Ocean. This site was intended to test commercial rockets for transporting goods to remote areas.

The choice was Johnston Atoll, an isolated group of islands approximately 1,300 kilometers southwest of Hawaii. Once a military base from the Cold War era, it has been abandoned and is now managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Environmental groups voiced strong opposition to the plan, sparking an environmental review initiated by the Air Force in March to investigate potential disruptions to local ecosystems. The plan to construct landing pads for private companies like SpaceX was met with concerns about possible harm to seabird populations, gathering nearly 4,000 signatures on a petition in protest.

According to Laurel Falls, a spokeswoman for the Air Force, the initiative is now on hold as they explore alternative locations. With SpaceX's Starship still in development, the team may find they have more time than anticipated.

**Meet Comet 3I/ATLAS: A Celestial Wanderer from Beyond**

In exciting cosmic news, a fresh interstellar comet named 3I/ATLAS has been discovered, and it’s turning heads among astronomers! This comet is the third of its kind ever detected in our solar system, following the notorious 'Oumuamua in 2017 and Comet Borisov in 2019.

Traveling at a staggering speed of 57 kilometers per second—nearly twice the velocity of its predecessors—this comet has researchers buzzing. Preliminary studies reveal it’s got a reddish hue, heightening the excitement around its extraterrestrial origins.

Astrophysicist Chris Lintott from the University of Oxford suggests that Comet 3I/ATLAS likely comes from the thick disk of the Milky Way, a region filled with older stars.

"There's a strong chance this comet is older than the solar system itself—potentially over 7 billion years! If true, it brings us a glimpse of a part of the galaxy we’ve never witnessed before," Lintott explains.

**Enceladus: A Subsurface Ocean and Its Life-Potential**

As if the discovery of 3I/ATLAS wasn’t enough, Enceladus—a moon of Saturn—continues to fascinate scientists with its potential for harboring life. For years, researchers have speculated about an ocean lurking beneath its icy surface.

Data from the Cassini spacecraft, which explored Saturn until 2017, revealed plumes of water shooting into space. These samples indicated that Enceladus holds a highly alkaline ocean with a pH estimated between 10.1 and 11.6—far more alkaline than Earth's.

Christopher Glein, leading the research team at the Southwest Research Institute, suggests that while high pH levels could potentially hinder life, certain microbes on Earth thrive in similar conditions. The real discovery, he believes, might lie within the ocean's depths, where life could thrive undisturbed.

Future missions, including the Israeli Eureka initiative, aim to explore moons like Enceladus and Europa for signs of complex organic molecules and life. Science fiction might just be inching closer to reality!

Stay tuned, space enthusiasts! The cosmos has more surprises in store.