Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of March 31st, 2025:

Human Space Exploration

• Vast signs agreement to test Haven-1 at NASA facility Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• SpaceX Fram2 astronauts see their Florida launch site from space as historic pole-orbiting mission nears its end (video);
• How to engineer microbes to enable us to live on Mars;
• NASA trains for Artemis II recovery;
• Watch chilling 1st views of Earth’s poles seen by SpaceX Fram2 astronauts (video);
• Astronauts who were stuck in space, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, say they’d fly on Boeing’s Starliner again Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Fram2 astronauts begin historic polar orbit spaceflight following a launch from the Kennedy Space Center;
• Artemis II on track, but NASA awaits Starship milestones before Artemis III Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman;
• Astronaut Mae Jemison on making history in space and inspiring change on Earth: “What’s above us connects us”;
• NASA astronaut who gave up seat for Starliner crew takes command of SpaceX Crew-11 flight to ISS Coalition Members in the News – Boeing;;
• Fram2 astronauts arrive in Florida ahead of polar spaceflight;

Space Science

• We could make solar panels on the Moon by melting lunar dust;
• A mission that could reach Mercury on solar sails alone;
• CLPS companies seek expanded opportunities for commercial lunar landers;
• Remember that asteroid everyone was worried about 2 months ago? The JWST just got a clear view of it;
• Spaceflight weakens our weight-bearing bones the most;
• NASA’s Petro endorses space science, but budget future a question mark;
• NASA’s new SPHEREx space telescope takes its 1st cosmic images: ‘The instrument team nailed it’;
• Social robots can improve astronauts’ mental health;
• Nelson concerned about NASA layoffs and other changes;
• Subsurface habitats on the Moon and Mars could be grown using mushrooms and inflatable robots;
• This sulfur-based space molecule could tell us about the emergence of life on Earth;
• 1st solar eclipse of 2025 puts on stunning show for skywatchers around the world (photos)
• Asteroid 2024 YR4 could still hit the Moon, JWST observations reveal

Opinion

• War in space the China challenge
  Space has become a warfighting domain, according to Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence and Senior Intelligence Officer for the U.S. Space Force, in an op-ed. In the modern world, border security is more than terrestrial. It includes space, where the nation’s satellite assets are essential to financial transactions, critical utilities like water and power, the navigation built into phones, broadband internet on the go, and many more facets of daily life. “Space is the ultimate high ground and the stakes are immense,” Gagnon emphasizes, while noting China as a threat.

Other News

• As China space threat grows, U.S. Space Force budget slows;
• Webster introduces bill to move NASA headquarters to Florida;
• Secretive Russian military satellites release mystery object into orbit;
• Isaacman nomination hearing set for April 9;
• Space Force picks Northrop for Elixir satellite refueling demo Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman;
• Project Kuiper readies long-awaited operational satellite launch;
• China launches internet technology test satellites with Long March 2D;
• FAA closes investigation into SpaceX Starship flight 7 explosion;
• Investigation into failed New Glenn landing completed;
• Space Force adds 2 new launch providers Coalition Member in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin;
• Isar Aerospace’s first Spectrum launch fails;

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

• On Monday, at 2:30 p.m. EDT NASA’s Crew-9 astronauts, Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams and Nick Hague are to participate in a NASA news briefing following their return to Earth from the ISS on March 18. NASA will stream the briefing on plus.nasa.gov
• The Fram2 four-person private astronaut mission aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule to be launched into polar orbit is planned for liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center on Monday at 9:46 p.m. EDT on a 3.5-to-5.5-day mission, with a scientific research focus.
• On Tuesday, the House Science, Space, and Technology subcommittee will host a hearing on NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which has backed the launch of four commercial uncrewed Moon landing attempts, each with NASA science and technology payloads.
• Meanwhile, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Space Studies Board is hosting its annual Space Science Week presentation from Monday through Friday, with some sessions open, with live streaming and some sessions closed. Agenda details can be found here.

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