Space Exploration & Science Missions News

SpaceNews.com • Mary Anne Limbach

White House Budget Proposal Targets Roman Space Telescope, Jeopardizing Exoplanet Science

President’s fiscal 2026 budget blueprint would eliminate funding for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope—slated for a 2026 launch—alongside cuts to other flagship missions. Its cancellation risks derailing U.S. leadership in exoplanet microlensing surveys and dark energy studies.

2025-05-13T08:05:38.111435-07:00

Ars Technica

If Congress Axes SLS, NASA Must Rethink Deep-Space Exploration Architecture

2025-05-13T12:51:45.411482-07:00

Space.com

Trump’s 2026 Budget Plan Would Scrap Mars Sample Return; Experts Call It a 'Major Step Back'

2025-05-13T02:06:17.584108-07:00

Space.com

Webb Captures Jupiter’s Auroras in Unprecedented Detail, Revealing Intensity and Rapid Fluctuations

2025-05-12T07:12:21.937334-07:00

Space Exploration & Science Missions News Timeline

Space.com

Senator Cornyn Unveils $1 B MARS Act to Modernize Johnson Space Center Senator John Cornyn today introduced the Mission to MARS Act, proposing a $1 billion investment to modernize NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The funding would upgrade deep-space life-support systems, astronaut training facilities and mission operations infrastructure to support sustained lunar, Martian and beyond exploration.

2025-05-15T11:06:26.790006-07:00

Senator Cornyn Unveils $1 B MARS Act to Modernize Johnson Space Center

SpaceNews.com

The cost of shrinking space science

2025-05-15T09:54:23.169236-07:00

The cost of shrinking space science

BBC

London’s Natural History Museum to Let Visitors Handle Moon and Mars Samples Visitors to London’s Natural History Museum will soon be able to handle lunar and Martian rock samples when the institution unveils its first space exploration exhibition, showcasing actual moon fragments, meteorites and spacecraft components via interactive touch stations.

2025-05-15T06:03:53.599661-07:00

London’s Natural History Museum to Let Visitors Handle Moon and Mars Samples

brown.edu

Crater Ejecta Reveal Buried Glaciers on Mars Scientists propose a new method for mapping buried glaciers and subsurface features on Mars by analyzing the ballistics of material ejected from impact craters. By measuring ejecta distribution and travel distances, the technique could locate hidden ice and inform selection of future rover sampling sites.

2025-05-15T06:02:30.095854-07:00

Crater Ejecta Reveal Buried Glaciers on Mars

Business Standard

IAF Pilot Shukla to Fly Axiom Mission 4 on June 8, India Returns to ISS After 40 Years Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force will lift off aboard SpaceX’s Dragon on June 8 for Axiom Mission 4, marking India’s return to human spaceflight after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 Soyuz mission. The crew also includes the first ISS travellers from Poland and Hungary.

2025-05-14T23:33:36.429456-07:00

IAF Pilot Shukla to Fly Axiom Mission 4 on June 8, India Returns to ISS After 40 Years

New Scientist

Critics say Adriana Marais’s utopian space vision feels tone-deaf amid politicized era In an era defined by political polarization and urgent Earth-bound challenges, futurist Adriana Marais’s new manifesto, “Out of This World and Into the Next”, has drawn criticism for its unabashedly optimistic vision of off-world living, prompting debate over whether such utopian narratives remain relevant or responsible today.

2025-05-14T23:14:38.030460-07:00

Critics say Adriana Marais’s utopian space vision feels tone-deaf amid politicized era

SpaceNews.com

Rocket Lab to Launch NASA UV Astrophysics Smallsat on Electron to Study Galaxy Evolution NASA has selected Rocket Lab to launch a small ultraviolet astrophysics satellite aboard its Electron rocket to study galaxy evolution. The mission marks NASA’s inaugural astrophysics flight on Electron and underscores Rocket Lab’s growing portfolio of dedicated science launch services.

2025-05-14T15:46:27.674847-07:00

Rocket Lab to Launch NASA UV Astrophysics Smallsat on Electron to Study Galaxy Evolution

Aviation Week

First Commercial Helium-3 Contract Signals Shift to Active Lunar Economy First-ever helium-3 extraction contract transitions commercial lunar resource competition from theory to practice, underscoring strategic interest in fusion fuel prospects. The deal accelerates momentum for private-sector activity on the Moon and raises pressing questions about regulatory frameworks and market dynamics.

2025-05-14T15:16:40.638030-07:00

First Commercial Helium-3 Contract Signals Shift to Active Lunar Economy

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