Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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April 18th, 2026
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The Shenzhou-21 crew aboard China’s orbiting Tiangong space station completed their mission’s third series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) on April 17.
According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), Zhang Lu, the commander of the Shenzhou-21 mission, and Wu Fei conducted the five and a half hour spacewalk, then returned to the space station’s Wentian lab module safely.
Zhang Hongzhang assisted the spacewalking duo from inside the orbital outpost.
The spacewalk included the completion of installing a space debris protection device for the space station, along with facility inspections, among other tasks.
Shenzhou-21 crew – extended stay.
Image credit: CMSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Extended stay
It has been decided, after careful evaluation and assessment, that the Shenzhou-21 crew’s stay in orbit will be extended by approximately one month.
According to China Central Television (CCTV), the extended stay is “to further validate technologies related to long-term human habitation in orbit and to maximize the comprehensive benefits of using the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft as an emergency launch vehicle to resupply the space station.”
The Shenzhou-21 crew will reportedly now return to Earth in early June.
For details on the third spacewalk, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1707059167126941
Also go to this video detailing upcoming Chinese space activity, at:
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Image credit: Blue Origin
Blue Origin’s projected launch date for New Glenn’s third mission is slated for liftoff no earlier than Sunday, April 19, 2026, from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The launch window will be open from 6:45 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time / 10:45 – 12:45 UTC.
Image credit: Blue Origin
The mission will carry AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite to low Earth orbit. BlueBird 7 is intended to expand direct-to-smartphone broadband network capacity and assist in enabling initial service rollout in 2026.
Image credit: Blue Origin
Drone ship landing
This mission will feature the return of New Glenn’s first-stage booster, Never Tell Me The Odds, which successfully launched and landed on the program’s second mission last November.
The booster landing is targeted for the Jacklyn ocean-going ship.
Image credit: Blue Origin
Live launch coverage on BlueOrigin.com will start 30 minutes prior to launch.
For more details, go to:
Image credit: Bill Ingalls
NASA’s Artemis II crew and Orion spacecraft splashed down at 5:07 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time following a near 10-day trek from the Earth to the vicinity of the Moon and back.
Image credit: Bill Ingalls
Returning from the flight, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist.
Artemis II crew members were greeted by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on the flight deck of the USS John P. Murtha recovery ship.
Image credit: Bill Ingalls
Image credit: Bill Ingalls
NASA chief Jared Isaccman grreets Artemis II crew members.
Image credit: Bill Ingalls
Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; left, Christina Koch, mission specialist; CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist; and NASA astronaut Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, right, pose for a group photo after viewing the Orion spacecraft in the well deck of USS John P. Murtha, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. The quartet splashed down Friday, April 10.
Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Image credit: AIAA Aerospace America
The U.S. is once again trying to beat another nation to landing astronauts on the moon, and NASA officials and U.S. lawmakers say the stakes are even higher than they were in the 1960s.
AIAA Aerospace America story by Leonard David and Cat Hofacker explore the implications of this 21st century space race.
Go to:
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s next robotic explorer of the Moon – Chang’e-7 – is now at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan.
To be launched in the second half of this year, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) added that pre-launch tests will begin shortly.
According to China Central Television (CCTV), the Chang’e-7 mission aims to achieve several key technological breakthroughs, such as:
- A high-precision soft landing on the lunar surface
- Walking with its legs
- Leaping across the lunar surface
- Exploration of permanently shadowed craters
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“The mission will adopt an integrated exploration approach, combining orbiting, landing, roving, and hopping, to survey the environment and resources of the lunar south pole, while also carrying out international cooperation,” added CCTV.
For more details on the mission, go to:
https://www.leonarddavid.com/change-7-mission-chinas-hunt-for-lunar-water-ice/
Wait-a-Minute!
Image credit: Barbara David
As the four-person Artemis II crew heads back to Earth, there’s a heavy breathing, nail-bitter ahead.
It is a wait-a-minute moment regarding the Orion spacecraft heat shield.
The high-speed, safe return to Earth from lunar distance of the Artemis II crew depends on the thermal protection system of Orion’s crew module. It must endure blistering temperatures to keep crew members safe.
Artwork depicts Orion spacecraft plowing through Earth’s atmosphere at high speed.
Image credit: NASA
However, following the flight of the uncrewed Artemis I lunar flight test in late 2022, it was found that ablative thermal protective material had unexpectedly chipped away from the Orion heat shield during its plunge through Earth’s atmosphere.
Image credit: NASA OIG
In 2024, NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report – “NASA’s Readiness for the Artemis II Crewed Mission to Lunar Orbit” – calling attention to the heat shield issue.
To read the full report, go to:
https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ig-24-011.pdf
Post-flight analysis
In a post-flight analysis of the Artemis 1 heat shield, NASA identified more than 100 locations where ablative thermal protective material was liberated during its speedy reentry.
NASA, along with contractors and an independent review team, an investigation was launched to establish the technical cause of the issue. An analysis was done, including over a 100 tests at unique facilities across the country.
Arc Jet Complex at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley has been used to study unexpected heat shield issues found after Orion capsule’s Artemis I flight in 2022.
Image credit: NASA Ames Research Center
Image credit: NASA OIG
That extensive analysis, determined the heat shield on Artemis I did not allow for enough of the gases generated inside a material called Avcoat to escape, which caused some of the material to crack and break off.
For more details how the situation was resolved, go to my past Space.com story — “The Artemis 1 moon mission had a heat shield issue. Here’s why NASA doesn’t think it will happen again on Artemis 2” – at:
Also, go to — “NASA Shares Orion Heat Shield Findings, Slips of Artemis Moon Missions” — at
https://www.leonarddavid.com/nasa-shares-orion-heat-shield-findings-slips-of-artemis-moon-missions/
Fingers crossed!
Wait-a-Minute!
Image credit: Barbara David
Four astronauts have been selected for NASA’s Artemis II mission: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA.
Image credit: NASA
The Artemis 2 quartet will be the first humans to get an up-close look at the Moon in more than 50 years.
That eye-full view has not been possible since the Apollo 17 astronauts departed the Moon back in 1972, now over 50 years ago!
A lunar observations campaign for the Artemis II crew has been plotted out, becoming the first humans to survey certain areas of the Moon’s far side as they speed by.
The four-person crew — NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen – will snag images, make observations, and detail their views via crew tablets and crew-to-Earth communications.
Go to my new Space.com story – “The Moon up close: How the Artemis 2 astronauts are photographing their historic lunar flyby” at:
Image credit: OMB
Image credit: OMB
Image credit: OMB
The Planetary Society urges Congress to reject historic cuts to NASA, again.
They have issued the following statement in response to the release of the FY 2027 top-line budget request for NASA, which would cut the agency by 23% and slash the Science Mission Directorate by 47%, from $7.25 billion to $3.9 billion.
Go to:
A cinematic shot for the mind. Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day movie, set for release this June.
Image credit: Universal Pictures/Concept Arts
For sure the truth is reportedly out there. But in the case of flying saucers and unidentified anomalous phenomena what’s truly going on seems elusive to down-to-Earth explanation.
“The appetite for disclosure is likely to never be satisfied,” explains one expert.
But “disclosure” — in whatever form it takes — could indeed ignite a possible powder keg of implications.
Likely to strike a match to an explosive, eye-opening encounter with the truth is Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day movie, set for release this June.
Space.com reached out to a diversity of experts on the topic, obtaining a wide swath of swing and sway.
For more information, go to my new Space.com story – “Disclosure day: If ET made contact, how would we handle the news?” – at:
Image credit: GAO
On the Horizon: Three Science and Technology Trends That Could Affect Society.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined how these three technologies could evolve over the next decade. These transformative technologies are trending toward maturity and may need congressional attention over the next 10 years.
These technologies are:
- Neural implants for human augmentation.
- General purpose robots.
- Orbital debris removal technologies.
Orbital debris
Image credit: GAO
GAO reports that there are more than 15,000 pieces of orbital debris currently tracked, with more than a million pieces that are too small to track but can still damage satellites and other spacecraft that provide important services.
Technology is in development to actively remove, relocate, or repurpose large, non-tumbling debris. This could reduce the risk of a catastrophic cascade of collisions, but would not eliminate it because small or tumbling debris constitute the vast majority of dangerous debris.
Legal difficulties
Further development and use of novel technologies may be hampered by possible legal difficulties posed by the Outer Space Treaty.
Image credit: GAO
Policymakers could consider a variety of options, including supporting targeted research to fill technological gaps or initiating legal analyses to develop solutions to legal difficulties.
GAO is not making recommendations but has identified several policy considerations for the Congress and others to weigh as these technologies continue developing.
Image credit: GAO
Read the full report — On the Horizon: Three Science and Technology Trends That Could Affect Society – go to:
https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-108079.pdf
Also, go to video at:
