Space Exploration & Science Missions News

NASA • Tiernan P Doyle

NASA revives VIPER, awards Blue Origin $190M to deliver rover to Moon south pole in 2027

NASA revived the canceled VIPER mission, awarding Blue Origin a $190 million task order to deliver the rover to the Moon's south pole aboard the Blue Moon Mark 1 lander in late 2027. VIPER will map water ice and volatiles to help enable a sustainable Artemis lunar presence.

2025-09-19T13:32:50.812454-07:00

New York Times

Critics: SpaceX Starship test failures leave U.S. at risk of falling behind on Moon return

2025-09-20T02:10:21.545494-07:00

Ars Technica

House directs NASA to operate on its budget amid shutdown threat, softens White House science cuts

2025-09-19T16:24:51.822926-07:00

Universe Today

JWST MIRI captures red, long-wavelength view of the universe’s first galaxies

2025-09-02T18:50:06.179219-07:00

Space Exploration & Science Missions News Timeline

Space.com

NASA to announce new astronaut class and provide Artemis II mission update Sept. 22–24 NASA will hold events Sept. 22–24 to unveil its newest astronaut class and deliver a status update on Artemis II, the agency’s planned crewed lunar flyby, covering crew assignments, mission schedule and readiness briefings that could affect supplier work and launch preparations.

2025-09-21T07:04:15.512888-07:00

NASA to announce new astronaut class and provide Artemis II mission update Sept. 22–24

Fox Weather

Curiosity captures sweeping August panorama of Gale Crater amid low-dust Martian winter In August, NASA’s Curiosity rover shot a high-resolution panorama of Gale Crater during the Martian winter when atmospheric dust is at seasonal lows, providing clear regional context for ongoing investigations into past habitability and complementing surface sampling and autonomy upgrades that extend the rover’s science campaign.

2025-09-20T12:24:22.506482-07:00

Curiosity captures sweeping August panorama of Gale Crater amid low-dust Martian winter

NASA Spaceflight

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SpaceX moves Starship Ship 38 to Pad 1 for renewed static‑fire attempts as Massey rebuild continues SpaceX has moved Starship Ship 38 to Pad 1 to resume static‑fire attempts as part of its ongoing ground‑test campaign. Work to rebuild Massey is continuing in parallel, with both activities advancing the company's Starship development ahead of future flight attempts.

2025-09-20T11:36:16.588527-07:00

SpaceX moves Starship Ship 38 to Pad 1 for renewed static‑fire attempts as Massey rebuild continues

Universe Today

JAXA terminates operations of Venus Climate Orbiter Akatsuki Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) executed termination procedures for the Venus Climate Orbiter "Akatsuki" (PLANET-C) at 9:00 AM JST on 18 September 2025, formally ending the probe’s operations. JAXA's action completes operational control and initiates the mission closeout process.

2025-09-20T11:21:19.997231-07:00

JAXA terminates operations of Venus Climate Orbiter Akatsuki

Wall Street Journal

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NASA Pushes Nuclear Power on the Moon as Domestic Hurdles and Global Competition Mount NASA is accelerating plans for nuclear surface power to sustain Artemis-era infrastructure on the Moon, but domestic constraints — from funding and regulatory issues to industrial capacity — and an intensified race with China and Russia are complicating timelines and strategy for U.S. cislunar leadership.

2025-09-20T09:12:34.039609-07:00

NASA Pushes Nuclear Power on the Moon as Domestic Hurdles and Global Competition Mount

New York Times

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Critics: SpaceX Starship test failures leave U.S. at risk of falling behind on Moon return Former NASA executives say SpaceX's Starship — which has suffered a string of recent test explosions — remains years from being mission‑ready, a development they warn could put U.S. plans to return humans to the Moon at growing risk.

2025-09-20T02:10:21.545494-07:00

Critics: SpaceX Starship test failures leave U.S. at risk of falling behind on Moon return

Fox Weather

Hubble Detects White Dwarf Accreting Debris from Pluto-sized Object Hubble observations show a white dwarf actively accreting debris from a disrupted Pluto‑sized object, NASA says. The finding offers direct evidence of how planetary bodies are shredded and assimilated by stellar remnants, providing a laboratory to study the long‑term fate of planetary systems, including our own.

2025-09-19T20:44:40.790860-07:00

Hubble Detects White Dwarf Accreting Debris from Pluto-sized Object

Ars Technica

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House directs NASA to operate on its budget amid shutdown threat, softens White House science cuts The House directed NASA to continue operating on its appropriations amid a looming government shutdown and softened the White House’s proposed cuts to the agency’s science portfolio. While the bill reduces the administration’s deepest reductions, it still trims funding for multiple NASA science programs and missions.

2025-09-19T16:24:51.822926-07:00

House directs NASA to operate on its budget amid shutdown threat, softens White House science cuts

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