Space Exploration & Science Missions News

Space.com • Mike Wall

FY2026 US Budget Cuts NASA by 24%, Sunsets Gateway, Launches Commercial Mars Payload Program

The Trump-Vance administration’s FY2026 budget proposal seeks a 24% reduction in NASA’s budget and lays off thousands of workers, cancelling numerous science missions and sunsetting the Lunar Gateway to prioritize direct-to-surface exploration. It allocates $1 billion for a new Commercial Mars Payload Services program, alongside $7 billion for lunar initiatives.

2025-05-30T20:40:28.055843-07:00

Reuters

China Launches Tianwen-2 Mission to Retrieve Asteroid and Comet Samples

2025-05-29T02:31:05.994368-07:00

Space.com

China launches Tianwen-2 to return samples from near-Earth asteroid Kamo’oalewa

2025-05-28T02:06:44.636711-07:00

Payload

Sierra Space to Adapt Expandable Station Tech for NASA’s $3.6M Lunar Logistics Study

2025-05-29T05:24:13.796988-07:00

Space Exploration & Science Missions News Timeline

IEEE

How NASA’s Sojourner and Its Sister Marie Curie Pioneered Mars Rover Exploration In 1997, NASA’s Sojourner rover became the first mobile explorer on Mars, transmitting images and chemical analyses that captivated millions on Earth. Its identical testbed, Marie Curie, remained on Earth to refine mission operations, together laying the technological and operational groundwork for every rover that followed.

2025-05-31T07:12:49.833377-07:00

How NASA’s Sojourner and Its Sister Marie Curie Pioneered Mars Rover Exploration

Universe Today

Study Examines Fission-Powered Propulsion for Outer Planet Missions At the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, researchers from India presented a study evaluating the financial, logistical and reliability considerations of fission-powered propulsion for missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Their analysis outlines pathways to develop resilient, high-thrust systems capable of extending deep-space exploration.

2025-05-30T22:11:11.872574-07:00

Study Examines Fission-Powered Propulsion for Outer Planet Missions

Space.com

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FY2026 US Budget Cuts NASA by 24%, Sunsets Gateway, Launches Commercial Mars Payload Program The Trump-Vance administration’s FY2026 budget proposal seeks a 24% reduction in NASA’s budget and lays off thousands of workers, cancelling numerous science missions and sunsetting the Lunar Gateway to prioritize direct-to-surface exploration. It allocates $1 billion for a new Commercial Mars Payload Services program, alongside $7 billion for lunar initiatives.

2025-05-30T20:40:28.055843-07:00

FY2026 US Budget Cuts NASA by 24%, Sunsets Gateway, Launches Commercial Mars Payload Program

collectSPACE

Belgian and Dutch Mints Issue Commemorative Euro Coins for ESA’s 50th Anniversary To mark the European Space Agency’s 50th anniversary, the Royal Mint of Belgium and the Royal Dutch Mint have released limited-edition euro coins featuring ESA-themed designs. The coins will enter circulation this year, celebrating half a century of Europe’s gateway to space.

2025-05-30T14:09:35.929830-07:00

Belgian and Dutch Mints Issue Commemorative Euro Coins for ESA’s 50th Anniversary

Ars Technica

NASA Tests Robotic Ice-Drill for Future Icy-Moon Missions on Alaskan Glacier NASA has successfully tested a prototype robotic drill designed for icy-moon exploration on an Alaskan glacier, replicating the extreme cold and rugged terrain expected on worlds like Europa and Enceladus. Although no mission is currently assigned, engineers are validating its readiness for future subsurface science objectives.

2025-05-30T11:31:09.081199-07:00

NASA Tests Robotic Ice-Drill for Future Icy-Moon Missions on Alaskan Glacier

Live Science

NASA Aims for 2030s Deployment of Lunar Far Side Radio Telescope to Shield Astronomy from Megaconstellations NASA-funded researchers are closing in on final approval of a plan to construct a large radio telescope on the moon’s far side by the 2030s, aiming to protect low-frequency radio astronomy from interference by satellite megaconstellations and open new windows on the unseen spectrum.

2025-05-30T08:30:19.814017-07:00

NASA Aims for 2030s Deployment of Lunar Far Side Radio Telescope to Shield Astronomy from Megaconstellations

United Press International

NASA Begins Next Phase of Artemis II Testing NASA has begun the next series of ground and integrated tests for its crewed Artemis II mission, set for a 2026 lunar flyby. The trials will validate the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft and mission systems, laying the groundwork for future crewed voyages to Mars.

2025-05-30T08:27:48.719423-07:00

NASA Begins Next Phase of Artemis II Testing

cleveland.com

Retired NASA Engineer Unearths 1992 Space Station Freedom Blueprints in Garage A former NASA Glenn researcher rediscovered original 1992 plans for Space Station Freedom in his garage and returned them to NASA, sparking renewed interest in the design work that laid the foundation for the International Space Station. The archive review could inform next-generation orbital habitat projects.

2025-05-29T21:04:09.574831-07:00

Retired NASA Engineer Unearths 1992 Space Station Freedom Blueprints in Garage

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