Space Exploration & Science Missions News

Space.com • Mike Wall

ispace’s Resilience Lander Enters Lunar Orbit Ahead of June 5 Touchdown

Tokyo-based ispace’s second lunar lander, Resilience, completed lunar orbit injection at 20:41 UTC on May 6, positioning it for a landing attempt on June 5 at Mare Frigoris in the Moon’s northern hemisphere.

2025-05-07T03:07:15.384618-07:00

Space.com

James Webb Telescope Pierces Haze to Detect Water in Sub-Neptune Atmosphere

2025-05-07T11:06:39.097707-07:00

Payload

Trump’s 2026 “Skinny Budget” Proposes 24% NASA Cut, Axes SLS, Orion, Gateway and Mars Sample Return

2025-05-02T08:40:43.602197-07:00

European Spaceflight

ESA's Biomass Satellite Debuts Enhanced Forest Monitoring

2025-04-29T07:39:17.586024-07:00

Space Exploration & Science Missions News Timeline

newmexicomagazine.org

Southern New Mexico Unveils Immersive Space Exploration Trail A new visitor experience in southern New Mexico guides guests through the region’s pivotal contributions to space exploration—from early rocket tests at White Sands Missile Range to the present‐day Spaceport America facility—while offering a forward‐looking glimpse at next‐generation lunar and Mars mission technologies.

2025-05-09T08:03:21.923832-07:00

Southern New Mexico Unveils Immersive Space Exploration Trail

SpaceNews.com

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China to launch new science and habitat modules to Tiangong station Beijing plans to launch additional science, laboratory and habitation modules to its Tiangong space station later this year to accommodate expanding research programs and pave the way for bilateral astronaut missions under international cooperation agreements, driven by national priorities in microgravity and life sciences research.

2025-05-09T03:43:07.608358-07:00

China to launch new science and habitat modules to Tiangong station

Space.com

ESA’s PLATO Exoplanet Mission Installs 24 of 26 Cameras Ahead of Launch ESA’s PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) spacecraft has now integrated 24 of its 26 specialized photometer cameras, marking a major assembly milestone ahead of its slated 2026 launch. The mission will survey bright stars for terrestrial exoplanets and probe stellar oscillations to refine planet detections.

2025-05-08T09:55:30.353254-07:00

ESA’s PLATO Exoplanet Mission Installs 24 of 26 Cameras Ahead of Launch

Space Policy Online

NASA Scraps Commercial Partnership Search for VIPER Rover, Eyes Alternative Delivery NASA has canceled its solicitation for commercial partners to launch the VIPER rover after deeming all 11 industry proposals unacceptable. The agency will now pursue alternative delivery methods to get the $450 million Volatiles Investigating Polar Explorer to the lunar surface in support of Artemis objectives.

2025-05-07T20:57:41.971471-07:00

NASA Scraps Commercial Partnership Search for VIPER Rover, Eyes Alternative Delivery

Universe Today

NASA-China Telescope Collaboration Could Reveal Dozens of Earth-Like Worlds New research shows that NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) and China’s Closeby Habitable Exoplanet Survey (CHES), each designed to search for Earth analogs around Sun-like stars, could jointly uncover dozens of potentially habitable planets by combining their complementary detection capabilities.

2025-05-07T14:14:16.880132-07:00

NASA-China Telescope Collaboration Could Reveal Dozens of Earth-Like Worlds

Space.com

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James Webb Telescope Pierces Haze to Detect Water in Sub-Neptune Atmosphere For the first time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has penetrated the thick haze enveloping a sub-Neptune exoplanet to detect water vapor, marking a milestone in characterizing atmospheres of one of the most prevalent—but poorly understood—planetary types beyond our solar system.

2025-05-07T11:06:39.097707-07:00

James Webb Telescope Pierces Haze to Detect Water in Sub-Neptune Atmosphere

NASA

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NASA names Dave Gallagher new director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Laurie Leshin steps down On June 1, Dave Gallagher will assume the directorship of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, succeeding Laurie Leshin, whose visionary leadership guided JPL through landmark missions and technological breakthroughs. Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro formalized the appointment in an agency statement.

2025-05-07T09:55:00.254372-07:00

NASA names Dave Gallagher new director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Laurie Leshin steps down

Space.com

China achieves first-ever daytime Earth-to-Moon laser-ranging measurement China’s Deep Space Laser Ranging facility achieved the first daytime Earth-to-Moon laser measurement, overcoming solar interference that restricted previous nighttime-only observations. The successful test demonstrated advanced filtering techniques and enhanced detector sensitivity, improving precision in lunar distance tracking and supporting future deep-space mission navigation.

2025-05-07T08:03:07.887212-07:00

China achieves first-ever daytime Earth-to-Moon laser-ranging measurement

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