Space Stories: Cygnus XL Cargo Craft Arrives at ISS, China Further Along Than US with Moon Lander, and a Martian Hopper Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The International Space Station’s (ISS) robotic arm reaching out to the Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft as it arrives on April 13, 2026. (NASA)

Here are some recent space-related stories.

—NASA: “Canadarm2 Reaches Out and Captures Cygnus XL Cargo Craft“

At 1:20 p.m. EDT, NASA astronaut Chris Williams, with assistance from NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway, captured Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft using the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm…NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 mission launched at 7:41 a.m. on April 11 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying more than 11,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory.

—Scientific American: “How China Could Still Win the New Moon Race“

China is not yet ready to perform a crewed circumlunar mission like the U.S., which began development of the Orion spacecraft in the 2000s and redesigned it to go with the SLS rocket in the early 2010s. But China is progressing on all the necessary hardware to reach the moon, with a stated goal of a crewed landing before 2030. Notably, the nation has already tested a key component that the U.S. is still working to bring online: the landing hardware. Last year China demonstrated its Lanyue crewed lunar lander, performing a propulsive lunar landing and lunar launch tests in simulated moon gravity conditions. In the U.S. SpaceX and Blue Origin are both working on NASA-funded lander concepts needed to make a 2028 Artemis landing possible.

—Universe Today: “Meet Orpheus – A Hopper Mission Built To Hunt For Life In Martian Volcanoes“

We’ve spent decades scratching the surface of Mars trying to uncover life there. But we’ve been searching a barren wasteland bombarded by radiation and bathed in toxic perchlorates. The entire time, it’s likely that it’s been too hostile to harbor extant life. So if we want a better shot at finding currently living life on Mars, we need to go underground. That is exactly the purpose of Orpheus, a proposed Mars vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) hopper mission put forth by Connor Bunn and Pascal Lee of the SETI Institute at the 57th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC).

Martian Helicopters Give NASA More Options

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): One of the tires on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captures on March 23, 2026. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

With NASA’s announcement the other week about its plan to use helicopters again on Mars, at least we know we will have something to augment the two remaining rovers.

The Mars rovers continue to do a bang-up job on the Martian surface, but the bangs are also taking a toll on the tires of at least one rover (as shown above). After 14 years of service, the Curiosity Mars rover has needed some mission modifications and software updates to avoid further damage to its tire tread. Fortunately, the Perseverance Mars rover is having no problems to date with its tires, meaning it should be fine until at least 2031.

In terms of a future Mars mission, NASA announced:

NASA will launch the Space Reactor‑1 Freedom, the first nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft, to Mars before the end of 2028…When SR-1 Freedom reaches Mars, it will deploy the Skyfall payload of Ingenuity‑class helicopters to continue exploring the Red Planet.

You may remember the Ingenuity helicopter from its test on Mars between 2021 and 2024 when if flew 72 missions. The helicopter had accompanied NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. The planned Skyfall mission will build on this success. You can see an video of these new helicopters here.

Having two rovers and multiple helicopters on the Martian surface later this decade should provide sufficient coverage for both ongoing science as well as scouting efforts for future missions to the planet.

In addition, the test of a nuclear powered spacecraft will give us some additional options for getting to the planet. The Space Reactor‑1 Freedom spacecraft involves the participation of the private sector – particularly Lanteris Space Systems, Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Busek. Notice no mention of SpaceX this time. That is a positive development in that we have many companies working on getting us to Mars, including Lockheed Martin, Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Rocket Lab, and others, which is how it needs to continue going forward.

A grand plan for our expansion into space needs the support of many mission types, companies, and minds (as well as temperaments).

Space Stories: A New Type of Telescope to Spot Exoplanets, Walking Martian Robots, and Terraforming Mars in 15 Years

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): An artist’s rendering of the ExoLife Finder telescope. (Astronomy.com)

Here are some recent space-related stories.

—Astronomy.com: “Could this Telescope Find Life on Alien Worlds?“

The ExoLife Finder (ELF) looks like no telescope ever built. A spectacular crown of 15 five-meter mirrors perches atop a sprawling metal lattice, resembling petals on a 10-story-tall mechanical flower — more sculpture than observatory. It is a fundamentally new type of telescope, one that its designers say could discover life on Earth-like planets beyond our solar system. The radical design is the brainchild of astrophysicist Jeff Kuhn of the University of Hawai‘i. For now, it exists only in renderings. To build it, Kuhn and the team he’s assembled must first develop and perfect techniques and technologies never before used in astronomy.

—EarthSky: “Walking Robots on Mars Could Speed Up Life Search“

Robotic rovers have become the go-to way to explore our neighbor planet, Mars. And they’ve been super successful. But they’re also big, heavy and slow. They have to move carefully across the rocky and sandy terrain of Mars. Plus, communication delays between the rovers and Earth – and data transfer limitations – also affect their missions. Is there a better way? On March 31, 2026, researchers in Switzerland and the Netherlands announced a new idea: walking Mars robots. The research team said these robotic explorers would be semi-autonomous. This means they wouldn’t need regular assistance from humans back on Earth. And, their makers say, they could explore their surroundings – on both Mars or the moon – faster than rovers.

—The Times of India: “Mars Could be Warm Enough for Humans in 15 Years; A Discovery that Changes Everything“

Mars has been viewed as a multi-millennial effort to terraform since the inception of the term, but there is new evidence that the time frame has changed dramatically. A published study in Science Advances gives new hope to those wishing to terraform Mars through nanoscopic engineered aerosol-like dust particles made from iron and aluminium found abundantly in the soils of Mars. Specifically, scientists feel that if we inject these engineered aerogels into the atmosphere, the resulting greenhouse effect will raise Mars’ surface temperature by over 50 degrees Fahrenheit in only 15 years.

Television: Season Five of For All Mankind

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Apple TV

If you thought last season of For All Mankind was hair-raising with the disasters and battles on Mars, wait until you see what happens this season.

This trailer from Apple TV gives you a taste of the drama coming to your television on March 27th. We see the return of many of our favorite characters (those who survived) as well as a few new ones.

The season picks up years after the “Martians” hijack an asteroid intended for Earth, thereby giving the Martian economy plenty of mining revenue. Apple TV states:

Happy Valley has grown into a thriving colony with thousands of residents and a base for new missions that will take us even further into the solar system. But with the nations of Earth now demanding law and order on the Red Planet, friction continues to build between the people who live on Mars and their former home.

It did not take long for the new Martians to seek independence. We may want to keep that in mind as we continue to allow Mr. Musk to be the spokesperson for the colonization of Mars. He does not play well with others on this planet, so good luck with him running the show on Mars.

Anyway, the series offered plenty of ideas regarding a space race for a lunar base followed by a space race for Mars. The only odd part of this series is that while the USSR and North Korea are present on Mars, we hear almost nothing about China and its space program.

As NASA contemplates a whole new approach to the Moon and Mars (as highlighted just today), it’s fun to watch a show where the space travel timetable is faster and the private sector is more engaged with its own separate mission to Mars. Again, I can picture this happening with SpaceX, where Blue Origin takes the lead on the Moon and Musk takes all of his marbles so he can proceed to Mars on his own.

One thing we can bet on with our expansion into space, regardless of the timetable, is that mankind’s foibles will be front and center in any of these space missions. The hardware issues will be easy to solve compared to dealing with the egos and emotions of space-bound humanity.

In the meantime, while we await the real thing, sit back and enjoy Apple TV’s version of our future in space.

Note: Apple TV announced earlier today that the sixth season of the series will be the last.

Pic of the Week: Martian Highlands

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): (ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)

This week’s image comes from the the European Space Agency (ESA). Captured by ESA’s orbiting Mars Express, you are looking at a portion of the crater-covered Arabia Terra, which is a large plain in Mars’s ancient highlands. You can read more about this Martian region by visiting this site.

Here is the ESA’s description of what you are viewing:

A high‑resolution overhead view of a rocky, desert‑like landscape on Mars. The surface is mostly reddish‑brown with patches of darker blue‑grey tones. Many circular impact craters of different sizes are scattered across the scene, some with raised rims and shadowed interiors. Subtle ridges, eroded valleys, and textured terrain patterns run diagonally through the image, giving a sense of ancient geological activity. The overall impression is of a dry, rugged, and heavily cratered Martian surface.