December 9th, 2025
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A detailed blueprint for human exploration of the Red Planet centers on the first three crewed expeditions to Mars. Out of an agenda of what-to-do when there, a top priority for human investigation is the search for past or present life, and/or prebiotic chemistry on Mars. The just-issued study — A Science Strategy for the […]
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The release of the U.S.-China Commission’s 2025 Annual Report to Congress covers a swath of topics, including China’s aggressive space agenda. “China has achieved major civil space milestones,” the report points out, such as the Chang’e-6 mission returning the first samples from the Moon’s far side. “These ‘global firsts’ are much more than just about […]
China’s Shenzhou-21 crew carried out their first spacewalk of the taikonauts projected six-month mission. The December 9th extravehicular activity (EVA) lasted roughly 8 hours, with astronauts Zhang Lu (commander) and Wu Fei making the space walk. Colleague Zhang Hongzhang assisted them from inside the Tianhe Core Module. Inspection of viewport window According to the China […]
The Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has issued a new paper focused on improving space governance and accelerating the growth of the space economy. Research Fellow Ely Sandler notes that, with human activity in outer space proliferating, existing international space law is ill-equipped to address emerging challenges such as militarization, […]
Mars Guy spotlights NASA’s Perseverance rover at Jezero Crater that carries the first successfully operating microphone on Mars. The robot has been building up a record of the Martian soundscape – as well as sound from the rover itself. “Now it has answered a longstanding question about Mars thanks to some shocking sounds,” explains Mars […]
What is a science strategy for the human exploration of Mars? A special webinar is being held on December 9, tied to release of a National Academy of Sciences report. This new National Academies report — A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars — outlines how future missions can advance the highest-priority scientific […]
While NASA is undergoing an upheaval trying to sort out how best to return humans to the Moon via its Artemis program, the space agency has picked two Artemis-4 science instruments designed for astronauts to deploy on the surface of the Moon. The two payloads were selected for further development to fly on the […]
Blue Origin is readying its New Shepard-37 suborbital flight that will rocket six passengers to the edge of space. One traveler onboard that mission is Michaela “Michi” Benthaus, and her voyage carries special significance. She is on a trajectory to become the first wheelchair user in space. In 2018, Benthaus became wheelchair-bound after a mountain […]
Following their launch on November 27 onboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams, safely docked to the International Space Station. But it turns out that there was more “blast” to their blastoff considering the impact on their departure point at Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome. For more […]
China’s Shenzhou-21 crew is scheduled to carry out their first extravehicular activity in the coming days the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Thursday. Since entering the China Space Station complex on November 1 (Beijing time), the Shenzhou-21 crew has carried out station maintenance, emergency supply inspections and organization, and finished daily life and […]
