Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of December 8, 2025:

Human Space Exploration

• On this day in space! Dec. 11, 1972: Apollo 17 astronauts land on the Moon;
• Human exploration of Mars gets a science strategy;
• Lunar Outpost’s MAPP rovers: from commercial exploration to Artemis integration;
• Chinese astronauts install debris protection aboard space station;
• NASA astronaut, two Russian cosmonauts return to Earth from space station;
• NASA selects two instruments for Artemis IV lunar surface science;
• ‘We have lost a lot of time.’ Former NASA chief says U.S. needs to start over with Moon landing plans or risk losing to China;
• India to have its own space station by 2035: ISRO chairman;

Space Science

• Earth’s atmosphere may help support human life on the Moon;
• New research challenges classification of Uranus and Neptune as ice giants;
• James Webb Space Telescope finds strongest evidence yet for atmosphere around rocky exoplanet: ‘It’s really like a wet lava ball’;
• The telescope that will study our nearest exoplanet;
• Space Ops: NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft falls silent at Mars
  Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin;
• A pioneering study on the feasibility of asteroid mining;
• How Mars controls Earth’s climate;
• Uranus may have more in common with Earth than we thought, 40-year-old Voyager 2 probe data shows6;
• Astronomers discover one of the largest rotating structures ever seen in the universe;
• This supermassive black hole flung out matter at 134 million mph: ‘On a scale almost too big to imagine’;
• Which exoplanet in the TRAPPIST-1 system could be habitable? Scientists are modeling the star to find out;
• The Milky Way’s supermassive black hole isn’t as destructive as thought;
• NASA extends agreement with CASIS for ISS national lab;
• Comet 3I/ATLAS from beyond solar system carries key molecule for life;
• NASA’s next-gen Roman Space Telescope is fully built. Could it launch earlier than expected?;
• Long ago, Mars had massive watersheds now finally mapped;
• Strong geomagnetic storm predicted;

Other News

• SpaceX IPO plan sets stage for a surge of other space listings;
• Blue Origin’s Cape Campus continues to expand ahead of New Glenn ramp-up;
• Lower cost space missions like NASA’s ESCAPADE are starting to deliver exciting science but at a price in risk and tradeoffs;
• Bezos’ Blue Origin working on orbital data center technology, WSJ reports;
• How to watch one of the year’s best meteor showers, the Geminids;
• NASA researchers test Mars tech in deserts throughout the country;
• Isaacman’s NASA Nomination clears Senate Commerce Committee again;
• SpaceX gets environmental approval for Starship at SLC-37;

Major Space-Related Activities for the Week

• Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Aleksey Zubrisky and NASA astronaut Johnny Kim are to depart the ISS aboard their Soyuz MS-27 capsule on Monday at 8:40 p.m. ET, for a parachute assisted landing in Kazakhstan on Tuesday at 12:04 a.m. ET, ending an eight-month mission. With the departure, command of the ISS for Expedition 74 transitioned from Ryzhikov to NASA astronaut Mike Fincke.
• Also Monday at 5:30 p.m. ET, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is to vote on the nomination of Jared Isaacman to become NASA administrator. With a favorable outcome, a vote by the full Senate on the nomination is anticipated before the end of the year.
• The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is scheduled to release a report, “A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars” on Tuesday from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET, with livestream access.
• Also, on Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET, the Mitchell Institute is hosting a virtual session with registration for the release of a study effort, “Charting a Path to Space Superiority: The Cross-Domain Imperative.”
• On Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, NASA is hosting a virtual event, “Planetary Research: Year in Review” with virtual and phone access.

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