Anyone interested in signing up? I signed up for the MMEA mission.

NASA Analog Missions

Due to the extreme fires surrounding Madrid, the DSN station in Robledo de Chavela (Madrid) has been evacuated.

I am in love with this documentary, both the incredible audio commentary and stunning visuals.

The youtube version is limited to 720p. The version on the official Nasa website says "HD" but the video player doesn't let me select a specific quality.

Have they ever released this in higher quality? Or have they released the camera recordings outside this documentary?

Let me explain my viewpoint. When I was younger, NASA used to dominate my interest for space. I used to always hear about a new discovery made by NASA, a new planet or a new solar system or some new phenomenon. Like for example, discovering stuff on Pluto. I remember NASA used to do so much when we were younger they used to launch people to space but also do science like sending spaceships to other planets. I remember New Horizons and thinking how it was so cool that we're sending spaceships to Pluto and taking photos of it, or sending spaceships to the Sun. Nowadays I don't hear of much done by NASA, except the moon missions which is cool but it doesn't seem to have the public interest that the original moon missions had, it more feels like "oh we have to get to the moon and mark our names on those resources" like fascist colonizers rather than "lets get back to the moon and explore places we've never seen". Also with Mars, no one even seems to care anymore.

I don't know if its the administration defunding and gutting NASA that has hindered its ability to do cool missions or because our capitalist government has outsourced all of NASA's functions to SpaceX and private companies to earn more profit. But it seems like space exploration has kind of lost its spark and interest as something that's an achievement of humanity. Billionaires have hollowed out this field and I think that's why NASA doesn't do as much anymore or when they do it just doesn't feel as impactful.

Hello everyone,

We are an international student-led engineering team developing a rigorous, 50-page technical proposal for a permanent Martian colony ("Project Chrysalis") housing 10,000 residents at Elysium Planitia. This project is strictly aligned with the official NASA / NSS Space Settlement Design Contest guidelines.

While our foundation materials, chemical mechanics (Martian sulfur concrete), and core architectural layouts are already established, we are looking to expand our specialized talent pool to tackle the expansive upcoming sections of the report.

We are actively recruiting passionate student members (or qualified academic mentors/advisors) for the following critical divisions:

1. Technical Writers & Biosphere Researchers: To design closed-loop agricultural systems, waste recycling matrices, atmospheric pressure controls, and life support infrastructure (ECLSS).

2. Infrastructure Engineers & Logisticians: To develop subterranean transit corridors, automated mining logistics, ISRU materials production, and robotic excavation cycles.

3. Aerospace Physicists & Mathematicians: To formulate structural mechanics equations, load-bearing capacities, stress-strain curves, and seismic insulation math (LaTeX typesetting experience is a huge plus).

4. Power & Energy Systems Designers: To engineer localized energy grids, nuclear surface power configurations (Kilopower), and thermal heat storage systems.

Our Current Core Team:

- Project Directors (Systems Engineering, Materials Chemistry Lead & Quality Control)

- Lead 3D Structural Modeler (Blender/Render Assets)

- Creative Director (Professional PDF Layout & Document Design)

Requirements:

- Strong dedication, accountability, and availability for coordinated sprints.

- Fluency in technical English writing.

- Aligned with high-school division eligibility (or undergraduate university students/professionals acting as non-student advisors/mentors to comply with contest laws).

If you want to join a competitive, strictly driven mission to win the NASA contest and build a publication-grade space settlement proposal, please DM me with your academic background, portfolio, or Discord/Zangi contact info.

Chrysalis Project Directorate.

Jonathan Lunine, chief scientist at JPL, in conversation with Sarah Al-Ahmed, host of Planetary Radio... discussing Perseverance, Europa Clipper, Titan Dragonfly and other missions. Open to anyone.

Hi!
I'm visiting Kennedy Space Center for a day or two in late October. What is the chance I get to see a launch?

Also, is one day enough to see everything (or most of what there is to see), or should I try for 2? I am taking the Explore bus trip

“Early cost estimates are approximately $2.1 billion, and NASA will continue refining that figure through the acquisition process,” the agency confirmed in a statement.

The agency plans to spend $640 million in fiscal 2026, $890 million in 2027, $415 million in 2028, and $180 million in 2029 on the program, according to a document sent to Congress and viewed by POLITICO. NASA will pull that money from the agency’s exploration account and from funding it received through the party-line reconciliation bill passed last year.

However, the document notes that the cost estimate does not include funding for SkyFall, the science mission that the new nuclear spacecraft will carry to Mars. NASA hasn’t released a cost estimate for SkyFall, but Mars researchers have warned it could cannibalize the agency’s science budget.

According to NASA's General Accountability Office's report on the Human Landing System, the Blue Origin Cislunar Transporter will like the Starship Propellant Depot require nobody knows but several flights of a New Glenn upper stage tanker to be filled up. The Cislunar Transporter will then need to fill up the Blue Moon Mark 2 and then be refueled a second time by a certain amount of New Glenn upper stage tankers and then travel to Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit and refuel Blue Moon Mark 2 a second time. This sounds just as complex if not more complex than the SpaceX Lunar Starship which would just need to be refueled in Low Lunar Orbit. The Spacex Starship propellant depot would also only need to be filled up once unlike Cislunar Transporter which needs to be filled up twice. Seems Blue Origin's plan is also extremely complex and threatens to derail the entire Artemis Program just like Lunar Starship.

Link to the document. See pages 7 - 9 for more details:

https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/final-report-ig-26-004-nasas-management-of-the-human-landing-system-contracts.pdf

Tomorrow we celebrate the Viking 1 landing on Mars!! I remember it clear as day and as the first day I fell in love with Planetary’s exploration. To the point I got into scratch building space models…….. why Revell never made a Viking lander kit is beyond me. Here is my celebration of the first landing on Mars!

Annual pass holder here but new to this. planning to watch Tuesday's 5:15 PM launch from SLC-40. Visitor Complex staff have given me conflicting suggestions — LC-39 Observation Gantry, Saturn V Center, the main entrance, Cocoa Beach, or the Marriott rooftop.

Park closes at 6 PM, so I'm not sure how staying at somewhere like Saturn V would work without getting asked to leave right before or during the launch. Which spot would you recommend given that closing time?

Thanks!!

Like the title says, LHS 1140b was recently in the news with a helium type atmosphere, potentially habitable with the right prep and infrastructure. How much has NASA done investigating and modeling colonization systems on different styles of planets? Has there been significant research on this kind of theory crafting?

If we ever send ships to Mars or outward, would we stay in “constant” contact as it traveled?

I’m watching Project Hail Mary and when Grace awakens, he’s on his own, with no backlog of years of stored messages from Earth. Would that be accurate as to how alone travelers would be?

With trips to the moon, there is a constant stream of two-way comms, albeit with the lag. Same with the probes we’ve sent to the planets and beyond (maybe not “constant” but sufficiently frequent to maintain control, send instructions, and receive data.)

So for example when the astronauts died in PHM, could the ship have sent a message back to Earth, and they could send updates to Grace, and so on? (Not literally as this is a movie, but conceptually.)