NASA News

Space.com • Josh Dinner

NASA funds Firefly Aerospace to design and manufacture Skyfall Mars helicopter aeroshell

NASA is funding Firefly Aerospace to design and manufacture the protective aeroshell for the Skyfall spacecraft’s descent stage, which will shield the Mars helicopter as it plunges through the Martian atmosphere. The award marks a key hardware step for the nuclear-powered Mars mission as system design and build progress.

1 Source

2026-07-08T13:13:51.290119-07:00

Associated Press

Artemis II astronauts return to Kennedy Space Center, reunite with Integrity capsule after record lunar flyby

4 Sources

2026-07-08T12:45:37.348989-07:00

Bloomberg

NASA considers sending a test version of its Mars rover to the Moon to validate hardware reuse for a future lunar base

1 Source

2026-07-08T08:19:46.591417-07:00

Space.com

Bridenstine challenges NASA’s Artemis commercial moon-lander designs, warning they could create long-term program risk

1 Source

2026-07-07T08:17:05.925446-07:00

NASA News Timeline

Space.com

1 source

NASA funds Firefly Aerospace to design and manufacture Skyfall Mars helicopter aeroshell NASA is funding Firefly Aerospace to design and manufacture the protective aeroshell for the Skyfall spacecraft’s descent stage, which will shield the Mars helicopter as it plunges through the Martian atmosphere. The award marks a key hardware step for the nuclear-powered Mars mission as system design and build progress.

2026-07-08T13:13:51.290119-07:00

NASA funds Firefly Aerospace to design and manufacture Skyfall Mars helicopter aeroshell

Associated Press

4 sources

Artemis II astronauts return to Kennedy Space Center, reunite with Integrity capsule after record lunar flyby NASA’s Artemis II crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside CSA’s Jeremy Hansen—has returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time since their historic, record-setting 10-day mission around the moon. The astronauts reunited with their capsule and the launch team more than three months after splashdown.

2026-07-08T12:45:37.348989-07:00

Artemis II astronauts return to Kennedy Space Center, reunite with Integrity capsule after record lunar flyby

Bloomberg

1 source

NASA considers sending a test version of its Mars rover to the Moon to validate hardware reuse for a future lunar base NASA is weighing a plan to fly a test version of its Mars rovers to the lunar surface as part of efforts to reuse existing hardware for a moon base. The proposal has drawn criticism from some stakeholders, raising questions about the approach and priorities for lunar exploration.

2026-07-08T08:19:46.591417-07:00

NASA considers sending a test version of its Mars rover to the Moon to validate hardware reuse for a future lunar base

Space.com

1 source

Bridenstine challenges NASA’s Artemis commercial moon-lander designs, warning they could create long-term program risk Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says aspects of NASA’s Artemis commercial moon lander designs are flawed and that the issues “are going to come back and bite us.” His critique centers on the design choices being made for the program’s lunar landings.

2026-07-07T08:17:05.925446-07:00

Bridenstine challenges NASA’s Artemis commercial moon-lander designs, warning they could create long-term program risk

Space.com

2 sources

JWST spots an “unusual” collision-shaped Centaurus A and flags early-universe “little red dots” as potential black-hole hosts NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope used unprecedented near- and mid-infrared sensitivity to penetrate Centaurus A’s dust lanes, revealing a densely packed, active, and changing galaxy shaped by a cosmic collision. Separate JWST findings identify early-universe “little red dots” that may conceal black holes firing high-energy neutrinos through space.

2026-07-06T11:13:49.729102-07:00

JWST spots an “unusual” collision-shaped Centaurus A and flags early-universe “little red dots” as potential black-hole hosts

Ars Technica

None source

Katalyst’s satellite rescue mission moves toward rendezvous with NASA’s Swift Katalyst’s spacecraft is now executing its rescue mission in pursuit of NASA’s Swift observatory. The rendezvous is expected to take several weeks, indicating a planned, multi-week orbital campaign rather than an immediate catch-up maneuver.

2026-07-06T10:30:07.384108-07:00

Katalyst’s satellite rescue mission moves toward rendezvous with NASA’s Swift

SpaceNews.com

2 sources

NASA expands CSDA with three European commercial satellite data providers On June 23, NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program announced contract awards covering eight new commercial satellite data providers, including three European firms: Kuva Space (Finland), OroraTech (Germany) and Satlantis (Spain).

2026-07-06T09:04:47.223617-07:00

NASA expands CSDA with three European commercial satellite data providers

SpaceNews.com

None source

NASA adds three European firms to the commercial data program

2026-07-06T09:04:47.223617-07:00

NASA adds three European firms