NASA

By Mark Carreau
"Suni" Williams has served as commander of ISS Expedition 72 since Sept. 23, 2024.
Space Exploration

By Mark Carreau
Launched Feb. 26, Intuitive’s Athena Nova-C lander descended autonomously onto Mons Mouton in the lunar south pole region on March 6 at 12:31 p.m.
Space Exploration

By Vivienne Machi
The Boeing-made autonomous and maneuverable spaceplane was launched for its seventh mission on Dec. 28, 2023, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Space Exploration

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
NASA’s commercial lunar services initiative scores another major win.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
Intuitive and NASA are awaiting imagery from the agency’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to establish whether Athena is upright, leaning, or tipped over.
Space Exploration

By Robert Wall
The space agency plans to cease operating Voyager 2’s low-energy charged particle instrument on March 24 to conserve power.
Space Exploration

By Garrett Reim
NASA says the technology could serve as a “stepping stone to advanced navigation systems and services for the Moon and Mars.”
Space Exploration

By Mark Carreau
NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams spoke favorably about their greatly extended mission.
Space Exploration

By Garrett Reim
Both entities shrunk optical systems to fit inside 6U cubesats.
Satellites

By Mark Carreau
NASA, which leads the 15-nation ISS’s operations, plans to retire the orbital lab in 2030.
Space Exploration

By Irene Klotz
A spacecraft owned and operated by Firefly Aerospace touched down on the Moon early March 2 to begin a two-week science mission for NASA.
Space Exploration

By Guy Norris
Sierra Space says Merck is its first commercial rideshare partner for the inaugural flight of the Dream Chaser spaceplane on a NASA mission later this year.
Launch Vehicles & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
The MS-30 was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a three-stage Soyuz 2a.1 rocket on Feb. 27.
Space Exploration

By Graham Warwick
Spotted at NASA’s Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, the forward fuselage of the Rockwell XFV-12A looked disconsolate on its trolley.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
Flight controllers at Houston-based Intuitive Machines were able to establish communications with their Nova-C lunar lander following its Feb. 26 launch.
Space Exploration

By Irene Klotz
Scott Pace served as executive secretary of Trump’s National Space Council from July 2017 to January 2021.
Space Exploration

By Mark Carreau
The joint launch of SPHEREx and the four PUNCH suitcase-sized satellites is planned for Feb. 28 at 10:09 p.m. EST.
Space Exploration

By Irene Klotz
The mission for Intuitive Machines is the fourth in a series of NASA-backed technology development and flight service contracts.
Space Exploration

By Robert Wall
Scientists at one point gave the asteroid, discovered in late December, a 2.8% collision risk with Earth on Dec. 22, 2032.
Operations & Safety

By Mark Carreau
Wyche replaces Jim Free, who retired on Feb. 22, an announcement from Acting Administrator Janet Petro said on Feb. 24.
Budget, Policy & Regulation

By Garrett Reim
The space agency is contracting the two satellites on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Next program.
Space Exploration

By Irene Klotz
NASA declined to say what its response to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management was or will be.
Budget, Policy & Regulation

By Mark Carreau
A Falcon 9 Launch of the $1.6 billion mission from Cape Canaveral is currently planned for no earlier than September of 2027.
Operations & Safety

By Guy Norris
The latest test phase was divided into six main stages—or “decks”—to verify engine and systems performance.
Aircraft & Propulsion