Associated Press
• Marcia Dunn
Two spacecraft bound for Mercury have entered the final stage of a nearly decade-long journey after separating from their mother ship on Thursday. The European and Japanese-built probes will now continue independently toward the planet, marking a major milestone in a long-duration deep-space mission.
Space Exploration & Science Missions
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Two spacecraft bound for Mercury have entered the final stage of a nearly decade-long journey after separating from their mother ship on Thursday. The European and Japanese-built probes will now continue independently toward the planet, marking a major milestone in a long-duration deep-space mission.
NASA is changing requirements and providing additional resources to Axiom Space as the company develops the lunar spacesuit planned for Artemis 4. The measures are intended to keep the suit on schedule, underscoring the program’s dependence on timely commercial development for future crewed lunar missions.
India plans to launch an Earth-imaging satellite toward geosynchronous orbit on Sept. 3, attempting a mission it has never successfully completed. The launch is scheduled for live coverage, offering a milestone for the country’s satellite capabilities and access to a strategically important orbital regime.
Rocket readiness issues have delayed the first privately funded mission to Venus. The mission’s team remains hopeful about the flight and its broader role in demonstrating how private enterprise can contribute to space exploration.
The European-Japanese BepiColombo mission is set to begin its extended arrival phase at Mercury on Sept. 3, marking a major milestone in the spacecraft’s journey to the innermost planet. The event will be broadcast live, offering visibility into the mission’s next critical stage.
Space Technologies attempted a commercial mission to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope, a spacecraft launched more than two decades ago that was never designed for servicing. The effort was mounted in less than a year, underscoring the difficulty of sustaining aging space infrastructure.
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With Starship Flight 14 targeted for launch in the coming weeks, SpaceX is expanding facilities and launch infrastructure in Florida. The work is intended to enable Starship operations from Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A and, eventually, SLC-37, broadening the program’s launch-site capacity.
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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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