NASA's second crewed Artemis lunar mission aims for a Moon return
Blue Origin has lost a New Glenn rocket in a catastrophic engine test at Cape Canaveral, producing a fireball that damaged the LC‑36A pad and generated seismic waves. Jeff Bezos and CEO Dave Limp have said key propellant tanks and some hardware survived and the company has begun a pad rebuild, while NASA is offering technical support for Artemis-related schedules.
Prada has unveiled a body-hugging Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment, created with Axiom Space, featuring ventilation tubes woven into the fabric. The collaboration links luxury fashion with space exploration as brands seek fresh relevance amid market softness. Artemis-era space initiatives loom in the background.
NASA has named Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas as the Artemis III crew for a mid‑2027, two‑week Earth‑orbit test flight to practice docking with prototype lunar landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX. The all‑male selection has drawn online criticism and questions about whether Blue Origin’s May New Glenn explosion will delay the program.
NASA and partners are pursuing a high‑risk salvage to boost the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory into a higher, stable orbit. A Katalyst Space Technologies robot will capture Swift and lift it from 224 miles to about 373 miles, extending its life as solar activity threatens its destruction in October.
NASA has hired Katalyst Space Technologies to send Link, a three-armed drone, to grab the Swift Observatory and lift it to a higher orbit. The mission, launched from the Marshall Islands, aims to prevent Swift from burning up in Earth’s atmosphere and keep it scanning gamma-ray bursts and exploding stars.
NASA has outlined a campaign to return humans to the Moon and establish a permanent outpost by 2030, shifting from a mission-by-mission approach to a sustained lunar program. Artemis II has demonstrated new capabilities and sparked debate over the logistics, funding, and strategic value of a long-term lunar presence.
SpaceX’s Starship is undergoing heat shield testing as a 13th flight seeks to validate rapid reuse and payload deployment. Early results show tiles surviving entry, but boundaries between tiles reveal vulnerabilities that could affect future reusability and cost. Investors and NASA eye the data for lunar and Martian ambitions.