Irene Klotz

18 hours ago | aviationweek.com | Irene Klotz |Mark Carreau

For the third time this year, a robotic lander will attempt to touch down on the surface of the Moon. Ramping up for lunar operations this time is Japan-based iSpace, which is preparing for its 750-lb. Resilience lander to touch down in an area in the Moon’s far northern region known as Mare Frigoris on June 6. The rover carries an 11-lb. micro-rover, named Tenacious, for additional surface studies. The Hakuto-R Mission 2 launched along with Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander on Jan. 15.

6 days ago | aviationweek.com | Irene Klotz

The Trump administration wants to reshape NASA to focus almost exclusively on sending astronauts back to the lunar surface before China lands its first crew, which could happen during the president’s term in office.

1 week ago | aviationweek.com | Irene Klotz

Pieces of a Soviet-era spacecraft, stranded in Earth orbit after a failed launch to Venus 53 years ago, are heading back into the atmosphere this week. Cosmos 482 lifted off on March 31, 1972, onboard a Soviet Soyuz SL-6/A-2-e launcher four days after its twin, Venera 8, for a joint study of Venus. “After achieving an Earth parking orbit, the spacecraft made an apparent attempt to launch into a Venus transfer trajectory,” notes NASA’s Space Science Data Archive.

1 week ago | aviationweek.com | Irene Klotz

An artist's concept of Mars Odyssey, which has been orbiting Mars since Oct. 24, 2001. It is the senior member of NASA's operational fleet of planetary science probes. An early indication of NASA’s response to the Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget is expected later this spring when six ongoing planetary science teams learn if they have to turn off their spacecraft. Three missions—Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Maven—are operating from Mars...

1 week ago | aviationweek.com | Irene Klotz

A fully assembled SLS core stage is suspended 225 ft. in the air inside the High Bay 2 at Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building. The Trump administration proposes to cut NASA’s $24.8 billion annual budget to $18.8 billion and end several flagship programs including the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, Orion deep-space crewed spacecraft and a U.S.-European effort to return samples from Mars. A summary fiscal 2026 budget...