Payload
• Victoria Woodburn
NASA is inviting high school and post-secondary students to propose solutions for a long-term lunar habitat, alongside a broader push to build Moon infrastructure. The agency announced a $10 billion pool for CLPS 2 landers, $1.3 billion in launch task orders and plans to send its nuclear-powered PROMISE rover to the Moon in 2028.
Space Exploration & Science Missions
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NASA is inviting high school and post-secondary students to propose solutions for a long-term lunar habitat, alongside a broader push to build Moon infrastructure. The agency announced a $10 billion pool for CLPS 2 landers, $1.3 billion in launch task orders and plans to send its nuclear-powered PROMISE rover to the Moon in 2028.
The European mission launched on Nov. 8, 2005, marking Europe’s first mission to Venus. A retrospective revisits why Venus Express mattered, placing the spacecraft’s significance in the context of Europe’s exploration of the planet.
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An opinion article by Mark R. examines how China intends to beat NASA back to the moon. The available article information does not specify the strategy’s elements, schedule or how it compares with NASA’s plans.
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Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, described as one of the country’s top astrophysicists, has left the United States after President Trump’s policies affected her work. The report says those effects reached every part of her work, but does not specify the policies or the research involved.
Astronomers are simulating how a rocky planet’s atmosphere could develop without life, aiming to distinguish lifeless worlds from inhabited ones. The work targets a central challenge in interpreting observations of planets beyond our solar system: atmospheric features may need to be assessed against plausible nonbiological explanations.
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NASA announced a slate of awards and mission updates to expand lunar transportation, science and infrastructure capabilities. The work includes contracts for a new generation of landers, selection of eight companies for the next phase of cargo-lander development, and plans to send the PROMISE nuclear-powered rover and miniCAST technology demonstrator to the lunar south pole.
In Episode 235 of This Week In Space, Tariq Malik and Rod Pyle speak with Dr. Jim Green about planetary exploration, looking across its history, current efforts and future direction.
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