Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
Author: 
April 21st, 2026
Mars machinery has detected more than 20 organic molecules from clay-bearing sandstones in Glen Torridon, Gale crater, work done by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite onboard the Curiosity rover. Three drill samples were taken and diverse organic molecules were found on Mars.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has been dutifully probing Gale crater and Mount Sharp since the robot plopped down on the Red Planet on August 6, 2012.
But there’s new news from the car-sized Mars machinery now wheeling about in the Glen Torridon region of Gale crater, a place that scientists believe was a locale where ancient conditions would have been favorable to supporting life, if it was there in the first place.
Mars beckons for future life detection missions and instruments. Humans and robots are likely to team up to augment the types of exploration avenues that can be done on the Red Planet.
Image credit: NASA/Ames Research Center
Diverse mix
Curiosity has found a diverse mix of organic molecules on Mars, including chemicals widely considered building blocks for the origin of life on Earth. The finding marks the first time a new kind of chemical experiment has been performed on another planet.
For more details, go to my new Space.com story – “NASA’s Curiosity rover finds building blocks of life on Mars. Scientists aren’t sure how they got there” – at:
Posted in 
Image credit: Barbara David
BOULDER, Colorado – To better gauge our sun’s conniptions there is need to sharpen space weather forecasting skills, honed to better monitor the space environment and provide solar-terrestrial information. The requirement to do so is driven by solar outbursts that can impact satellite communications, GPS systems, and even electric power transmission here on Earth.
Gathering data about the sun’s output also played a major role during the 10-day voyage of the Artemis II mission, a 24/7 vigil to keep an eye on threatening solar radiation storms and used by NASA to assess the risk to the crew for health and radiation exposure considerations.
Clinton Wallace, Director of Space Weather Prediction Center (left) and Shawn Dahl, SWPC Service Coordinator.
Image credit: Barbara David
Here at the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) — part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — they are the official source of space weather alerts and warnings for the United States.
For more details, go to my new SpaceNews story and open in Ingognito mode — “How space weather forecasting keeps astronauts (and satellites) safe” — at:
How space weather forecasting keeps astronauts (and satellites) safe
Space weather during the week of April 10 – 16 as seen in this video from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) at:
https://x.com/i/status/2045895198832533647
Image credit: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
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:
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:
