Archive for May, 2025
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May 31st, 2025
Image credit: NASA
Just out is the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for NASA – one that reflects the Trump-Vance Administration’s “commitment to strengthening America’s leadership in space exploration while exercising fiscal responsibility. “
“With this budget, we aim to shape a Golden Age of innovation and exploration,” explains acting NASA Administrator, Janet Petro, in a Technical Supplement of the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget.
Embrace the challenge
In a May 30 message, Petro says “embrace the challenge.”
That budget includes $7 billion to focus space agency investments on sustainable human exploration of the lunar surface plus an additional $1 billion to prepare for human missions to Mars.
This budget creates a new Commercial Mars Payload Services Program – modeled off the success of Commercial Lunar Payload Services – to deliver science and technology payloads to Mars through commercial partnerships.
It also includes funding to test capabilities for a near-term human-class Mars lander, expands Mars communications relay capabilities through commercial partnerships, augments funding to begin crafting Mars-appropriate spacesuits, low-cost Mars robotic exploration missions and instrument payloads, and accelerates the development of low cost, high-performance space computers.
We are going…going, going gone! Artemis I Rollout: August 16, 2022
Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Mars-forward
“Significant funds are provided for Mars-forward technologies and surface infrastructure that can be demonstrated on the Moon through the Artemis program,” the document notes.
Starting with Artemis IV, this budget shifts the NASA approach to transportation to the Moon by retiring the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft. SLS, Orion, and Exploration Ground System (EGS) government programs will be retired after Artemis III.
NASA will continue the Artemis campaign by procuring crew transportation services from U.S. companies, designed to minimize cost and reduce schedule risks with milestone-based planning and more streamlined operations.
NASA’s cis-lunar Gateway facility.
Image credit: NASA
Sunset the Gateway
The budget document explains that NASA will “sunset the Gateway” – the planned lunar orbiting space station – to focus efforts on direct-to-surface exploration. NASA will explore opportunities for our commercial or international partners to repurpose elements of the Gateway.
NASA will continue the orderly closeout of the Gateway program in 2026. Gateway was designed to be a platform that orbited the Moon and supported orbital activities, lunar landers, and surface activities. Gateway was to augment the Orion spacecraft’s capabilities to support long-duration lunar surface missions as well as enable Mars forward deep space environmental testing and science.
Dragonfly on Titan.
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben
In 2026, funding will be used to close out the current contracts while alternative uses of the Gateway hardware are evaluated by commercial and international partners.
Venus cuts
NASA will continue development of high-priority missions such as Dragonfly to Titan, a moon of Saturn, the Near-Earth Object Surveyor to keep a space-based eye out for Earth impacting space rocks.
The budget calls for ceasing support for the European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin Mars rover.
Also on the chopping block are the DAVINCI, VERITAS, EnVision Venus explorers.
NASA’s DAVINCI Venus lander.
Image credit: NASA GSFC visualization by CI Labs Michael Lentz and others
Scrap Mars Sample Return
It ends the current, unaffordable Mars Sample Return Program and pivots to supporting lower-cost, competitively selected Mars science missions that can complement our long-term human exploration goals.
NASA continues its commitment to the safe operation of the International Space Station (ISS) through its deorbiting and dunking into ocean waters in 2030.
Pile driving the International Space Station into the Earth’s atmosphere is on the books.
Image credit: NASA
“This budget represents not only an investment in space exploration, but also in American ingenuity, opportunity, and leadership on the global stage,” explains Petro.
For more details, go to this detailed document at:
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/fy-2026-budget-technical-supplement-002.pdf
Also, go to additional budget documents available online at:
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Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is requiring SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation for the Starship Flight 9 mission that launched on May 27 from Starbase, Texas.
“All Starship vehicle and Super Heavy booster debris landed within the designated hazard areas. There are no reports of public injury or damage to public property,” the FAA reported today.
The mishap investigation is centered only on the loss of the Starship vehicle which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned.
Public safety requirements
“The FAA determined that the loss of the Super Heavy booster is covered by one of the approved test induced damage exceptions requested by SpaceX for certain flight events and system components. The FAA evaluated each exception prior to launch approval and verified they met public safety requirements,” the FAA statement explains.
Image credit: FAA
Also noted in the communiqué is that the FAA activated a Debris Response Area, out of an abundance of caution, when the Super Heavy booster experienced its anomaly over the Gulf of America during its flyback toward Texas.
“The FAA subsequently determined the debris did not fall outside of the hazard area. During the event there were zero departure delays, one flight was diverted, and one airborne flight was held for 24 minutes,” the FAA statement says.
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
SpaceX chief rocketeer, Elon Musk, unveiled his Mars roadmap at Starbase, Texas.
To watch the entire presentation, go to:
https://www.spacex.com/humanspaceflight/mars/
Photo highlights are:
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Daniel Baker to head new space policy center.
Image credit: Barbara David
BOULDER, Colorado – The myriad of policy issues that underscore the changing space landscape are to be embraced by a new research and study center, established to focus on the role of the U.S. government, expanding growth of commercial space, as well as the interaction between civilian and military factions.
To be announced by the University of Colorado, Boulder is establishment of the Colorado Space Policy Center (CSPC).
Daniel Baker, a distinguished professor of planetary and space physics at the university, is taking on the mantle of director of the Colorado Space Policy Center.
Wellspring of organizations
On an early agenda for CSPC study includes what Baker said is the unregulated use of low Earth orbit. Other topics to be tackled are science in the “new space” era, planetary protection, China Policy and international partnerships, space commercialization, human versus robotic space exploration, as well as relationships between national security and civilian space programs.
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation’s Space Safety Institute
The center will draw from university expertise in space research, including business and other fields, while tapping a wellspring of major aerospace organizations in the area, including the boom in local-area entrepreneurial space start-ups and military space specialists.
For more details, go to my new SpaceNews story – “University of Colorado, Boulder to announce new space policy center” – at:
https://spacenews.com/university-of-colorado-boulder-to-announce-new-space-policy-center/
Apollo 11 moonwalkers, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Credit: NASA
The World Monuments Fund released its 2025 “Watch list” that sees the moon as a celestial sore point, tagging it as an “at risk” historic site.
The hope is to thwart the threat of select lunar areas from damage, even looting and exploitative visitation by future lunar tourists.
In fact, numbers of groups and individuals are saying there’s need to protect lunar heritage – before it’s too late.
Credit: For All Moonkind
For detailed information, go to my new Space.com story – “Can we protect historical sites on the moon before it’s too late? – Experts say there’s a critical need to advocate for global cooperation and policy frameworks to protect lunar heritage before irreversible damage occurs,” at:
https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/can-we-protect-historical-sites-on-the-moon-before-its-too-late
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission is now underway, launched early Thursday.
A Long March-3B booster sent the probe skyward from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province at 1:31 a.m. (Beijing Time).
The Tianwen-2 probe was sent into a transfer orbit from Earth to the asteroid 2016HO3. It will journey for about one year to reach its first target, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Multiple goals
The Tianwen-2 mission aims to achieve multiple goals over a decade-long expedition: collecting samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3 and exploring the main-belt comet 311P.
Known as a quasi-satellite of Earth, asteroid 2016HO3 orbits the Sun and appears to circle around Earth as well, remaining a constant companion to our planet.
The main-belt comet 311P is viewed as a “rebel” of the main asteroid belt as it displays features of both comets and asteroids. It displays features of both comets and asteroids.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Flying and probing
As China’s first space probe commissioned to retrieve samples from an asteroid, the probe will slowly approach asteroid 2016HO3, carrying out close exploration by circling and hovering over the asteroid to determine the sampling area, with a strategy of flying and probing simultaneously.
After completing the sampling, the spacecraft will haul its collectibles back to the vicinity of Earth. A return capsule will separate from the main probe and is expected to deliver the samples to Earth by the end of 2027, according to China Central Television (CCTV).
The main probe will then continue its voyage to rendezvous with the more distant target, the main-belt comet 311P.
Dusty Zhurong rover.
Credit: CNSA
Tianwen series
China’s first Mars exploration mission was named Tianwen-1, launched back in 2020. It achieved a soft landing on the Martian surface in May 2021, deploying the Zhurong rover to reconnoiter the landing area.
China’s Tianwen-3 mission is now being readied to collect samples from the surface of Mars for return.
Tianwen-4 will target Jupiter and Uranus.
Go to video of launch at:
Image credit: John Kraus
Note: FAA Statement provided to Inside Outer Space:
“The FAA is aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starship Flight 9 mission that launched on Tuesday, May 27, from Starbase, Texas, and is actively working with SpaceX on the event. There are no reports of public injury or damage to public property at this time.”
SpaceX has posted a Starship ninth flight test report.
The Super Heavy/Starship lifted off at 6:36 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday, May 27 from Starbase, Texas.
Roaring out of Starbase, the booster performed a full-duration ascent burn with all 33 of its Raptor engines and separated from Starship’s upper stage in a hot-staging maneuver.
During separation, Super Heavy performed the first “deterministic flip” followed by its boostback burn.
Rapid unscheduled disassembly
“Getting real-world data on how the booster controlled its flight at this higher angle of attack will contribute to improved performance on future vehicles, including the next generation of Super Heavy,” SpaceX explains.
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
However, as it approached its designated splashdown area in the Gulf of America, following a booster relight of its 13 center and middle ring Raptor engines, “contact with the booster was lost shortly after the start of landing burn.”
At that point, the booster experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly” roughly six minutes after launch.
That brought to an end the first reflight of a Super Heavy booster having previously launched on Starship’s seventh flight test in January 2025.
Image credit: SpaceX
Ascent burn
Following a successful stage separation, the Starship upper stage lit all six of its Raptor engines and performed a full-duration ascent burn.
“The engines on Starship flew with mitigations in place following learnings from the eighth flight test, including additional preload on key joints,” SpaceX notes, “a new nitrogen purge system, and improvements to the propellant drain system.”
As Starship continued on its orbital coast, several in-space objectives were planned, including the first payload deployment from Starship and a relight of a single Raptor engine.
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Reentry position
However, Starship’s payload bay door was unable to open. That issue prevented the deployment of the eight Starlink simulator satellites.
Stuck payload door.
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“A subsequent attitude control error resulted in bypassing the Raptor relight and prevented Starship from getting into the intended position for reentry,” SpaceX points out.
Starship then went through an automated safing process, an action to vent the remaining pressure to place the vehicle in the safest condition for reentry.
Starship plunges toward Indian Ocean. Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Contact lost
“Contact with Starship was lost approximately 46 minutes into the flight, with all debris expected to fall within the planned hazard area in the Indian Ocean,” the SpaceX posting explains. Data review is underway, with new improvements to be implemented, as work begins to ready the next Starship and Super Heavy vehicles for flight.
“Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable, but every lesson learned marks progress toward Starship’s goal of enabling life to become multiplanetary,” concludes the SpaceX report on flight 9.
From Elon Musk: “Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lot of good data to review,” he posted.
“Launch cadence for next 3 flights will be faster, at approximately 1 every 3 to 4 weeks,” Musk reports.
For a replay of the test flight, go to:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-9
Image credit: SAE Media Group/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Private companies — Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, Blue Origin, and Firefly Aerospace — are heralding a new era of lunar exploration by developing landers in collaboration with NASA.
2025 marks a significant year with multiple lunar lander missions – but a hit and miss track record.
Tipped over Athena Moon lander.
Image credit: Intuitive Machines
Blue Ghost sits on lunar surface – marking the the longest commercial operations on the Moon to date.
Image credit: Firefly Aerospace
These Moon missions aim to analyze lunar soil, test new technologies, and search for water ice.
This informative (musical review) of what missions have worked, what hasn’t, and what’s next.
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Westerbork Observatory in the Netherlands.
Image credit: Breakthrough Listen
The most ambitious project to date searching for signs of technology as an indicator of extraterrestrial intelligence is partnering with ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, and the University of Manchester, to deploy a new all-sky monitor at the Westerbork Observatory in the Netherlands.
Westerbork Observatory is one of the last remaining radio quiet zones in Europe.
The new experiment takes phased array feeds (PAFs) – essentially wide-field radio cameras – and installs them on the ground, looking up at the sky directly.
Ready to listen up! Details of new effort given during May 13 gathering.
Image credit: Breakthrough Listen
The result: “All Sky, All the Time” and a new radio sky monitor for transients and technosignatures, explains the Breakthrough Listen effort, headquartered at the University of Oxford.
Computing power
Jessica Dempsey, Director of ASTRON, said the new collaboration takes advantage of advances in computing power since they first built PAFs. That advance enables a real-time view of the whole sky in a way that wasn’t possible before.
The new instrument takes advantage of cutting edge processing technology enabled by the latest computer chips. Breakthrough Listen has been partnering with NVIDIA to implement streaming data processing using. NVIDIA is known for its pioneering semiconductor work enabling accelerated computing to pave the way for generative AI.
Search for technosignatures of other starfolk makes use of advanced computing capability.
Image credit: Breakthrough Listen
New capabilities
“Although we’ve not yet detected a confirmed technosignature, Breakthrough Listen has placed some of the strongest constraints to date on the presence of intelligent life beyond Earth,” said Breakthrough Initiatives Executive Director, S. Pete Worden.
“We’ve also developed flexible digital technology,” Worden added, “giving us a new understanding of fast radio bursts, flaring stars, and other unusual astrophysical objects.”
The new partnership provides” impressive new capabilities for our search, and a testbed as we prepare for the next generation of radio telescopes,” Worden said.
Credit: Breakthrough Listen
Survey sweep…stakes!
Breakthrough Listen collaborates with facilities around the globe, including a number of the most powerful radio telescopes, as well as cutting-edge observatories operating in other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
According to the group, it aims to survey one million nearby stars, the entire galactic plane and 100 nearby galaxies.
The Breakthrough Initiatives are funded by the Breakthrough Foundation established by Yuri and Julia Milner.
Image credit: Neville Thompson/Mars Guy
“Let’s call it a web of intrigue.” NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater has entered bizarre terrain.
This Mars Guy video notes that nearly two decades after they were first discovered, the rover has begun to explore web-like features known as boxwork structures.
“Answers to how they formed and why they’re bigger than any on Earth are now emerging,” says Mars Guy.
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