Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of July 21, 2025:

Human Space Exploration

• CBS News poll: Most Americans favor U.S. returning to Moon, going to Mars;
• Senate appropriators join House in opposing Trump’s NASA cuts;
• SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the ISS: Live updates;
• Is it worth going back to the Moon?
• Making a new case for space nuclear power
  Coalition Member in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne;
• Blue Origin announces crew of New Shepard’s 34th mission;
• A new fuel for nuclear power systems could enable missions to Mars and beyond;
• Lockheed Martin may offer Orion as a commercial service
  Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin;
• Good news for astronauts: Arteries remain normal years after long-duration spaceflight;
• Wild new ‘Skyfall’ Mars mission would drop 6 scout helicopters onto the Red Planet from the air;

Space Science

• The Mars mission that could make human landings possible;
• 2 new NASA satellites will track space weather to help keep us safe from solar storms;
• When did our solar system’s planets form? Discovery of tiny meteorite may challenge the timeline;
• Europa’s hidden ocean sends a mysterious signal through the ice;
• Is Comet 3I/ATLAS alien technology?
• FAA: ‘Air space concerns’ cause last-minute scrub of NASA’s TRACERS mission;
• SpaceX launches NASA’s TRACERS mission to protect Earth from space weather (video);
• How do scientists calculate the probability that an asteroid could hit Earth?
• Engineers study little-known hazard of lunar landings;
• Astronomers calculate that the universe will die in 33 billion years much sooner than we thought;
• Complex organic molecules found in young star’s disk hint at cosmic origins of life;
• NASA’s Junocam heals its radiation damage;

Opinion

• NASA’s summer of discontent may be coming to an end
  Despite a White House proposal to cut NASA’s 2026 budget by 25 percent, House and Senate appropriators are pushing back. A new op-ed notes that while uncertainty remains especially around Artemis infrastructure like SLS, Orion, and Gateway, the agency may benefit from an acting administrator with ties to Congress who can navigate both political and policy interests.

Other News

• Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ gives U.S. Space Force $1 billion for secretive X-37B space plane
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• NASA loses another senior official as tension grows over agency’s future;
• Moran wants to expedite passage of spending bill for NASA;
• ESA selects 5 rocket companies for European Launcher Challenge;
• Guetlein says Golden Dome architecture will be ready in 60 days;
• China tightens quality oversight over commercial space projects;
• Mars Sample Return gets a lifeline from House appropriators;
• A CME is coming;

Major Events This Week:

• • The U.S. House Appropriations Committee is scheduled on Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT to address funding legislation for NASA for the 2026 federal year that begins October 1. The House session is to be livestreamed. The House as well as the Senate appear aligned in opposing a budget cut that would reduce NASA’s current 24.8 billion budget by 6 billion.
  • The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) ASCEND conference is to meet in Las Vegas Tuesday through Thursday.
  • The Space Foundation is holding a Global Economic Summit in Arlington, Virginia, on Tuesday.
  • Meanwhile, the National Academies’ Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) and Space Studies Board (SSB), are to meet individually on Wednesday in the case of the ASEB and Friday in the case of the SSB, with a joint session on Thursday.

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