NASA News

Space Intel Report

High activity

Viasat wins Space Force contract worth up to $450 million and NASA role in $1.07 billion TDRS relay initiative

The U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command awarded Viasat an IDIQ contract with a $450 million ceiling to support development of a space data network backbone. Separately, Viasat was selected for NASA’s NEXUS initiative, part of a set of contracts worth up to $1.07 billion for Ka-band relay services compatible with the TDRS fleet.

Flying Magazine

High activity

NASA opens applications for 25th astronaut class; pilots have until Dec. 3 to apply

NASA is recruiting for its 25th astronaut class, with applications due Dec. 3. Applicants need a STEM master’s degree, three years of experience and 20/20 corrected vision; the listed annual salary is $164,395. Recent classes selected roughly one candidate in every 750 to 1,525 applicants.

Space.com

High activity

JWST findings sharpen picture of the first supermassive black holes

Astronomers are using James Webb Space Telescope observations and simulations to probe how the earliest supermassive black holes formed. One study argues that the enigmatic “Little Red Dots” may mark their birthplaces, while another reports the oldest known pair of black hole-powered quasars—objects that challenge expectations about the early universe.

SpaceNews.com

Senate committee takes up nominees for NASA CFO and inspector general

A Senate committee is set to advance nominations for NASA’s chief financial officer and inspector general. The appointments would fill two distinct oversight and management roles at the agency; the available report does not identify the nominees or provide details on the committee’s expected action.

Space.com

NASA kick-starts a fresh push to bring Mars samples home

Space.com

High activity

NASA launches a fresh architectural review of Mars Sample Return

NASA is starting a new initiative, the Perseverance Sample Retrieval Architecture, to revisit how it could return samples collected on Mars to Earth. The effort renews work on a long-standing planetary science goal: bringing Red Planet material home for study.

Space.com

High activity

Gemini XII’s final tests tackled rendezvous and spacewalking problems before Apollo

Launched Nov. 11, 1966, with Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin aboard, Gemini XII was the program’s final mission. Despite a failing rendezvous radar and a balky Agena, the flight put docking and spacewalking through a final test, helping set the stage for Apollo’s lunar landing program.

Ars Technica

High activity

NASA adopts an all-hands approach to its return to the Moon as procurement pace reaches unprecedented levels

NASA is taking an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to returning humans to the Moon, describing the pace and nature of its procurements as unprecedented. The shift puts the agency’s acquisition activity at the center of its lunar effort.