Mars scientists have detailed, deliberate plans for what missions can give them the data they most want about the Red Planet. SkyFall's trio of helicopters (relying on the first-ever nuclear-propulsion spacecraft and mid-air deployment, all with a 2028 launch date!) is...not among them. 🧪 🔭

The rocket for Artemis III is coming together in Florida as NASA works to improve SLS production. Read more from @casi-bev.bsky.social: www.spacescout.info/2026/06/nasa...

Your reminder that, while everyone is rightly focused on the Moon these days, Venus is the only other Earth-sized world we will ever visit. And if we truly want to understand why our own planet is habitable, we must explore the one that isn't.

Now that the dust has settled, where does the Artemis Program stand after Ignition? Read more from Scarlet: www.spacescout.info/2026/06/arte...

NASA isn’t on Bluesky but they are on Threads and they put out a statement about the selection of an all-male #Artemis III crew.

NASA's next Artemis crew took the stage on Tuesday, as the campaign moves towards a flight next year. Read more from @casi-bev.bsky.social: www.spacescout.info/2026/06/meet...

the space shuttle orbiter says happy pride month

🌈 Pride Month is here! This June, colleagues at @esa.int’s ESOC are celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community. Inclusive teams power innovation and strengthen our people, our missions and the future of the space sector. 🪐 🏳️‍🌈See you at the Darmstadt CSD in August alongside @vielbunt.org! 🏳️‍🌈 📸ESA

In her latest op-ed, Emily breaks down the pitfalls of fixed-price contracting in NASA programs. Read more: www.spacescout.info/2026/06/op-e...

Aerial photos show damage to SLC-36 this morning after Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad during a static fire attempt last night. 📸: Cameron Schwartz for Space Scout

From @casi-bev.bsky.social on this last week's Starship test flight:

Updated our story on the New Glenn explosion this AM. Seems obvious to say, but this will have major ripple effects for everything that Blue Origin is working toward. Will be interesting to see how quickly the company can isolate the problem and repair the damage www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Flight 12 was an unsteady debut for SpaceX's next-generation Starship, with new wins and familiar losses. Read more from @casi-bev.bsky.social: www.spacescout.info/2026/05/star...

Good piece underscoring how the United States is no longer a reliable partner in lunar exploration. If Jared Isaacman continues down this path, we will push more nations away from the Artemis program and towards China and Russia's ILRS.

Four NASA payloads to fly on Astrolab’s first lunar rover Astrolab’s first lunar rover will carry four NASA payloads on a mission planned to launch later this year.

At NASA's Ignition news conference, Isaacman said he'd spoken with leaders like Aschbacher, and stressed that everybody was on the same page regarding Gateway's "pause." It seems Aschbacher and ESA are not as agreeable as Isaacman had hoped.

CRS-34 brings cargo and science to the Expedition 74 crew. Read more from @casi-bev.bsky.social : www.spacescout.info/2026/05/crs-...

SpaceX's 34th space station resupply mission for NASA launches as soon as Tuesday, May 12 @ 7:16 PM EDT. Dragon will carry 6,500 lbs of supplies to the International Space Station to support the Expedition 74 crew. Follow us or visit spacescout.info for updates!

In their latest op-ed, @casi-bev.bsky.social examines the effects of Administrator Isaacman's sweeping changes at NASA. Read more: www.spacescout.info/2026/05/op-e...

The first Falcon Heavy in eighteen months carries ViaSat-3 F3 towards geostationary orbit. Read more from @casi-bev.bsky.social: www.spacescout.info/2026/04/falc...

I firmly believe presidents & people with control over medical agencies should understand percentages! If *you* don’t, no judgment; I will explain in the next couple posts how they work. The short version is that Senator Warren is correct in the clip, and there’s NO interpretation in which RFKJr is

Back Home, Missing A Friend

Also troubling: NASA reportedly implemented some of the cuts in the (later rejected) budget request from last year, without waiting for them to be approved. If govt keeps threatening cuts, the agency will not be able to function as though the budget is stable. Even if reversed, these cuts hurt.

While we're talking percentages, let's talk about the proposed cuts to NASA's science budget. NASA is currently 0.36% of US federal spending. www.planetary.org/space-policy... The proposed budget cuts NASA science by 47%. NASA science is already on a shoestring, and that string is about to break

House Science Committee pans NASA budget request Members of the House Science Committee rejected a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget for NASA because of sweeping cuts as the agency’s administrator argued it could do more with less.

If there are inefficiencies in NASA science spending (and I don't doubt there are!) then addressing those WITHOUT reducing the budget would mean more science, more innovation, more return on investment, more benefit to humanity. But realistically, cutting science funding by half just cuts science.

A number of space science organizations offered support for Isaacman's nomination because he is a proponent of space exploration and claimed he would support science. But now that science is on the chopping block -- and human spaceflight isn't -- he is volunteering to give NASA the DOGE treatment.

When I was working on curiosity, our budget decreased by 5-10% every year, our power output from the RTG decreased by about the same, and we managed to do just as much science over time—sometimes even more—than when the mission started. A 50% cut out of nowhere would kill missions like curiosity.

@davidjdphotography.com shares his perspective on covering Artemis II from LC-34. Read more: www.spacescout.info/2026/04/sole...

It's up! Check out the Space Scout team's incredible photos and personal reflections on the historic launch of Artemis II!

Despite successfully reusing a booster, New Glenn loses a payload at a poor time for the company's plans. Read more from @casi-bev.bsky.social: www.spacescout.info/2026/04/a-mi...

new from @casi-bev.bsky.social for @spacescout.bsky.social on New Glenn's stumble: www.spacescout.info/2026/04/a-mi...

The Space Scout team shares our unique perspective on the historic Artemis II mission. Read more from the team: www.spacescout.info/2026/04/phot...

After the journey of a lifetime, the crew of Artemis II are home once again. Read more from @casi-bev.bsky.social: www.spacescout.info/2026/04/arte...

New Glenn makes the trek up Launch Complex 36 ahead of the NG-3 mission.

Gotta go with my favorite mission photos for this #stunday

Experts found that the White House budget request for the upcoming fiscal year could defund 54 NASA science missions, including a spacecraft currently studying Jupiter and two planned Venus missions: www.scientificamerican.com/article/whit...

Hansen during the crew return event: "We're not always on the joy train. There are many times we're not on the joy train. But we are committed to getting back on the joy train as soon as we can."

With the Artemis II Live Mission Coverage closed, it lasted 230 hours, 38 minutes, 28 seconds. It had seventy-eight million views.

What a great photo just added on the NASA Johnson Flickr page www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2...

Another thing from last night: you could tell who was ready for the chute sequence. For a generation of people watching at home who mostly remember the shuttle, I can imagine that was a bit of an ordeal. Even knowing how it works I hated every second until the mains were out

On the Cassini mission to Saturn they called these “Kodak moments” and routinely included them in spacecraft imaging plans, a few per orbit www.planetary.org/articles/2859

I managed to tell @astrokatie.com something she did not already know, which is that the Integrity crew did not get to go straight to bed but instead had to do a lil obstacle course to see how freshly landed astronauts would escape the capsule, in, like, woods and she was like WHO APPROVED THIS. WHY

Some quick thoughts: If you saw Artemis II and thought "ugh, more propaganda," I get it. I wish this had happened in a better time. But I encourage you to look closer, listen to the people involved, and see the spirit of NASA that persists in spite of this admin and will outlast it. (1/4)

This is a fantastic photo #ArtemisII

Steal her look

Just a reminder that we can fund science, and save the earth, and feed everyone, and have health care and housing too. All those things are within our reach, together.

LOL, trying to stay offline and do my work, and friends are sending me "LOOK AT THIS NEW PIC!" texts .... This one is worth it. First PoC and first woman to go around another world. Don't stop talking about this point. It's important. #ArtemisII

Absolutely wonderful to be in an auditorium full of reporters here at JSC. Room erupted into cheers hearing Reid’s voice after blackout, again when we saw mains, and again on splashdown. Just an amazing feeling after everything