Artemis 3 astronaut test flight will be 'one of the most highly complex missions NASA has undertaken.' These new details reveal why.

The 2027 flight will test docking operations between the Orion capsule and one or two private moon landers.

The agency dropped a few details on Wednesday (May 13) about Artemis 3, a crewed mission that will test rendezvous and docking operations with one or more lunar landers close to home.

"While this is a mission to Earth orbit, it is an important stepping stone to successfully landing on the moon with Artemis 4," Jeremy Parsons, Moon to Mars acting assistant deputy administrator at NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C., said in a statement on Wednesday. "Artemis 3 is one of the most highly complex missions NASA has undertaken."

We already knew the broad outlines of Artemis 3: It will use NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to send four astronauts to orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft. Orion will then rendezvous and dock with one or both of the Artemis program's privately developed lunar landers — SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon.

This architecture was announced in late February. It's a big departure from the original Artemis 3 plan, which would have used one of the landers to put astronauts down near the moon's south pole.

NASA is still working to define the details of Artemis 3, but the agency has made some progress, as Wednesday's announcement shows. For example, NASA revealed that the astronauts will spend more time aboard Orion on Artemis 3 than they did on Artemis 2, "further advancing the evaluation of life support systems."

Artemis 2, which sent four astronauts on an epic journey around the moon, lasted about 10 days, launching this past April 1 and splashing down on April 10. Wednesday's statement does not give an estimate for how long Artemis 3 will last.

NASA also revealed on Wednesday that the Artemis 3 SLS will employ a dummy "spacer" rather than a functional upper stage.

"The spacer will maintain the same overall dimensions and interface connection points as the upper stage between the Orion stage adapter and launch vehicle stage adapter," NASA officials wrote in the statement, noting that spacer "design and fabrication activities" are underway at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

This development makes a certain amount of cost-saving sense. The SLS upper stage (known as the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or ICPS), propels Orion out of Earth orbit and toward the moon. And Artemis 3 isn't going to the moon.

"After the rocket delivers Orion to orbit, the spacecraft's European-built service module will provide propulsion to circularize Orion's orbit around the planet in low Earth orbit," NASA officials wrote. "This orbit increases overall mission success by allowing more launch opportunities for each element as compared to a lunar mission — SLS carrying Orion and its crew, SpaceX's Starship human landing system pathfinder, and Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 human landing system pathfinder."

There's also a bit of news here: Most of us had assumed that Artemis 3 will head to low Earth orbit (as opposed to more distant paths around our planet), but NASA had not explicitly confirmed that until now.

Wednesday's statement also noted that Artemis 3 will use a new, upgraded Orion heat shield (which we already knew) and said that mission astronauts "could potentially enter at least one lander test article."

We still don't know which lander will fly on the mission, Starship or Blue Moon (or perhaps both). There are plenty of other specifics that still need to be worked out as well, including Artemis 3's duration, which astronauts will fly on it, what science experiments they might conduct and how the mission will test the new Artemis spacesuits, which are being built by the Houston-based company Axiom Space.

"NASA has asked for industry input on potential solutions to improve the communications with the ground during the mission since the Deep Space Network will not be used," agency officials added in Wednesday's statement.

"The agency also is seeking both international and domestic interest in potentially flying cubesats to deploy in Earth orbit, and may share other opportunities as the concept of operations for the mission is further defined," they added.

****************************************************************

PREVIOUS HISTORY/UPDATE

Three launch systems and two landers from Boeing, SpaceX, and Blue Origin are all part of the complicated puzzle of NASA’s Artemis program.

Sixty-five years ago, the USSR shocked the world by sending the first robotic emissary from Earth to the moon. The September 1959 impact of Luna 2 on northeastern Mare Imbrium was a stunning achievement, reaching the moon less than two years after the launch of Sputnik 1 ushered in the Space Age. The event helped ignite the technological firestorm now known as the Space Race between the U.S. and the USSR.

The U.S. responded to the lunar challenge with a flurry of robotic and human explorers. Less than 10 years after Luna 2 reached the moon, Neil Armstrong took his “one small step for mankind” on the Sea of Tranquility.

But just as Apollo reached its stride and the scientific exploration of the moon began in earnest, politics ended the greatest technological effort in the history of humankind and the moon faded from our dreams.

Now, in the first decades of the 21st century, the Artemis program to return to the moon has taken root. The U.S. and international partners have formulated plans and hardware that will return humans to the moon within the next several years.

The current, publicly available Artemis timelines remain very optimistic, but they must be tempered with the program’s extraordinary complexity and ambition. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Artemis is facing repeated development delays, although none of the technological obstacles appear to be showstoppers.

The real question is: When will new footprints appear on the moon?

Click the button below to read the entire article from Flying Magazine.

Updated for March 19

Under New Launch Regulations, Expect More Commercial Space Activity

Following a record fiscal year 2025 that saw the FAA license more than 200 commercial space operations, orbital activity is set to explode in 2026 under a new licensing framework.

The regulator on Tuesday announced that licensing for all commercial space operations, regardless of the spacecraft or mission, will now occur under Part 450—a regulation created in 2021 that is only now taking full effect.

The idea behind the regulation is to replace legacy rules—which contained separate provisions for different types of launch and reentry vehicles—with performance-based standards that apply to all vehicles, simplifying the licensing process and letting them launch more frequently.

The space launch industry found this latticework of rules cumbersome. Parts 415 and 417 covered launches of expendable spacecraft. Part 431 covered launch and reentry of reusable vehicles. Part 435 covered reentry of nonreusable vehicles.

Expendable vehicles faced more detailed, prescriptive requirements than reusable ones. The FAA in a 2019 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) said its requirements for expendable spacecraft were “too prescriptive and one-size-fits-all,” and for reusable vehicles too broad.

Part 450 combines Parts 415, 417, 431, and 435 and covers operations with any spacecraft, expendable or reusable. It also permits a single license to cover multiple launches and reentries—and different vehicle configurations—across multiple sites.

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rockets from two sites in Florida and one in California. Under legacy rules, separate licenses were required for each of those sites. Transitioning to Part 450 allows it to launch Falcon 9 from all three under the same authorization.

Similarly, SpaceX wants to launch its massive Starship rocket—which already had Part 450 authorization—out of Texas and Florida.

Launch providers operating under the four now-obsolete regulations had until March 9 to switch to Part 450. The FAA said several completed the transition before the deadline, including SpaceX’s Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon crew vehicle, Blue Origin’s New Shepard, Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha, Rocket Lab’s Electron, and United Launch Alliance’s Atlas and Vulcan.

Other spacecraft with Part 450 authorization include Starship, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, and Stratolaunch’s Roc mothership and Talon aircraft. The FAA has handed out 14 such licenses since 2021.

Applicants must complete a litany of safety evaluations and show compliance through government standards, industry consensus standards, or other means specified by the FAA in advisory circulars (ACs).

The FAA last year shattered its previous high of 146 licensed commercial space operations in fiscal year 2024. So far in FY26, it has licensed 93 operations. The agency expects to authorize anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 launches over the next decade, per its latest 10-year forecast.

Illustrating the industry’s rapid growth, the FAA in August commemorated its 1,000th licensed space operation. It said half of those have been since FY22.

“As commercial and government space launch activities increase, it is imperative that airspace users account for potential disruptions due to launch operations,” the agency wrote in a January Safety Alert For Operators (SAFO), which described the potential for commercial spacecraft to suffer “catastrophic failures resulting in debris fields.”

Though the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) is licensing more operations than ever before, U.S. officials want to see that trend continue. Many have been vocal about the potential for China—which aims to land humans on the moon in 2030—to usurp U.S. dominance.

“Inefficient permitting processes discourage investment and innovation, limiting the ability of U.S. companies to lead in global space markets,” reads a June 2025 White House executive order that directed regulators to streamline the licensing process.

However, launch providers and lawmakers have criticized the FAA for taking too long to review Part 450 applications.

Even the agency itself has acknowledged the lengthy process. Speaking at a conference in January 2025, Dan Murray, executive director of the Office of Operational Safety within the AST, estimated there were 20 older launch licenses that still needed to be transitioned—and that doing so would be “challenging.” Kelvin Coleman, the FAA associate administrator for commercial space transportation, said meeting the March 9 deadline would be a “squeeze.”

The space industry has made its qualms known for years. During a 2023 Senate hearing, Bill Gerstenmaier, vice president of build and flight reliability for SpaceX, said that the “entire regulatory system is at risk of collapse” due to the slow pace of the transition to Part 450.

In a House hearing the following year, Dave Cassova, president of the Commercial Space Federation, said the rule’s implementation created “severe licensing delays, confusion, and is jeopardizing our long-held leadership position.” That hearing drew bipartisan condemnation of the FAA by lawmakers.

During the hearing, SpaceX, which did not attend, wrote that the Part 450 process was “frivolous” and accused the FAA of holding up a Starship test flight. The company said the rocket was ready to fly in August, but it was told that the FAA would not issue a license until late November.

Then-FAA administrator Mike Whitaker defended the licensing delays as necessary for safety. Ultimately, though, the agency issued a license for the Starship flight in October, without explaining how it expedited the process. The mission flew the following day.

There remain concerns that Part 450 will do little to streamline the licensing process, given the FAA’s struggles to meet license review deadlines. However, the White House’s June order could further simplify the task by eliminating National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews and outdated portions of the regulation.

The order also created a new deregulation and innovation officer within the Transportation Department and called for a political appointee—rather than a civil servant—to lead the FAA’s AST.

At the same time, some stakeholders worry the regulator is being too permissive.

After SpaceX’s Starship exploded in January 2025, the FAA made the unusual move of greenlighting a subsequent mission without requiring SpaceX to complete its investigation into the previous flight. The next flight in March exploded during the same phase of the mission, raining debris over the Caribbean for a second time in three months.

In February, the FAA greenlit new Starship trajectories that will take it over the U.S. mainland and are expected to disrupt tens of thousands of commercial flights. Steve Jangelis, aviation safety chair for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), wrote the FAA AST in October and warned that the agency “continues to ignore fundamental airspace safety and operational issues essential to a safe and efficient [National Airspace System [NAS].”

Minh Nguyen, deputy associate administrator for the FAA’s AST, stressed in a statement Tuesday that Part 450 will give launch providers greater flexibility “while maintaining safety for the public.”

_______________________________________________________________________

SpaceX has received environmental approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct up to 44 Starship-Super Heavy launches per year from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A in Florida.

The decision allows the company to proceed with plans tied to its next-generation launch system and future AI satellite deployments. The approval concludes the agency's public comment period and outlines required mitigation measures related to noise, emissions, wildlife, and airspace management.

The FAA review identified likely impacts from increased noise, nitrogen oxide emissions and temporary airspace closures. Commercial flights may experience periodic delays during launch windows. The agency, however, determined these effects would be intermittent and manageable through scheduling, public notification, and worker safety protocols.

Construction of Starship infrastructure at Launch Complex 39A is nearing completion. The site, previously used for Apollo and space shuttle missions, is transitioning to support Starship operations. The approval supports SpaceX's long-term strategy, which includes deploying a large constellation of satellites intended to power space-based artificial intelligence data infrastructure. The company has previously indicated that expanded Starship capacity will be central to that effort.

*********************************************************************************

The Administration also published a safety alert outlining planning considerations for operators amid increased launches.

The FAA issued a Safety Alert for Operators earlier this month addressing airspace management considerations tied to the growing number of commercial and government space launch activities in the United States. SAFO 26001 provides guidance to air carriers, general aviation operators and flight crews on potential impacts to flight operations, including the risk of debris fields resulting from launch anomalies.

For each launch, the FAA develops an airspace management plan that may include temporary flight restrictions, aircraft hazard areas and debris response areas (DRA). These areas are typically communicated through Notices to Airmen, with AHAs and TFRs identifying airspace and altitudes to avoid during launch windows. In the event of an unplanned mishap, air traffic control may activate a debris response area, reroute aircraft and broadcast alerts to affected flights. The FAA noted that debris generally falls either within or very near to designated DRAs, though pilots are advised to exercise caution even in the broader vicinity of these areas.

The alert encourages operators to incorporate space launch considerations into routine flight planning, including reviewing applicable NOTAMs, accounting for potential delays and ensuring adequate fuel reserves.

FAA SAFO 26001, issued January 2026, warns pilots and operators of increasing safety risks from commercial space launches, specifically debris fields,, and mandates improved airspace management. It requires heightened situational awareness, careful pre-flight planning for, active NOTAMs, and sufficient fuel for rerouting. Key Details of SAFO 26001:

• Focus: Addresses the rising frequency of space launches and the potential for catastrophic failure resulting in debris, as detailed by AVweb.
• Target Audience: Air carriers, general aviation operators, and flight crews.
• Recommendations:
  • Pre-flight Planning: Review active Space Launch Potential Danger Area NOTAMs and Airspace Management Plans (AMPs).
  • In-flight Awareness: Maintain vigilance around active launch areas, notes NBAA - National Business Aviation Association.
  • Fuel Management: Carry sufficient fuel for potential delays or route deviations.
• Actionable Items: In a, launch failure, ATC may activate a Debris Risk Area (DRA),, as reported by the NBAA - National Business Aviation Association. 

The alert highlights that larger, more complex vehicles (e.g., Starship, New Glenn) have larger potential hazard areas, according to NBAA - National Business Aviation Association. 

On Thursday Dec 5, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) head Bill Nelson announced the Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972, has been delayed.

The agency is now targeting April 2026 for Artemis II, a mission that will take astronauts around the moon and back, and mid-2027 for Artemis III, a lunar landing mission. NASA explained that the delays will provide additional time to address the Orion spacecraft's environmental control and life support systems.

“The Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavor humanity has ever set out to do,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a press release. “We have made significant progress on the Artemis campaign over the past four years, and I’m proud of the work our teams have done to prepare us for this next step forward in exploration as we look to learn more about Orion’s life support systems to sustain crew operations during Artemis II. We need to get this next test flight right. That’s how the Artemis campaign succeeds.”

Introduced in 2017, Artemis is part of NASA’s plan to lay the groundwork for future human missions to Mars and reestablish a human presence on the moon. According to Reuters, the U.S. is expected to invest about $93 billion in the program through 2025.

Captured by NASA’s Perseverance rover, this stunning panorama uses enhanced color to bring out subtle differences in the Martian terrain, giving the sky a striking yet deceptively blue hue. In reality, Mars’ skies are usually a dusty red.

So while the colors are stylized, the science is real. And the view? Absolutely worth it.

Be sure to turn the sound on!

NASA announced its 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class on Sept. 22, 2025. The 10 candidates, pictured here at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are: U.S. Army CW3 Ben Bailey, U.S. Air Force Maj. Cameron Jones, Katherine Spies, Anna Menon, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, U.S. Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann, Dr. Lauren Edgar, Yuri Kubo, Rebecca Lawler, and Dr. Imelda Muller.

NASA’s 10 new astronaut candidates were introduced Monday following a competitive selection process of more than 8,000 applicants from across the United States. The class now will complete nearly two years of training before becoming eligible for flight assignments supporting future science and exploration missions to low Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars.

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy welcomed the all-American 2025 astronaut candidate class during a ceremony at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“I’m honored to welcome the next generation of American explorers to our agency! More than 8,000 people applied – scientists, pilots, engineers, dreamers from every corner of this nation. The 10 men and women sitting here today embody the truth that in America, regardless of where you start, there is no limit to what a determined dreamer can achieve – even going to space,” said Duffy. “Together, we’ll unlock the Golden Age of exploration.”

The agency’s 24th astronaut class reported for duty at NASA Johnson in mid-September and immediately began their training. Their curriculum includes instruction and skills development for complex operations aboard the International Space Station, Artemis missions to the Moon, and beyond. Specifically, training includes robotics, land and water survival, geology, foreign language, space medicine and physiology, and more, while also conducting simulated spacewalks and flying high-performance jets.

After graduation, the 2025 class will join the agency’s active astronaut corps. Active astronauts are conducting science research aboard the space station while preparing for the transition to commercial space stations and the next great leaps in human exploration at the Moon and Mars. The candidates’ operational expertise, scientific knowledge, and technical backgrounds are essential to advancing NASA’s deep space exploration goals and sustaining a long-term human presence beyond low Earth orbit.

The 2025 astronaut candidates are:

Ben Bailey, 38, chief warrant officer 3, U.S. Army, was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and is completing a master’s in systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Bailey is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. At the time of his selection, Bailey was responsible for the developmental testing of emerging technologies aboard Army rotary wing aircraft, specializing in the UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47F Chinook.

Lauren Edgar, 40, considers Sammamish, Washington, her hometown. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Earth sciences from Dartmouth College, and her master’s and doctorate in geology from the California Institute of Technology. Edgar has served as the deputy principal investigator for the Artemis III Geology Team. In this role, she helped define lunar science goals, geology activities NASA astronauts will conduct, and science operations for NASA’s return to the Moon. She also spent more than 17 years supporting Mars exploration rovers. She was working at the U.S. Geological Survey at the time of her selection.

Adam Fuhrmann, 35, major, U.S. Air Force, is from Leesburg, Virginia, and has accumulated more than 2,100 flight hours in 27 aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35. He holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master’s degrees in flight test engineering and systems engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and Purdue University, respectively. He has deployed in support of Operations Freedom’s Sentinel and Resolute Support, logging 400 combat hours. At the time of his selection, Fuhrmann served as the director of operations for an Air Force flight test unit.

Cameron Jones, 35, major, U.S. Air Force, is a native of Savanna, Illinois. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California and the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. He’s an experienced test pilot with more than 1,600 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft, including 150 combat hours. The majority of his flight time is in the F-22 Raptor. At the time of his selection, Jones was an Air Force Academic Fellow at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Yuri Kubo, 40, is a native of Columbus, Indiana. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University. He spent 12 years working across various teams at SpaceX, including as launch director for Falcon 9 rocket launches, director of avionics for the Starshield program, and director of Ground Segment. Earlier in his career, Kubo was a co-op student at NASA Johnson, where he completed multiple tours supporting the Orion spacecraft, the International Space Station, and the Space Shuttle Program. At the time of his selection, Kubo was the senior vice president of Engineering at Electric Hydrogen.

Rebecca Lawler, 38, is a native of Little Elm, Texas, and a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. She is a former Navy P-3 pilot and experimental test pilot with more than 2,800 flight hours in more than 45 aircraft. Lawler holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the National Test Pilot School. She also is a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate. Lawler also flew as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter and during NASA’s Operation IceBridge. She was a test pilot for United Airlines at the time of selection.

Anna Menon, 39, is from Houston and earned her bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University with a double major in mathematics and Spanish. She also holds a master’s in biomedical engineering from Duke University. Menon previously worked in the Mission Control Center at NASA Johnson, supporting medical hardware and software aboard the International Space Station. In 2024, Menon flew to space as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn. The mission saw a new female altitude record, the first commercial spacewalk, and the completion of approximately 40 research experiments. At the time of her selection, Menon was a senior engineer at SpaceX.

Imelda Muller, 34, considers Copake Falls, New York, her hometown. She formerly was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and served as an undersea medical officer after training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute. Muller earned a bachelor’s degree in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University and a medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Her experience includes providing medical support during Navy operational diving training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. At the time of her selection, Muller was completing a residency in anesthesia at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Erin Overcash, 34, lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy, is from Goshen, Kentucky. She holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and a master’s in bioastronautics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. A U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate, Overcash is an experienced F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot with multiple deployments. She has logged more than 1,300 flight hours in 20 aircraft, including 249 carrier arrested landings. Overcash was part of the Navy’s World Class Athlete Program and trained full-time at the Olympic Training Center with the USA Rugby Women’s National Team. She was training for a squadron department head tour at the time of selection.

Katherine Spies, 43, is a native of San Diego and holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California and a master’s in design engineering from Harvard University. She is a former Marine Corps AH-1 attack helicopter pilot and experimental test pilot, with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, she served as UH-1Y/AH-1Z project officer and AH-1W platform coordinator during her time on active duty. At the time of her selection, Spies was the director of flight test engineering at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation.

With the addition of these 10 individuals, NASA now has recruited 370 astronaut candidates since selecting the original Mercury Seven in 1959.

“Today, our mission propels us even further as we prepare for our next giant leap with NASA’s newest astronaut candidate class,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA Johnson. “Representing America’s best and brightest, this astronaut candidate class will usher in the Golden Age of innovation and exploration as we push toward the Moon and Mars.”

The astronaut candidates will be available to speak with media virtually and in-person on Tuesday, Oct. 7. Media interested in this limited opportunity should contact the NASA Johnson Newsroom at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. 

Find photos and additional information about the new astronaut candidates at:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts

Two NASA employees are being honored as part of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, also known as the Sammies, recognizing outstanding federal employees who are addressing many of our country’s greatest challenges.

DR. JOHN BLEVINS

Blevins is the chief engineer for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and is responsible for the various technical decisions that need to be made to ensure each mission is successful. This included calculating structural needs, thermal analyses of the effects, and studies of vibrations, acoustics, propulsion integration, among other work.

Artemis I, the first test flight of the SLS rocket, successfully launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 16, 2022. In the time leading up to and during launch, Blevins led the team integrating the hardware for the mission working  to address unexpected events while SLS was on the pad prior to launch. This included significant lightning storms and two hurricanes impacting Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Blevins built a working coalition of engineering teams across the agency that previously did not exist. His ability to forge strong relationships on the various teams across the agency allowed for the successful launch of Artemis I. He continues to lead the engineering team behind SLS as they prepare for Artemis II, the second flight of SLS and the first crewed lunar mission of the 21st century.

“This is a reflection on the hard work and dedication of the entire Artemis Team,” Blevins said. “I am working with an incredibly competent, dedicated team agencywide that goes above and beyond to promote the space exploration goals of our nation. I am honored to accept the award on their behalf.”

RICH BURNS

Rich Burns of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and John Blevins of Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, were selected out of 350 nominees and are among 23 individuals and teams honored for their achievements as federal employees. They will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington on Tuesday, June 17, that also will be live streamed on the Sammies website. The honorees will be commended via videos and presenter remarks and receive medals for their achievements.

Named after the founder of the Partnership for Public Service, the 2025 Service to America Medals awards celebrate federal employees who provided critical public services and made outstanding contributions to the health, safety, and national security of our country.

“Rich and John exemplify the spirit of exploration and service that defines NASA and our nation’s civil servants,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “Their leadership, ingenuity, and dedication have not only advanced America’s space program but also inspired the next generation of innovators. We are proud to see their achievements recognized among the very best of federal service.”

Burns was the project manager of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission to collect a sample from an asteroid and oversaw operations from the developmental stage to the successful landing of the spacecraft’s Sample Return Capsule.

The mission launched on Sept. 18, 2016, and after a nearly four-year journey, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully collected a sample from the asteroid Bennu on Oct. 20, 2020, which returned to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, providing scientists with 120 grams of pristine material to study, the largest amount ever collected from an asteroid. Working to solidify OSIRIS-REx as a success, Burns set up multiple partnerships and communicated frequently with scientists, large and small businesses, NASA centers, and others to ensure the mission’s vision was carried out though each phase.

During the mission, Burns had to handle unique challenges that required adapting to new situations. These included improving flight software to help the spacecraft avoid hazardous parts of Bennu’s rocky surface and working with NASA leaders to find a way to best protect the sample collected from Bennu after a large stone propped the collection canister open. Finally, when the sample was set to return to Earth, Burns worked extensively with NASA and military partners to prepare for the landing, focusing on the safety of the public along with the integrity of the sample to ensure the final part of the mission was a success.

Burns helped OSIRIS-REx exceed its objectives all while under the original budget, allowing  NASA to share a portion of the sample with more than 80 research projects and make new discoveries about the possible origins of life on our planet. The spacecraft, now known as Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Apophis Explorer, is scheduled to rendezvous with the asteroid Apophis in 2029.

“It’s humbling to accept an award based on the achievements of the amazingly talented, dedicated, and innovative OSIRIS-REx team,” Burns said. “I consider myself privileged to be counted among a team of true explorers who let no obstacle stand in the way of discovery.”

SpaceX headquarters could soon become Texas' newest city known as Starbase if a small group of voters approves the measure at the polls on Saturday.

Spanning just 1.5 square miles, the proposed city would effectively function as a company town—serving as the future headquarters of Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX. For some time, Musk has envisioned a space-age town like Starbase, populated primarily by his SpaceX employees. If the measure is approved, the coastal land would be formally incorporated as a municipality.

According to an AP report, SpaceX's rocket launches, engine tests and equipment movements often require closing a local highway and access to nearby Boca Chica State Park and Beach. Currently, this requires coordination with Cameron County. However, two proposed state bills would transfer much of that authority to the new city.

Critics argued that the move would grant Musk and SpaceX undue authority over a heavily visited public beach.

According to county election records cited by AP, nearly 200 of the 283 eligible voters had already cast early ballots by Tuesday. With most voters employed by SpaceX, the measure is widely expected to pass.

"This is not a time for business as usual."

The next few years are likely to be pivotal ones for NASA, according to a hard-hitting report by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The report, which was released last month, is called "NASA at a Crossroads: Maintaining Workforce, Infrastructure and Technology Preeminence in the Coming Decades." And that title was chosen advisedly.

"The bottom line of all this, I think, would be to say that, for NASA, this is not a time for business as usual," said Norm Augustine, committee chair and former Lockheed Martin CEO, during a Sept. 10 webinar that detailed the report's findings. 

"The concerns that it faces are ones that have built up over decades," Augustine said. "NASA truly is, in our view, at a crossroads, and that's why we put that word in the title." 

The report identifies out-of-date infrastructure, pressures to prioritize short-term objectives, budget mismatches, inefficient management practices and nonstrategic reliance on commercial partners as the core issues.  

Related: NASA's Mars sample return plan is getting a major overhaul: 'The bottom line is, $11 billion is too expensive'

The report also argues that NASA should rebalance its priorities and increase investments in its facilities, expert workforce and the development of cutting-edge technology, "even if it means forestalling initiation of new missions."

Indeed, the environment in which NASA functions today is complicated by several factors, including:

• Rapid advancements in technology 
• The need to compete for talent with the commercial space sector, other space agencies and other high-tech sectors 
• A declining federal discretionary budget and a flat agency budget (in terms of purchasing power) 
• Lack of timely congressional authorization acts 
• Shortfalls in the nation's education system, from pre-K through high school 
• Increasing competition in space from China 

The bottom line of a new U.S. National Academies report on NASA's overall health is that "this is not a time for business as usual," said Norm Augustine, committee chair during a Sept. 10 webinar that detailed the report's findings.  (Image credit: National Academies)

Continued success at NASA is at risk, the report stresses, due to budget and program mismatch, short-term focus and aging infrastructure. 

Space.com asked several space policy experts about their reactions to the report's conclusions.

The story of NASA's infrastructure woes is all too familiar, said Marcia Smith, editor of the respected website SpacePolicyOnline.com.

"What I did find new was the report telling NASA that the problem is so acute that NASA needs to fix it even if that means forgoing new missions," Smith said. "NASA is well aware of its aging infrastructure. It all comes down to money."

The space agency's ongoing quest for funding is a situation that has only gotten worse, said Smith.

Last year, Congress abruptly started cutting NASA's budget — 2% less in fiscal year 2024 than in fiscal year 2023 (not accounting for the effects of inflation) — after years of growth, Smith pointed out. 

"The agency is looking at canceling missions, never mind starting new ones. I don't know what they can do about infrastructure in this budget climate," Smith added.

The budget caps set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act last year are only for fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025. Which party wins the House, Senate, and White House in November, Smith observed, will have a major effect on whether those caps are lifted after that and NASA gets more breathing room. 

"If so, it will be interesting to see if NASA heeds Augustine's advice and fixes infrastructure instead of starting more missions. It does seem to be an either-or choice," Smith said.

The report is well-written and an accurate description of the many issues facing NASA as an institution, said Scott Pace, professor of the Practice of International Affairs and Director of the Space Policy Institute at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Pace served as the executive secretary of the National Space Council from 2017 to 2020.

Pace added, however, that the report "accepts as given that the agency as it has existed should continue, albeit with some repairs." The report does not ask, he said, what kind of NASA is needed for the 21st century? 

"It takes an 'institution-driven' perspective, rather than being 'mission-driven' in asking what the United States wants NASA to be," Pace told Space.com.

"In light of changing private sector capabilities, what internal capabilities does NASA require to perform its missions? The report suggests one set of answers, but it is unclear that the Administration or Congress will agree," said Pace.

All in all, the report recommends tough but necessary medicine, suggested John Logsdon, professor emeritus at the Space Policy Institute.

"What strikes me is the absence in the report of a recommendation to increase NASA's funding in order to avoid 'trying to do too much with too little.' That was a recommendation of the two previous Augustine-led NASA committees," said Logsdon.

This iteration of a NASA review, Logsdon said, accepts that the agency's budget is unlikely to increase significantly in coming years. 

"That implies hard choices with respect to which prospective missions not to do. On top of that, the committee recommends a reprioritization between carrying out spaceflight missions and tending to institutional health. This is antithetical to NASA's culture, which values mission success," Logsdon concluded.

As for NASA's comeback on the report, that's still to come. 

The report was requested by Congress in the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act of 2022.  

The study was undertaken by the Academies Committee on NASA Mission Critical Workforce, Infrastructure, and Technology and sponsored by NASA.

"The Congressional direction gave the agency 180 days to respond with a plan, said Colleen Hartman, senior managing director of aeronautics, astronomy, physics, and space science for the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. 

"I also always request an agency response to a report, which will come separately to us," Hartman told Space.com.

RELATED STORIES:

— NASA gets $25.4 billion in White House's 2025 budget request

— NASA's Mars Sample Return in jeopardy after US Senate questions budget

— US must beat China back to the moon, Congress tells NASA 

This is likely the first recorded video of a meteorite crashing onto earth.  This happens quickly, so turn the volume up, sit back then watch and listen.  The video is only a few seconds long.  Enjoy!

SpaceX's Starship megarocket will start flying Mars missions just two years from now, if all goes according to plan.

"These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars. If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years," SpaceXfounder and CEO Elon Musk said via X on Saturday evening (Sept. 7), in a postthat announced the bold new target timelines. (Earth and Mars align properly for interplanetary missions once every 26 months.)

"Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years," Musk added in the same post. "Being multiplanetary will vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness, as we will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet."

The stainless-steel Starship consists of two elements: a first-stage booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50 meters) upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship. 

A stacked Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. It stands about 400 feet (122 meters) tall and generates 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff — nearly twice that of the Space Launch System (SLS), the rocket for NASA's Artemis moon program.

SLS is expendable, but Starship is designed to be fully and rapidly reusable. Indeed, SpaceX plans to land Super Heavy back on the launch mount after each liftoff, enabling quick inspection, refurbishment and relaunch.

SpaceX believes that Starship's combination of brawn and efficiency will finally bring Mars settlement — a long-held dream of Musk's — within humanity's grasp.

The agency extended its deadline for a deorbit vehicle that will eventually steer the ISS into Earth's atmosphere.

The space station turned 25 years old on Wednesday (Dec. 6), and NASA is preparing for the pioneering outpost's end.

The agency just celebrated the milestone mission that docked the first two International Space Station (ISS) modules on Dec. 6, 1998. In the runup to that event, NASA updated its private proposal request to help deorbit the station when it retires in 2030 or so. And early stage funding is underway for several commercial replacements that would be run by private companies, with NASA as a customer. The agency wants all these vehicles ready by the time the ISS' work is done.

Commercial activity will allow more astronauts, from more countries, to "conduct science and technology development," ISS Expedition 70 commander Andreas Mogensen said during a livestreamed event on Wednesday marking the 25th anniversary.

"I think that's incredibly exciting, to see how many countries [will fly], and hopefully also in the future private companies are interested in utilizing a laboratory in low Earth orbit," said Mogensen, who is with the European Space Agency.

The International Space Station is 356 feet (109 meters) end-to-end with a mass of 925,335 pounds (419,725 kilograms) without visiting vehicles. The solar panels alone cover one acre. There is 13,696 cubic feet of habitable volume for crew members, not including visiting vehicles. The space station has seven sleeping quarters, with the ability to add more during crew handover periods, two bathrooms, a gym, and the cupola — a 360-degree-view bay window of the Earth. You can learn more in the reference guide here. 

The space station orbits Earth at an altitude of approximately 250 miles (402 kilometers), with its orbital path taking it over 90 percent of the Earth's population. Thanks to the size of its solar panels, it can be seen with the naked eye at dusk or dawn when flying over a local area. You can track the space station's path near you at spotthestation.nasa.gov. 

The International Space Station is exactly that — international. It is a partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries who contributed different parts to make up the ISS, which are still owned by the respective partner, and we all help to continuously operate the station 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The space station is composed of parts provided by the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and the countries comprising the European Space Agency. 

United Launch Alliance (ULA)—the Boeing/Lockheed joint-venture that provides space launch services to the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, and other major players in the space industry—expects the first flight of its Vulcan Centaur rocket to take place soon.

The Vulcan Centaur will replace ULA’s Atlas-5 launch vehicle—a twenty-year old Lockheed Martin design and the oldest active American rocket.

Each Atlas-5 comprises two main stages, the first of which is powered by a Russian RD-180 engine. The RD-180 is being phased out on account of the national security implications inherent its being reliant on foreign parts—which became a concern subsequent the U.S.’s and Russia’s disagreement over Ukrainian sovereignty. 

Provided preparations proceed apace, the partially reusable Vulcan Centaur’s inaugural mission will see it depart from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander—an autonomous, robotic vehicle capable of delivering payloads of up to 265-kilograms to the lunar surface with a target accuracy of one-hundred meters. 

The Vulcan Centaur was to have launched in 2020, but the program has been delayed by the rocky development of Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine (pictured)—which burns methane and is more powerful than the main engines that powered the space shuttle. ULA’s optimism notwithstanding, space industry insiders believe it’s unlikely that Kent, Washington-based Blue Origin will deliver the new engines before 2023.

Gary L. Wentz Jr., ULA’s vice president of government and commercial programs, asserts ULA has in its possession a number of the Russian-made RD-180 sufficient to complete the Atlas-5’s planned missions. Mister Wentz states Atlas 5 flights will wind-down as Vulcan Centaur launches spool-up. At present, Atlas-5 operations are slated to continue into 2024.

Space Force Col. Erin Gulden shares Mr. Wentz’s outlook, stating of the transition from the Atlas 5 to the Vulcan Centaur, “from the Space Force’s perspective, we don’t see any issues or concerns at this point with a gap in capability or ability to launch.”  

The Space Force’s first launch on a Vulcan Centaur is planned for late 2023.

This article is reprinted from "Propwash"

To learn more about United Launch Alliance go to: 

 https://www.ulalaunch.com/rockets/vulcan-centaur

The history of the universe and how it evolved is broadly accepted as the Big Bang model, which states that the universe began as an incredibly hot, dense point roughly 13.7 billion years ago. So, how did the universe go from being fractions of an inch (a few millimeters) across to what it is today?