Ars Technica
• Eric Berger
Independent safety officials found that NASA’s Orion spacecraft heat shield performed well, despite earlier criticism of its behavior during testing or flight. The assessment also praised changes made by NASA leadership, providing support for the agency’s approach to addressing concerns surrounding the crewed exploration vehicle.
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Independent safety officials found that NASA’s Orion spacecraft heat shield performed well, despite earlier criticism of its behavior during testing or flight. The assessment also praised changes made by NASA leadership, providing support for the agency’s approach to addressing concerns surrounding the crewed exploration vehicle.
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NASA estimates the SR-1 Freedom Mars mission will cost $2.1 billion, but that figure does not include helicopters. The program also faces questions about its capabilities in the absence of new landers or rovers, raising uncertainty around the scope of planned Mars exploration.
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and French astronaut Sophie Adenot are scheduled to conduct the sixth all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Sept. 1. The extravehicular activity will be streamed live, highlighting continued international participation in ISS operations and human spaceflight.
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Türkiye has signed NASA’s Artemis Accords, becoming the 71st country to join the framework for safe, sustainable civil space exploration. The agreement comes as Ankara advances a national space program that includes plans for a lunar mission, expanding international participation in NASA-led exploration efforts.
President Donald Trump honored the Artemis II astronauts—the first humans to travel beyond the Moon in more than 50 years—with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and signed an executive order directing NASA to establish the nation’s first U.S. Space Academy at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has left Earth aboard its mission to study dark energy and the evolving universe. The 300-megapixel observatory will spend roughly three months traveling to the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, about one million miles away, before beginning its science mission.
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President Donald Trump has begun establishing a U.S. Space Academy to address workforce needs across the space sector. The proposed federal institution would train engineers, scientists, operators, astronauts and other professionals for NASA, the Space Force and America’s expanding commercial space industry.
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NASA and its contractors are increasing activity ahead of next year’s Artemis III mission, with continued Solid Rocket Booster stacking and RS-25 engine installation on the SLS Core Stage 3. The agency says four SLS vehicles are now in production, signaling a broader production ramp-up for Artemis missions.
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