Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of February 24th, 2025:

Human Space Exploration

• Virgin Galactic to start assembly of first new spaceplane in March;
• Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, will lead female crew on Blue Origin’s next space trip;
• Belyayev’s birthday ‘candle’: Russia launches ISS cargo ship with logo honoring cosmonaut’s centennial (video);
• The U.S. House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee meets on Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST for a hearing, “Step by step the Artemis program and NASA’s path to human exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond,” with witnesses, Scott Pace, director of the George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute, and Dan Dumbacher, a Purdue University adjunct professor and NASA veteran. There is virtual access to the hearing.
• Blue Origin launches tenth New Shepard suborbital human spaceflight;
• House Committee backs Moon-to-Mars, but changes may be needed;
• NASA completes mighty solid rocket boosters for Artemis II Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman;
• SpaceX wraps up investigation of Starship Flight 7 explosion (video);

Space Science

• Lunar lander captures stunning views of Moon ahead of descent: See images taken by Blue Ghost;
• The International Space Station lacks microbial diversity. Is it too clean?;
• NASA supercomputer finds billions of comets mimicking the Milky Way’s shape: ‘The universe seems to like spirals!’;
• Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Intuitive Machines’ 2nd Moon lander, 3 rideshare spacecraft;
• The Red Planet slowly gives up its oceanic secrets;
• Texas-based company that made historic soft touchdown on the Moon launches high-stakes lunar excursion;
• NASA space observatory poised to launch on a mission to map 450 million galaxies;
• NASA’s asteroid-hopping Lucy probe takes 1st images of its next target: Donaldjohanson;
• ‘It’s extremely worrisome.’ NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope faces potential 20% budget cut just 4 years after launch;
• Days away from landing attempt, Blue Ghost spacecraft shares stunning close-ups of the Moon;
• Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander Athena set to blast off to the Moon;
• Significant far side and solar flare;
• Swimming robots, fusion satellites and more! New NASA-funded studies could someday ‘change the possible’;
• 20 years of satellite data reveal ‘staggering’ levels of glaciers melting, sea levels rising;
• NASA selects SpaceX to launch NEO Surveyor;

• A rare seven-planet “parade” will light up the sky.;
• NASA tells employees to ignore Trump administration’s ‘What did you do last week?’ email;
• What Starship can, and can’t, do Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman;
• Wargaming the unknown: The Space Force’s challenge in preparing for a war no one has fought;
• Keep NASA’s innovation engine going;
• More leadership changes at NASA;
• Despite looming defense cuts, analysts see long-term upside for space investments;
• House members seek more details on DOGE activities at NASA;
• NASA employees advised to delay responses to “what did you do” email;
• Boom or bust? Making sense of conflicting signals in the space economy
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• NASA employees advised to delay responses to “what did you do” email;

Major Space Related Activities for the Week of Feb 10th:

• On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are at work on a reconciliation and budget resolution measures to prevent a March 14 government shutdown due to a lack of federal budget passage for the 2025 fiscal year that began October 1.
• On Monday, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host a presentation on NASA’s Moon to Mars roadmap from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. that is online as well as in person from Washington.
• On Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., the window opens for Blue Origin’s planned launch of the 10th New Shepard suborbital private astronaut mission from West Texas.
• On Wednesday, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s space subcommittee has scheduled a 10 a.m. EST hearing on NASA’s Artemis program.
• Early Sunday, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is planned to land at Mare Crisium on the Moon at 3:45 a.m. EST with livestreaming by NASA and Firefly beginning at 2:30 a.m. EST.
• Blue Ghost launched January 15 as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program with 10 NASA science and technology payloads. Ahead of Blue Ghost’s lunar landing, Intuitive Machines (IM) second CLPS mission is planned for launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday at 7:02 p.m. EST with a landing planned for March 6. IM’s payloads include a drill to assess the lunar subsurface for water ice, a rover hopper and a lunar surface communication system.

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