July 13th, 2025
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Mars Guy takes a look at recent coring operations by NASA’s Perseverance Rover busily working within Jezero Crater. The robot extracted a sample that was momentarily stuck in limbo. After some cajoling, the piece was freed from the teeth of the coring bit, only to arrive in another state of limbo. Also discussed is the […]
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GOLDEN, Colorado – There are those that envision big bucks pouring in from the heavens by cashing in on resource-rich asteroids. In increasing number, probes are being dispatched by multiple countries that can plumb the depths of deliverables from space rocks. School of hard knocks and rocks But could it be more […]
An in-orbit spacecraft has snapped crystal-clear imagery of China’s Shijian-26 spacecraft, a Chinese optical remote sensing satellite. This type of satellite-to-satellite observation heralds a new ability for space situational awareness, suggests Susanne Hake, general manager of Maxar Intelligence, operator of the WorldView Legion satellite constellation. “This capability fundamentally changes space security for the future.” As […]
China’s pioneering robotic lunar sampling mission — Chang’e-6 – is shedding light on the evolution of Moon’s far side. Last year, the Chang’e-6 lunar lander system collected 1,935.3 grams of lunar far-side samples and rocketed them back to Earth. These samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin, the largest, deepest, and oldest basin […]
U.S. President Trump’s “One, Big Beautiful Bill Act,” H.R. 1 includes $1 billion for the U.S. Space Force (USSF) X-37B military spacecraft program. That classified robotic space plane effort – also called the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) program – carried out its seventh mission, landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on March 7, […]
The European Space Agency’s reusable spacecraft — Space Rider — has completed a second round of aerial drop tests from a helicopter, testing the craft’s paraglider guidance, navigation and control algorithms. Last month’s testing of Space Rider followed a drop-test campaign in 2024. Testing to date has been held at the Salto di Quirra range […]
Update: China’s Tianzhou-8 cargo craft has re-entered the atmosphere in a controlled manner at 06:42 Beijing Time on Wednesday (22:42 on Tuesday GMT), according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The Shenzhou-20 crew aboard China’s Tiangong space station viewed the departure of the Tianzhou-8 resupply cargo craft. It separated from the station combination on […]
Satellite imagery is playing a key role in locating Amelia Earhart’s long-lost aircraft believed to be resting in a lagoon of the Pacific island Nikumaroro. On the 88th anniversary of the disappearance of Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, a new search — named the Taraia Object Expedition — will start this November. The Taraia […]
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover within Jezero Crater has provided compelling evidence regarding the long-term evolution of the early martian atmosphere and hydrosphere. The process of “serpentinization” — or the aqueous alteration of olivine-bearing rocks – is believed to have shaped both habitability and the long-term planetary evolution of early Mars. Serpentinization also may have […]
That nearly 900-page “One Big Beautiful Bill” has passed the House and Senate and now heads to President Trump’s desk for signing. Brian Babin, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman, has saluted the Big Beautiful Bill, explaining that it marks “a bold step forward for America’s space program and science enterprise.” The bill […]
