Interested students are being offered a chance to attend a virtual classroom this summer while also helping to design an 18-month basic Mars surface mission. Aspects of this mission include habitats, vehicles, scientific instruments, power systems, crew composition, mission objectives, and exploration plans.
How often will you have a chance to be involved in something this critical and fun during summer break?
If you are interested, you have until May 15th to provide an application. Go to this link to learn more and file an application.
Image (Credit): One of the last images of the eighth Starship flight on Thursday right before the rocket exploded. (SpaceX)
Let’s start with the good news. This past week two U.S. commercial space companies put landers on the Moon. Both Firefly’s Blue Ghost and Intuitive Machines’ Athena are now residents of the Moon. This is a terrific accomplishment for these relatively new players.
Now the bad news. Athena landed incorrectly and cannot carry out its mission. In fact, it died after only one day on the lunar surface. In addition, the Lunar Trailblazer that accompanied Athena on this mission with plans to orbit and map the Moon also appears to be a lost cause. And finally, SpaceX’s eighth test of its Starship ended with a fiery explosion over the Caribbean, much like its seventh test.
Add to this the potential dismantling of NASA should rumors of a 50 percent cut be true, and you have a very mixed week with too little good news (much like the stock market).
One common element in at least two of the stories – Starship explosion and NASA cuts – relates to Mr. Musk. One wonders whether more attention to SpaceX and less time ransacking the federal government might have led to better outcomes this week. I’m not a rocket scientist, but that seems to make some sense to me.
These cuts will almost certainly entail the shutting down of the Mars Curiosity rover, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Voyager and New Horizon interstellar probes, among others, and derail almost all plans for future American planetary exploration and astronomy missions.
The Mars Society President and Founder Dr. Robert Zubrin went further in his condemnation of the proposed cuts to the agency’s Space Science Directorate, stating:
It is not merely the crown jewel of NASA. It is the gothic cathedral of our age, carrying the banner of our society’s highest ideal – the search for truth through science. Destroying it would be wanton crime not only against science, but civilization itself.
We can only hope this is more bluster from the White House similar to tariffs that are immediately pulled back or even NASA personnel cuts that are canceled at the last minute. Bipartisan push back from Congress is also very likely.
During his inauguration, President Trump spoke about a U.S flag on Mars, yet there is little chance of that happening under this administration or anytime soon should these budget cuts occur.
Image (Credit): Athena approaching the Moon on March 6, 2025. (NASA)
This week’s image is from earlier today when Intuitive Machines’ Athena lunar lander was approaching the Moon’s South Pole. The good news is that the lander made it safely to the surface. However, the lunar lander may have landed in an odd way, creating solar generating issues similar to the company’s first attempt at landing this time last year.
NASA and Intuitive Machines are still trying to determine the status of the lander as well as its exact location. The lander’s goal was to land in Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau near the Moon’s South Pole. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter should help to pinpoint the lander’s location and orientation in the next few days.
Hopefully, some if not all of the planned experiments are still possible. But for now it’s just a matter of waiting for more news on the mission.
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer orbiting the Moon. (NASA)
“The Lunar Trailblazer team has been working around the clock to re-establish communications with the spacecraft…NASA sends up high-risk, high-reward missions like Lunar Trailblazer to do incredible science at a lower cost, and the team truly encapsulates the NASA innovative spirit — if anyone can bring Lunar Trailblazer back, it is them.”
-Statement by Nicky Fox, the associate administrator of the NASA Science Mission Directorate, as quoted by CNET. The Lunar Trailblazer was launched with Intuitive Machines’ Athena lunar lander on March 26th. The satellite was designed to orbit about 60 miles above the Moon’s surface as it mapped potential water on the lunar surface.
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