Space Exploration & Science Missions News

Space.com • Kenna Hughes-Castleberry

NASA Moves SLS Payload Adapter to Launch Pad After Rigorous Testing Ahead of Artemis IV

NASA has relocated the Space Launch System payload adapter from its test facilities to the launch complex following exhaustive environmental and structural testing. The transfer clears the adapter for integration with the core stage and Orion spacecraft, advancing preparations for the Artemis IV lunar mission.

2025-07-17T05:07:10.595120-07:00

SpaceNews.com

Axiom Mission 4 Dragon Splashes Down, Wrapping First Private Indian, Polish and Hungarian ISS Visits

2025-07-15T04:13:14.110031-07:00

Space.com

Chang'e-6 Samples Unveil Ancient Volcanism, Magnetism and Water-Depleted Mantle on Moon's Far Side

2025-07-16T03:07:02.083576-07:00

m.economictimes.com

Axiom-4 Crew Dragon Undocks, Returns Shubhanshu Shukla After Completing Seven Microgravity Experiments

2025-07-13T21:01:44.457201-07:00

Space Exploration & Science Missions News Timeline

Space.com

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS underscores Rubin Observatory’s potential to uncover dozens more Astronomers are leveraging observations of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS—third confirmed visitor—from Gemini North’s 8.1-m telescope and NASA ISS footage, as the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s LSST scan may reveal scores of similar extrasolar objects entering our solar system.

2025-07-18T07:01:42.728852-07:00

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS underscores Rubin Observatory’s potential to uncover dozens more

Payload

NASA Launches TRACERS to Investigate Magnetic Reconnection Behind Geomagnetic Storms NASA’s new TRACERS mission will study how magnetic reconnection triggers geomagnetic storms that swell Earth’s upper atmosphere and threaten satellites. Using two spacecraft flying along critical reconnection sites, TRACERS seeks to refine space weather models and improve forecasts to mitigate drag-driven orbital decay.

2025-07-18T05:33:43.451051-07:00

NASA Launches TRACERS to Investigate Magnetic Reconnection Behind Geomagnetic Storms

orbitaltoday.com

New Copper-Based Cryogenic Shape Memory Alloy Enables –200 °C Actuation for Spacecraft and Hydrogen Systems A collaboration between JAXA and Japanese universities has developed a copper-based shape memory alloy functional at –200 °C, opening possibilities for reliable actuators in cryogenic space environments and liquid hydrogen infrastructure. The versatile material combines low-temperature resilience with precise shape recovery, promising lighter, more efficient systems.

2025-07-18T05:06:41.668403-07:00

New Copper-Based Cryogenic Shape Memory Alloy Enables –200 °C Actuation for Spacecraft and Hydrogen Systems

JoongAng Daily

South Korea Targets 2045 Lunar Base with Resource-Driven Space Roadmap South Korea’s space agency unveiled a long-term exploration roadmap targeting a lunar base by 2045 alongside a Mars lander mission. The plan prioritizes in-situ resource utilization, infrastructure development on the Moon and progressive robotic missions to secure Seoul’s role in the emerging cislunar economy.

2025-07-17T14:43:37.381760-07:00

South Korea Targets 2045 Lunar Base with Resource-Driven Space Roadmap

Space.com

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NASA Moves SLS Payload Adapter to Launch Pad After Rigorous Testing Ahead of Artemis IV NASA has relocated the Space Launch System payload adapter from its test facilities to the launch complex following exhaustive environmental and structural testing. The transfer clears the adapter for integration with the core stage and Orion spacecraft, advancing preparations for the Artemis IV lunar mission.

2025-07-17T05:07:10.595120-07:00

NASA Moves SLS Payload Adapter to Launch Pad After Rigorous Testing Ahead of Artemis IV

Space.com

NASA Moves SLS Payload Adapter After Rigorous Testing Ahead of Artemis IV

2025-07-17T05:07:10.595120-07:00

NASA Moves SLS Payload Adapter

IEEE

Construction Begins on ESA’s LISA: First Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatory ESA has started building the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a three-satellite constellation that will measure picometer-scale distance shifts via laser interferometry to detect low-frequency gravitational waves from massive cosmic mergers.

2025-07-16T20:49:16.747590-07:00

Construction Begins on ESA’s LISA: First Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatory

Live Science

Largest known Martian meteorite fetches $5.3M at auction A 54-pound chunk of Mars known as NWA 16788, the largest Martian meteorite on Earth, sold for $5.3 million at auction, surpassing high estimates. The record-breaking acquisition could unlock new geological insights about the Red Planet—if regulatory and scientific approvals allow thorough study.

2025-07-16T10:09:50.039529-07:00

Largest known Martian meteorite fetches $5.3M at auction

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