Pic of the Week: Virgo Galaxy Cluster

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Virgo galaxy cluster as captured by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. (NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory)

This week’s image comes from the Planetary Society’s recent competition to find the best space exploration images. It shows the Virgo galaxy cluster, which was the winning entry. The image was released on June 23, 2025 by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory located in Chile.

The Virgo galaxy cluster is comprised of anywhere between 1,300 and 2,000 galaxies. What you can see in this image is an impressive array of galaxies, some of them intertwined. How many different worlds within this cluster may be peering back at us? Of course, the Virgo galaxy cluster is 65 million light-years away, so the image of the Milky Way appearing on their telescopes right now was from the time when dinosaurs still walked on the Earth.

Today’s Confirmation Hearing for NASA Administrator

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Jared Isaacman answering questions at the December 3, 2025 Senate confirmation hearing. (Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation)

Jared Isaacman appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation earlier today for his second confirmation hearing. Overall, everything went well and he should be ready for a full Senate vote next week that will make him NASA’s next administrator.

In his prepared testimony, he laid our five goals:

  1. The success of the Artemis program that President Trump began during his first term. America will return to the Moon before our great rival, and we will establish an enduring presence to understand and realize the scientific, economic, and national security value on the lunar surface.

  2. Along the way, we will pioneer the next ‘giant leap’ capabilities to extend America’s reach even further into space, including expanding and accelerating investments into nuclear propulsion and surface power programs. These efforts, in addition to industry partners building reusable launch vehicles, we will set the stage for future missions to Mars and beyond.

  3. We will never accept a gap in capabilities again–not with our space station presence in low Earth orbit or our ability to send American astronauts to the Moon.

  4. We will strive to build an orbital and lunar economy that can fund the future we all want to see in space and not rely exclusively on the taxpayer. We will begin making the investments now for the inevitable spacefaring future that is just on the horizon.

  5. We will make the most efficient use of every dollar allocated–pushing for more xplanes, more rovers & telescopes, more exciting missions like Hubble, James Webb, and Dragonfly with the aim of enlightening the world through breakthrouh scientific discoveries–knowing that if NASA doesn’t do it, no one else will.

The third point about a “gap in capabilities” specifically addresses the hardware needed to get to the space station or the moon, but we are also facing a gap in our scientific capabilities given the loss of so much talent this year. The statement reads like a dime store space novel where all we need it a rocket and grit, but hardware can only get your to a location.

Living and thriving once we get to wherever we are going will depend upon many other factors that are outside the understanding of rocket engineers. Yet too many of the senior mission specialists with these needed skills are now sitting at home after being forced out or deciding to retire in the midst of recent chaos. This gap in this area only widened, and the full impact on the NASA’s space programs has yet to be realized. However, these personnel losses are likely to close the gap between the US and Chinese space programs to our detriment.

Maybe Mr. Isaacman needed to add a sixth goal to close this new gap in scientific capabilities created this year by the White House.

Space Stories: Russia Destroys Own Cosmonaut Launch Site, Cosmonaut Removed from ISS Crew, and Martian Drainage Systems (Not Canals)

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—The Independent: “Russia Accidentally Destroys its Only Way of Sending Astronauts to Space“

Russia’s only crewed-mission launch site has suffered major damage following a rocket launch on Thursday. The Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan will be unable to host launches until repairs are made, according to the space agency Roscosmos, marking the first time in decades that Russia has lost the ability to send people to space. The launch of the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft was otherwise successful, with none of the crew members injured.

—United24 Media: “Russian Cosmonaut Allegedly Photographed Confidential SpaceX Docs, Removed From NASA Crew-12 Mission“

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev has been removed from the prime crew of SpaceX’s Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station and replaced by fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev after sources alleged he photographed confidential SpaceX materials in California in violation of US export control rules, according to The Insider on December 2. The outlet reported that Trishkin also said NASA did not want the controversy around Artemyev to become public, while Artemyev was removed from training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne California, facility last week after allegedly photographing SpaceX engines and other internal materials on his phone and taking them off-site.

—University of Texas “Scientists Map Mars’ Large River Drainage Systems for First Time“

A new study published in PNAS from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin is the first to define large river drainage systems on the red planet. They outlined 16 large-scale river basins where life would have been most likely to thrive on the neighboring planet. “We’ve known for a long time that there were rivers on Mars,” said co-author Timothy A. Goudge, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences. “But we really didn’t know the extent to which the rivers were organized in large drainage systems at the global scale.”

Vote Scheduled for Next Week on NASA Nominee Jared Isaacman

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After almost a year of rudderless leadership, NASA may be getting an administrator before the end of the calendar year. Maybe.

On December 8, the Senate plans to vote on Jared Isaacman’s nomination to become NASA’s administrator. But first, Mr. Isaacman needs to attend a December 3rd nomination hearing with the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Yes, this will be a repeat of the April 9th nomination hearing that was part of Mr. Isaacman’s initial White House nomination.

In his April testimony before the Senate, Mr. Isaacman emphasized three main points:

  • First—American astronauts will lead the way in the ultimate ‘high ground’ of space;
  • Second—We will ignite a thriving space economy in low Earth orbit; and
  • Third—NASA will be a force multiplier for science.

As part of the third point, he stated:

We will leverage NASA’s scientific talent and capabilities to enable academic institutions and industry to increase the rate of world-changing discoveries. We will launch more telescopes, more probes, more rovers and endeavor to better understand our planet and the universe beyond.

That task will be all the more difficult with the departure of more than 4,000 talented NASA employees. He and the agency would have been in a better position if he had come on board before all of the efforts to downsize and diminish the “scientific talent and capabilities” at NASA. However, political temper tantrums intervened.

Given that Acting Administrator Sean Duffy’s recommended that NASA should be a sub-component of the Department of Transportation, as if it was another roads or airport project, NASA is now on a better path with outside leadership. We can only hope that Mr. Isaacman is given the budget and tools to stem the losses and start repairing the mess that DOGE and other brought to NASA.

One thing is clear – Mr. Isaacman’s good friend Elon Musk crippled NASA like many other agencies, making the job of NASA administrator that much harder.

NSS Space Settlement Contest

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Julius H. from Pixabay

The National Space Society (NSS) has announced its sixth Martine Rothblatt Space Settlement in Our Lifetime competition. To compete you only need to (1) be a student, academician, entrepreneur, or member of the broader space community – which is pretty broad – and (2) develop a business plans that will help to enable space settlement in the coming decades. Award-winning plans can win between $6,000 and $16,000.

Entries are due by February 15, 2026. If you are among the three finalists, you will be invited to the NSS annual International Space Development Conference in McLean, Virginia, which is held from June 4-7, 2026.

Here is some information on the 2025 winners if you need some ideas:

The first place award went to Anjan Balakrishnan and Nicholas Iraj Baumann of Georgetown University for their plan called Radiation Protection Solutions, an advanced, sandwiched design for radiation shielding for deep space missions. Second place went to Dr. Richard Nederlander and his team from Spargo Space Corp., featuring a business plan for orbital propellant depots. Third place went to Trent Tresch for his plan called StratoLabs, a self-contained, high-altitude balloon kit for independent aeronauts and researchers.

For more details on the competition, click here.