NASA Is Trying to Put a Positive Spin on a Disastrous Budget Proposal by a Disastrous Administration...

Brandon Hancock

President Trump’s FY26 Budget Revitalizes Human Space Exploration (News Release)

The Trump-Vance Administration released toplines of the President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2026 on Friday. The budget accelerates human space exploration of the Moon and Mars with a fiscally-responsible portfolio of missions.

“This proposal includes investments to simultaneously pursue exploration of the Moon and Mars while still prioritizing critical science and technology research,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “I appreciate the President’s continued support for NASA’s mission and look forward to working closely with the administration and Congress to ensure we continue making progress toward achieving the impossible.”

-- Increased commitment to human space exploration in pursuit of exploration of both the Moon and Mars. By allocating more than $7 billion for lunar exploration and introducing $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs, the budget ensures that America’s human space exploration efforts remain unparalleled, innovative and efficient.

-- Refocus science and space technology resources to efficiently execute high priority research. Consistent with the administration’s priority of returning to the Moon before China and putting an American on Mars, the budget will advance priority science and research missions and projects, ending financially unsustainable programs including Mars Sample Return. It emphasizes investments in transformative space technologies while responsibly shifting projects better suited for private sector leadership.

-- Transition the Artemis campaign to a more sustainable, cost-effective approach to lunar exploration. The SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion capsule will be retired after Artemis III, paving the way for more cost-effective, next-generation commercial systems that will support subsequent NASA lunar missions. The budget also ends the Gateway Program, with the opportunity to repurpose already-produced components for use in other missions.

International partners will be invited to join these renewed efforts, expanding opportunities for meaningful collaboration on the Moon and Mars.

-- Continue the process of transitioning the International Space Station to commercial replacements in 2030, focusing onboard research on efforts critical to the exploration of the Moon and Mars. The budget reflects the upcoming transition to a more cost-effective, open commercial approach to human activities in low-Earth orbit by reducing the space station’s crew size and onboard research, preparing for the safe decommissioning of the station and its replacement by commercial space stations.

-- Work to minimize duplication of efforts and most efficiently steward the allocation of American taxpayer dollars. This budget ensures that NASA’s topline enables a financially-sustainable trajectory to complete groundbreaking research and execute the agency’s bold mission.

-- Focus NASA’s resources on its core mission of space exploration. This budget ends climate-focused “green aviation” spending while protecting the development of technologies with air traffic control and other U.S. government and commercial applications, producing savings. This budget will also ensure continued elimination of any funding toward misaligned DEIA initiatives, instead designating that money to missions capable of advancing NASA’s core mission.

NASA will continue to inspire the next generation of explorers through exciting, ambitious space missions that demonstrate American leadership in space. The agency will coordinate closely with its partners to execute these priorities and investments as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Building on the President’s promise to increase efficiency this budget pioneers a focused, innovative and fiscally-responsible path to America’s next great era of human space exploration.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / JPL - Caltech


NASA

The rumors we reported on were right, but the reality is worse than we thought. Here’s what you need to know. ⬇️

💰 The “budget blueprint” or “skinny budget.” This is the first part of the President's Budget Request, providing a high-level overview of what’s to come later this… pic.twitter.com/OunZUyRY9k

— Planetary Society (@exploreplanets) May 2, 2025

It is legitimately disgusting to try to spin a $6.3b cut to NASA as anything but a concerted effort by the WH to cripple America’s future in space, like critical thinking is VERY important here. A $6.3b cut and killing Orion is in no way a “increased commitment” https://t.co/A0Qoe4h9iX

— Maddie Urquhart (@rocketgobrrrrr) May 2, 2025

From the ranking member of the House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA: https://t.co/xO4oDZhT5J

— Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) May 2, 2025

If you care about humanity's journey into space, and American progress in space, a 24% cut to NASA, the greatest space agency of all time, is not a good move to make. Full stop.

All conversations about improvements, critiques, efficiencies etc. is fine. That is 95% of all of my…

— Ken Kirtland IV (@KenKirtland17) May 2, 2025

Trump’s Proposed NASA Budget Could Torch the Agency’s Boldest Missions https://t.co/PYSQey4clL

— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) May 2, 2025

Another Update on Flight Hardware for the Third SLS Rocket...

NASA / Michael DeMocker

Artemis III Liquid Oxygen Tank Moves to Thermal Protection System Application Cell (Photo Release - April 25)

Teams move a liquid oxygen tank from the main factory at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to a nearby production cell on April 25, 2025. Designated for the core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the Artemis III mission, the tank will now undergo application of its thermal protection system through an automated process.

The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Michael DeMocker


NASA / Michael DeMocker


NASA / Michael DeMocker


NASA / Michael DeMocker


NASA / Michael DeMocker

A JPL Facility Is Playing an Important Role in Prepping for the Artemis Moon Landings...

NASA / JPL - Caltech

NASA Tests Key Spacesuit Parts Inside This Icy Chamber (News Release - April 24)

A JPL facility built to support potential robotic spacecraft missions to frozen ocean worlds helps engineers develop safety tests for next-generation spacesuits.

When NASA astronauts return to the Moon under the Artemis campaign and eventually venture farther into the Solar System, they will encounter conditions harsher than any humans have experienced before. Ensuring that next-generation spacesuits protect astronauts requires new varieties of tests, and a one-of-a-kind chamber called CITADEL (Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California is helping.

Built to prepare potential robotic explorers for the frosty, low-pressure conditions on ocean worlds like Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa, CITADEL can also evaluate how spacesuit gloves and boots hold up in extraordinary cold. Spearheaded by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, a glove testing campaign in CITADEL ran from October 2023 to March 2024. Boot testing, initiated by the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, took place from October 2024 to January 2025.

In coming months, the team will adapt CITADEL to test spacesuit elbow joints to evaluate suit fabrics for longevity on the Moon. They’ll incorporate abrasion testing and introduce a simulant for lunar regolith, the loose material that makes up the Moon’s surface, into the chamber for the first time.

“We’ve built space robots at JPL that have gone across the Solar System and beyond,” said Danny Green, a mechanical engineer who led the boot testing for JPL. “It’s pretty special to also use our facilities in support of returning astronauts to the Moon.”

Astronauts on the Artemis III mission will explore the Moon’s South Pole, a region of much greater extremes than the equatorial landing sites visited by Apollo-era missions. They’ll spend up to two hours at a time inside craters that may contain ice deposits potentially important to sustaining long-term human presence on the Moon. Called permanently shadowed regions, these intriguing features rank among the coldest locations in the Solar System, reaching as low as -414° Fahrenheit (-248° Celsius).

The CITADEL chamber gets close to those temperatures.

“We want to understand what the risk is to astronauts going into permanently shadowed regions, and gloves and boots are key because they make prolonged contact with cold surfaces and tools,” said Zach Fester, an engineer with the Advanced Suit Team at NASA Johnson and the technical lead for the boot testing.

Keeping Cool

Housed in the same building as JPL’s historic 10-Foot Space Simulator, the CITADEL chamber uses compressed helium to get as low as -370° F (-223° C) — lower than most cryogenic facilities, which largely rely on liquid nitrogen. At 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter, the chamber is big enough for a person to climb inside.

More important, it features four load locks, drawer-like chambers through which test materials are inserted into the main chamber while maintaining a chilled vacuum state. The chamber can take several days to reach test conditions, and opening it to insert new test materials starts the process all over again. The load locks allowed engineers to make quick adjustments during boot and glove tests.

Cryocoolers chill the chamber, and aluminum blocks inside can simulate tools that astronauts might grab or the cold lunar surface on which they’d walk. The chamber also features a robotic arm to interact with test materials, plus multiple visible-light and infrared cameras to record operations.

Testing Extremities

The gloves tested in the chamber are the sixth version of a glove that NASA began using in the 1980s, part of a spacesuit design called the Extravehicular Mobility Unit. Optimized for spacewalks at the International Space Station, the suit is so intricate that it’s essentially a personal spacecraft. Testing in CITADEL at -352° F (-213° C) showed that the legacy glove would not meet thermal requirements in the more challenging environment of the lunar South Pole.

Results haven’t yet been fully analyzed from boot testing, which used a lunar surface suit prototype called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit. NASA’s reference design of an advanced suit architecture, this spacesuit features enhanced fit, mobility and safety.

In addition to spotting vulnerabilities with existing suits, the CITADEL experiments will help NASA prepare criteria for standardized, repeatable and inexpensive test methods for the next-generation lunar suit being built by Axiom Space — the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit, which NASA astronauts will wear during the Artemis III mission.

“This test is looking to identify what the limits are: How long can that glove or boot be in that lunar environment?” said Shane McFarland, technology development lead for the Advanced Suit Team at NASA Johnson. “We want to quantify what our capability gap is for the current hardware so we can give that information to the Artemis suit vendor, and we also want to develop this unique test capability to assess future hardware designs.”

In the past, astronauts themselves have been part of thermal testing. For gloves, an astronaut inserted a gloved hand into a chilled “glove box,” grabbed a frigid object, and held it until their skin temperature dropped as low as 50° F (10° C). McFarland stressed that such human-in-the-loop testing remains essential to ensuring future spacesuit safety but doesn’t produce the consistent data that the team is looking for with the CITADEL testing.

To obtain objective feedback, the CITADEL testing team used a custom-built manikin hand and foot. A system of fluid loops mimicked the flow of warm blood through the appendages, while dozens of temperature and heat flux sensors provided data from inside gloves and boots.

“By using CITADEL and modern manikin technology, we can test design iterations faster and at much lower cost than traditional human-in-the-loop testing,” said Morgan Abney, NASA technical fellow for Environmental Control and Life Support, who conceived the glove testing effort. “Now we can really push the envelope on next-generation suit designs and have confidence we understand the risks. We’re one step closer to landing astronauts back on the Moon.”

Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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NASA / JPL - Caltech

The Latest Update on Flight Hardware for the Third SLS Rocket...

Steven B. Seipel

Artemis III Liquid Hydrogen Tank Moves into Final Assembly (Photo Release - April 22)

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid hydrogen tank for the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket into the factory’s final assembly area on April 22. Having recently completed application of the thermal protection system, teams will now continue outfitting the 130-foot-tall tank with critical systems to ready it for its designated Artemis III mission.

The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Steven B. Seipel


Steven B. Seipel


Steven B. Seipel


Steven B. Seipel


Eric Bordelon


Steven B. Seipel


Steven B. Seipel

The Latest Update on Humanity's First Orbital Moon Outpost...

NASA / Josh Valcarcel

Northrop Grumman Begins Integration and Testing of NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (News Release - April 24)

GILBERT, Ariz. – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and NASA marked a key milestone, enabling integration and testing to begin on the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module for Gateway: humanity’s first space station in deep space and an integral part of the Artemis campaign. The HALO core structure arrived in Arizona on April 1 from supplier Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. With the arrival of the core structure, Northrop Grumman will start outfitting the module with systems that allow astronauts to live and thrive in deep space.

“We are making significant progress on HALO, the first home for humans to live for extended periods near the Moon,” said Brandon White, vice president and general manager, tactical space systems, Northrop Grumman. “Our HALO team is dedicated to furthering human exploration of deep space by delivering safe and reliable systems that teach us what we need to know for journeys to Mars.”

Source: Northrop Grumman

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NASA / Josh Valcarcel

The Latest Update on the Future LIFE™ Habitat...

Sierra Space

Sierra Space Advances Space Station Technology With Hypervelocity Impact Testing at NASA White Sands (Press Release)

High-Speed Ballistic Tests Replicated Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Impacts to Help Refine the Shielding of the Company’s Expandable LIFE® Habitat

LOUISVILLE, Colo. – Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and defense tech prime that is building a platform in space to benefit and protect life on Earth, announced today that it recently conducted successful hypervelocity impact trials at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to optimize the structural integrity of Sierra Space’s Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE®) Habitat. The goal of this NASA-supported testing was to refine a shield for the company’s expandable, flexible space station structure to make it capable of withstanding impacts from hazards on orbit.

The LIFE Habitat’s shield, constructed from innovative, high-strength, flexible “softgoods” – a chemically-woven fabric material called Vectran® – provides a lightweight yet durable alternative to traditional rigid structures. The Sierra Space and NASA test teams used a two-stage light gas gun to simulate micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) impacts to LIFE’s outer shield. The testing aimed to select materials and configurations that enhance the habitat’s shielding performance while achieving significant mass savings – critical for space missions.

“Our innovative space station technology drives scientific discovery and fuels a low-Earth orbit economy,” said Shawn Buckley, Vice President, Space Destinations Systems at Sierra Space. “This collaboration with NASA advances our efforts to develop a shield that protects against micrometeoroids and space debris, bringing us closer to launching the LIFE Habitat into orbit and readying our technology for repeat and long-duration space missions.”

The impact testing, conducted under an unfunded Space Act Agreement called Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC-2), used NASA’s .50 caliber two-stage light gas gun to replicate MMOD traveling at speeds around seven kilometers per second. Housed in the Remote Hypervelocity Test Laboratory, the gun uses gunpowder (the first stage) and highly-compressed hydrogen (the second stage) to accelerate projectiles at high velocities to simulate orbital debris impacts on spacecraft and satellite materials and components. Testing is conducted in a near vacuum chamber to simulate space conditions.

Material Selection and Testing Process

The impact trials were conducted in two phases. The first grouping of shots varied the softgoods materials while keeping gun parameters constant, simulating MMOD impacts to directly compare how each material performed. After identifying the most promising materials, the team adjusted gun parameters to develop an equation characterizing the efficacy and performance of the selected shield stack.

During the tests, 40 experimental shots were fired toward the materials to confirm the configuration selection. Once the team had established a strong but mass-efficient shield configuration, 19 additional shots were discharged at the material. These efforts were critical to mitigate future risks posed by MMOD—tiny, high-speed particles that can cause significant damage to spacecraft and habitats in orbit.

Sierra Space team members traveled to White Sands to observe the shots firsthand and collaborate on real-time adjustments to the follow-on tests based on immediate results. This hands-on approach allowed for rapid, data-driven decisions to refine the shield design.

Collaboration with NASA Drives Innovation

Throughout the process, Sierra Space collaborated closely with NASA, leveraging its expertise to analyze the data and determine the best path forward. This collaboration underscores the shared commitment to advancing space habitat technology capable of withstanding the harsh conditions of space, including MMOD threats.

Sierra Space remains dedicated to pioneering space technology and exploration. The successful testing marks a key milestone in developing the LIFE Habitat as a reliable, MMOD-resistant solution for long-duration space missions. Additional testing will further refine the LIFE Habitat for first launch to low-Earth orbit.

Source: Sierra Space

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Sierra Space

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The Latest Update on Mobile Launcher 2 for the Next Variant of SLS...

NASA / Kim Shiflett

Artemis Mobile Launcher II (Photo Release)

NASA’s Mobile Launcher 2 team, led by contractor Bechtel National Inc., integrated Module 7 onto the mobile launcher under construction near the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

Each module is 40 feet tall, and once complete, will rise to 390 feet to provide ground support for the SLS (Space Launch System) Block 1B variant rocket during launch of the Artemis IV mission.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA


NASA


NASA / Kim Shiflett

ICYMI

Last week, mobile launcher 2 gained more height with the addition of tower module 6! This launcher is designed to support multiple configurations of @NASA_SLS for @NASAArtemis missions, including Block 1B crew and cargo missions to the Moon. pic.twitter.com/ztrqXTapaJ

— NASA's Exploration Ground Systems (@NASAGroundSys) April 18, 2025

The CRS-32 Capsule Has Arrived at the ISS on Earth Day...

NASA TV

Dragon Docks to Station Delivering Science, Supplies to Crew (News Release)

At 8:40 a.m. EDT, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the zenith, space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module.

The spacecraft carried about 6,700 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory on SpaceX’s 32nd Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA. The mission launched at 4:15 a.m. April 21 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Today, we're celebrating Earth as only NASA can.

Shift your point of view this Earth Day and see the planet as we do from air and space. pic.twitter.com/MG3xmCC7mJ

— NASA (@NASA) April 22, 2025

A Cargo Dragon Is on its Way to the ISS with New Supplies and Experiments...

SpaceX

NASA Science, Cargo Launch on 32nd SpaceX Resupply Station Mission (News Release)

Following the successful launch of NASA’s SpaceX 32nd Commercial Resupply Services mission, new scientific experiments and supplies are bound for the International Space Station.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying approximately 6,700 pounds of cargo to the orbiting laboratory for NASA, lifted off at 4:15 a.m. EDT Monday, on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Live coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival will begin at 6:45 a.m., Tuesday, April 22, on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms.

The spacecraft is scheduled to autonomously dock at approximately 8:20 a.m. to the zenith, or space-facing, port of the space station’s Harmony module.

The resupply mission will support dozens of research experiments during Expedition 73. Along with food and essential equipment for the crew, Dragon is delivering a variety of science experiments, including a demonstration of refined maneuvers for free-floating robots. Dragon also carries an enhanced air quality monitoring system that could help protect crew members on exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, and two atomic clocks to examine fundamental physics concepts, such as relativity, and test global synchronization of precision timepieces.

These are just a sample of the hundreds of investigations conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory each year in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Such research benefits humanity and helps lay the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis campaign, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future missions to Mars.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the orbiting laboratory until May, when it will depart and return to Earth with time-sensitive research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.

Source: NASA.Gov

Two Cosmonauts and a Prolific Space Photographer Have Safely Returned to Earth...

NASA / Bill Ingalls

NASA Astronaut Don Pettit, Crewmates Complete Space Station Expedition (News Release)

NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned to Earth on Saturday, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, concluding a seven-month science mission aboard the International Space Station.

The trio departed the space station at 5:57 p.m. EDT aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft before making a safe, parachute-assisted landing at 9:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. on Sunday, April 20, Kazakhstan time), southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Pettit also celebrates his 70th birthday on Sunday, April 20.

Spanning 220 days in space, Pettit and his crewmates orbited the Earth 3,520 times, completing a journey of 93.3 million miles. Pettit, Ovchinin and Vagner launched and docked to the orbiting laboratory on September 11, 2024.

During his time aboard the space station, Pettit conducted research to enhance in-orbit metal 3D printing capabilities, advance water sanitization technologies, explore plant growth under varying water conditions, and investigate fire behavior in microgravity, all contributing to future space missions. He also used his surroundings aboard station to conduct unique experiments in his spare time and captivate the public with his photography.

This was Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, where he served as a flight engineer for Expeditions 71 and 72. He has logged 590 days in orbit throughout his career. Ovchinin completed his fourth flight, totaling 595 days, and Vagner has earned an overall total of 416 days in space during two spaceflights.

NASA is following its routine postlanding medical checks, with the crew returning to the recovery staging area in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Pettit will then board a NASA plane bound for the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. According to NASA officials at the landing site, Pettit is doing well and in the range of what is expected for him following return to Earth.

For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low-Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a strong low-Earth orbit economy, NASA is focusing more resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of Artemis in preparation for future astronaut missions to Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Bill Ingalls

The World in a Fisheye; my favorite lens, an 8mm f2.8 fisheye from the 1980’s. pic.twitter.com/FYPetiVr5u

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 8, 2025

Green vaporous turbulence; tonight’s show of aurora from @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/ZX0dINFhLa

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 5, 2025

Earthly eyeball; @Space_Station with a 360 degree view. pic.twitter.com/zWBErFSnNf

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 1, 2025