NASA chief announces 2 new Venus missions after agency’s $25 billion budget request [Orlando Sentinel :: BC-SCI-NASA-VENUS:OS]
ORLANDO, Fla. New NASA Administrator Bill Nelson gave his first State of NASA address on Wednesday plotting out the agency’s plans to continue the Artemis program to return humans to the moon as well as new Earth-centric missions as part of the largest science budget ask ever for the agency.
At the end of the 45-minute presentation, Nelson announced two new missions to Venus as part of NASA’s Discovery program, which allows for smaller planetary missions that aren’t part of NASA’s flagship missions. Named Veritas and DaVinci+, the two missions aim to analyze the second planet from the sun’s atmosphere and geologic history.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule will launch three more private astronaut missions tentatively through 2023 under a bulk deal signed this week with mission manager Axiom Space, the companies announced June 2nd.
New NASA Administrator Bill Nelson gave his first State of NASA address on Wednesday plotting out the agency’s plans to continue the Artemis program to return humans to the moon as well as new Earth-centric missions as part of the largest science budget ask ever for the agency.
Sixty years ago today, May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy appeared before Congress and argued America “Should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. The goal was achieved, but it is 49 years since the last time any human walked upon the Moon, or indeed any other non-earthly natural body, raising the question of why spaceflight s big dreams have not been realized yet.
The first part of the answer is to recognize that visiting the Moon wasn t an inevitable development, at least in the 20th century. Polling indicated most Americans opposed the idea, despite the president s sky-high approval ratings. Congress was far from convinced to release the funds required to make Kennedy s vision a reality.
Spaceflight Insider
Theresa Cross
May 12th, 2021
A file photo of the Crew-1 Dragon docked at the space-facing port of the Harmony module. As early as January 2022, a SpaceX Crew Dragon with four private astronauts for Axiom Space is expected to visit the International Space Station for eight days. Credit: NASA
NASA and Axiom Space announced May 10, 2021, an order for the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.
The mission, dubbed Ax-1, is expected to see a private crew of four launch in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as January 2022. The mission is expected to last about 10 days with eight days at the outpost.