May 7th, 2025
Author: 
That’s the topic of a new Mars Guy video episode. The White House released the president’s 2026 Discretionary Funding Request last Friday. “In order to beat China back to the Moon, it forfeits the highest priority goal of planetary science by terminating the U.S. led Mars Sample Return mission.” To view the video, go […]
Posted in 
Asteroid experts are pondering the scientific output from the NASA Lucy spacecraft as it shot by its celestial prey – the main belt asteroid named Donaldjohanson. Hal Levison, principal investigator of the Lucy mission, said the spacecraft flyby of Donaldjohanson yielded a host of “don’t know” factors about the object. As for its shape, […]
The fall to Earth of that old Soviet Kosmos 482 hardware is now forecast for May 10, plus/minus 1.1 days. That’s the word from sharp-eyed satellite tracker Marco Langbroek in Leiden, the Netherlands. “This object is the lander module from a 1972 failed Soviet Venera mission to Venus,” Langbroek posts on his SatTrackCam Leiden website. […]
Last week saw the release of President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 proposed budget blueprint. It is viewed as a budgetary bombshell, calling for a 24.3% reduction to NASA’s top-line funding and slashing the space agency’s science budget by 47%. Reactions to the budget centers on it being reckless and destructive, one that undercuts […]
The just returned to Earth Shenzhou-19 crew arrived in Beijing by plane on Wednesday of last week and are now entering a period of medical quarantine and health evaluation. Astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze landed on Wednesday at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The China […]
That soon-to-reenter Cosmos 482 is getting increased attention by satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some interesting details. The former Soviet Union’s Cosmos 482 was lofted back in 1972. But that country’s attempted Venus probe ran amuck during its rocket-assisted toss to the cloud-veiled world. Payload leftovers that were marooned in Earth orbit, […]
That soon-to-reenter Cosmos 482 is getting increased attention by satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some interesting details. The former Soviet Union’s Cosmos 482 was lofted back in 1972. But that country’s attempted Venus probe ran amuck during its rocket-assisted toss to the cloud-veiled world. Payload leftovers were marooned in Earth orbit, specifically the […]
A U.S. Senate committee is set to vote tomorrow on Jared Isaacman, the Trump Administration’s selectee for NASA administrator. That’s one small step for Isaacman in true wait-a-minute style deliberation. On Wednesday, April 30, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a full committee Executive […]
NASA has issued a new volume, Governing the Moon – A History, part of a series of monographs in aerospace history and a report for NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy, closed down in March 2025. This invaluable read is authored by Stephen Buono, a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences at the […]
Onboard China’s space station, crews have completed a handover for managing, caring for, and maintaining the orbital outpost. The commander of the Shenzhou-20 crew thanked the Shenzhou-19 trio for their meticulous care of the space station as they prepare for returning to Earth this coming Tuesday. The Shenzhou-20 crew consists of Chen Dong, Chen […]
