Last Monday, NASA shared the agency’s recommendations regarding a path forward for the costly Mars Sample Return initiative, but within a balanced overall science program. The idea of bringing back to Earth select samples from Mars has long been a major goal of international planetary exploration. NASA is now reaching back to government, industry and ..read more

Earlier this year, NASA announced it had pushed out to 2025 the Artemis II swingby of the Moon by a crew – a practice run to prepare for a follow-on Artemis III “rebooting” of Earth’s nearby celestial companion with humans. One reason cited for the delay was getting to the bottom of re-entry heat shield ..read more

China’s Shenzhou-18 crewed spacecraft has been rolled out to its launching area atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, stated the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Wednesday. The Shenzhou-18 will become China’s 13th human spaceflight and the first crewed mission to visit China’s Tiangong station this year. CMSA said all facilities and equipment to handle ..read more

If all the reports of mysterious objects buzzing our skies are taken as true encounters, the Earth appears to be under assault. But spoiler alert. For chief leader of the SETI Institute, established to search for and understand life beyond Earth, there’s need to cuddle up to a cup of cosmic reality.   Bill Diamond ..read more

Scientific American: Editor’s Note (4/16/24): This article has been updated to include information about NASA’s completed analysis of the object that struck a house in Florida. Space-Junk Strike in Florida Signals New Era of Orbital Debris – Three years ago astronauts threw out the largest piece of trash ever tossed from the International Space Station. Now ..read more

GOLDEN, Colorado — There is growing interest by space agencies and the private sector in how to extract resources on the moon to sustain a long-term human presence on that desolate world. Known as in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, this off-Earth ability involves the production of oxygen and water for life-support, as well as churning ..read more

China’s reusable rocket engine research is engaged in multiple challenges, including use of various, on the factory floor, manufacturing processes. Chinese engineers have overcome various technical difficulties in developing an engine for reusable rockets, which recently underwent its 30th ignition test. Developing a reusable engine can make a rocket land accurately, be more durable and ..read more

NASA is set to offer its response to that hard-hitting report issued last September by the Mars Sample Return Independent Review Board, including the rolling out of next steps for the program. This Monday, NASA will share the agency’s recommendations regarding a path forward for the costly Mars Sample Return initiative, but within a balanced ..read more

Suspected Space-Junk Strike in Florida Signals New Era of Orbital Debris – Three years ago astronauts threw out the largest piece of trash ever tossed from the International Space Station. Now some of it seems to have punched a hole through a house in Naples, Fla. BY LEONARD DAVID in Scientific American. A pallet of ..read more

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California is home base for building pioneering spacecraft that have probed every planet in our solar system, including the Sun. Federally funded by NASA and managed by Caltech, JPL and its cadre of engineers and scientists are being led by Laurie Leshin, the first woman to serve as JPL ..read more