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Tag: NASA

Trump, Musk join forces to bring stranded NASA astronauts back via SpaceX after Biden admin ‘abandoned’ them

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he has tasked his new Department of Government Efficiency head, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, with bringing home two astronauts who he said have been “abandoned” by the Biden administration.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been in space for the last 8 months and Trump blasted the former president for not acting sooner.

“I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration. They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!” posted Trump.

MUSK’S SPACEX TO HELP RETURN ASTRONAUTS DESPITE FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONS OF BILLIONAIRE’S BUSINESSES

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were the flight crew on Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which is recovering from a series of issues. (NASA / Getty Images)

Musk also took to social media to express his disdain and vowed to bring them home “as soon as possible.”

“The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @SpaceStation as soon as possible. We will do so,” Musk posted via X Tuesday evening. “Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore (L) and Pilot Suni Williams walk out of the Operations and Checkout Building on June 05, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Wilmore and Williams have been in space since June. The mission was initially only meant to be a week long.

The NASA pilots arrived at the International Space Station on a Starliner, but issues with the capsule developed in the form of helium leaks and thruster problems making it too risky for people to utilize the ship to travel back to Earth.

BOEING STARLINER LAUNCHES 2 NASA ASTRONAUTS INTO SPACE IN FIRST PILOTED TEST FLIGHT

A plan was in place to rescue the two on a SpaceX capsule arriving back on Earth by February, but it was delayed. (Fox News )

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A plan was in place to rescue the two on a SpaceX capsule arriving back on Earth by February, but it was delayed.

Musk has delayed the launch of replacement astronauts at this time. Once the replacement astronauts reach the space station, the pair can go home.

January 29, 2025
NASA astronaut stuck in space reports ‘strange noises’ coming from Starliner

A NASA astronaut at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday reported hearing a “strange noise” coming from the Boeing Starliner spacecraft just days before it is set to leave the station and return to Earth on autopilot.

The astronaut, Butch Wilmore, radioed Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston to inquire about the noise.

On an audio recording of the exchange, Wilmore holds up a phone to the speakers so that Mission Control could hear the noise he was referring to. A pulsating sound emanating at steady intervals can be heard through Wilmore’s device.

“Butch, that one came through,” Mission Control says after not hearing it the first time. “It was kind of like a pulsating noise, almost like a sonar ping.”

NASA PLANS TO SEND 2 ASTRONAUTS INSTEAD OF 3 TO ISS SO PAIR STRANDED BY TROUBLED BOEING STARLINER CAN RETURN

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is docked to the Harmony module of the International Space Station on July 3, 2024, as seen from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to an adjacent port. (NASA via AP)

“I’ll do it one more time and let you all scratch your heads and see if you can figure out what’s going on,” Wilmore tells Mission Control, playing the sound one more time.

Mission Control tells Wilmore the recording will be passed along and that they’ll let him know what they find.

Wilmore clarifies that the sound is emanating from the speaker inside the Starliner.

The bizarre sound was first reported by Ars Technica, which cited a recording first captured and shared by Michigan-based meteorologist Rob Dale.

NASA’s Boeing crew flight test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are shown inside the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA)

Fox News Digital has reached out to Mission Control and Boeing to inquire if the source of the sound has been identified.

Starliner is slated to undock from the ISS, empty, and attempt to return on autopilot with a touchdown in the New Mexico desert.

NASA decided it was too risky to bring back Wilmore and Suni Williams until February. The astronauts were originally slated for a weeklong trip in early June, but the mission has been mired in problems after thruster failures and helium leaks.

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Boeing had counted on Starliner’s first crew trip to revive the troubled spacecraft program after years of delays and ballooning costs. The company had insisted Starliner was safe based on all the recent thruster tests in both space and on the ground.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

January 23, 2025
NASA provides explanation for ‘strange noises’ coming from Starliner spacecraft

The mystery behind a “strange noise” that a NASA astronaut heard coming from the Boeing Starliner spacecraft while aboard the International Space Station has been solved, the space agency said Monday.

Astronaut Butch Wilmore first reported the pulsating sound coming from a speaker inside the spacecraft to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday, just days before it was set to leave the station and return to Earth on autopilot.

NASA said in a statement on social media that the pulsing sound from the speaker has since stopped and determined the feedback was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner.

“The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback,” NASA said. “The crew is asked to contact mission control when they hear sounds originating in the comm system. The speaker feedback Wilmore reported has no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations, including Starliner’s uncrewed undocking from the station no earlier than Friday, Sept. 6.”

NASA ASTRONAUT STUCK IN SPACE REPORTS ‘STRANGE NOISES’ FROM TROUBLED STARLINER CAPSULE

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams pose on June 13 from inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The astronauts have been stuck in space since June. (NASA)

The mystery of the pulsating sound comes as Starliner is slated to undock from the space station empty and attempt to return on autopilot with a touchdown in the New Mexico desert.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is docked to the Harmony module of the International Space Station on July 3 as seen from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to an adjacent port. (NASA via AP)

Wilmore and astronaut Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the space station since June, are expected to remain in space until February after NASA decided it was too risky to bring the seasoned pilots back to Earth aboard Starliner. The current plan is to bring the astronauts back in a SpaceX capsule.

NASA PLANS TO SEND 2 ASTRONAUTS INSTEAD OF 3 TO ISS SO PAIR STRANDED BY TROUBLED BOEING STARLINER CAN RETURN

The astronauts were originally slated for a weeklong trip, but the mission has been mired in problems after thruster failures and helium leaks.

NASA said the mysterious pulsating noise was the result of an audio configuration between Starliner and the International Space Station. (NASA via AP, File)

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Boeing had counted on Starliner’s first crew trip to revive the troubled spacecraft program after years of delays and ballooning costs. The company had insisted Starliner was safe based on recent thruster tests in both space and on the ground.

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

January 23, 2025
Stadium-sized asteroid will pass relatively close to Earth, NASA says

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is monitoring a “potentially hazardous” asteroid that is moving past Earth on Tuesday.

NASA told Fox News Digital that the rocky object, which has been named 2024 ON, is 350 meters long by 180 meters wide, which roughly equals 1,150 feet by 590 feet – larger than previous estimates.

NASA has deemed the asteroid “stadium-sized” and reported it was 621,000 miles away from Earth on Tuesday morning, which is considered relatively close. Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told Fox News Digital that an asteroid of this size coming this close to Earth only happens every five to ten years.

Farnocchia, who works at the laboratory’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, said that the last time a large meteor entered the Earth’s atmosphere was in Russia in 2013. Earth has not been hit by a meteor of 2024 ON’s size since prehistoric times.

FLASHBACK: STUDY SAYS ASTEROID THAT KILLED THE DINOSAURS ALSO CAUSED A GLOBAL TSUNAMI

NASA announced that a stadium-sized asteroid would be passing “relatively close” to Earth on Tuesday. (iStock)

Although the asteroid is close enough to Earth to be deemed a “potentially hazardous object,” Farnocchia said there is no chance the asteroid will hit Earth. The asteroid would need to be within a couple of hundred miles to be a concern.

“We actually check [about the possibility of collision], not just for the immediate future, but also for the next hundred years,” the engineer explained. “And there is no possibility of collision in the next hundred years.”

The asteroid is one of five that will pass by Earth over the next two days, but the other rocky objects will not come nearly as close as 2024 ON. The four asteroids will be between 1.1 to 3.9 million miles away from Earth, and three of the asteroids measure roughly 51 feet in diameter, which is the size of a house.

2024 ON will be 621,000 miles from Earth on Tuesday night, NASA says. (NASA)

NEWLY DISCOVERED DINOSAUR SPECIES IS ONLY GREEN FOSSIL EVER GOUND, TO BE DISPLAYED IN LOS ANGELES

One of the asteroids, named 2013 FW13, measures around 510 feet in diameter and will pass by Earth on Wednesday.

NASA’s Asteroid Watch Dashboard tracks “asteroids and comets that will make relatively close approaches to Earth.” According to a data table, 2024 ON was traveling at around 8.8 kilometers per second on Tuesday morning, which is nearly 20,000 miles per hour.

“The dashboard displays the date of closest approach, approximate object diameter, relative size and distance from Earth for each encounter,” the organization’s website explains.

NASA announced that a stadium-sized asteroid would be passing “relatively close” to Earth on Tuesday. (iStock)

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“The dashboard displays the next five Earth approaches to within 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers or 19.5 times the distance to the moon); an object larger than about 150 meters that can approach the Earth to within this distance is termed a potentially hazardous object.”

Andrea Vacchiano is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can send story tips to [email protected].

January 23, 2025
NASA releases clearest view of Mars, blue rocks seen on landscape

NASA has released the clearest view of Mars to date, with blue rocks observed across the planet’s landscape.

The images were captured by the Perseverance rover as it explores the planet.

Dark blue, jagged rocks of volcanic basalt were found on top of the dried remains of an ancient lakebed, according to the Daily Mail.

10 FUN FACTS ABOUT MARS, ALSO KNOWN AS THE RED PLANET

NASA has released the clearest view of Mars to date, with blue rocks observed across the planet’s landscape. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA found the boulders on what has been dubbed “Mount Washburn,” a rocky field on the Jezero crater, where an ancient lake is believed to have been located billions of years ago.

The name “Mount Washburn” was given to the field of rocks in honor of a mountain in Yellowstone National Park.

SPACEX LAUNCHES MISSION TO SPACE STATION THAT WILL BRING BACK STRANDED NASA ASTRONAUTS NEXT YEAR

The rover came upon a white-striped rock within a field of blue boulders. (NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover)

The rover came upon a white-striped rock within the field of blue boulders. The Perseverance science team nicknamed the light-toned boulder with dark speckles “Atoko Point.”

While the blue rocks are primarily volcanic basalt, which is typical of Martian terrain, NASA concluded that “Atoko Point” is made of anorthosite-a silica-rich volcanic rock, which has never been documented on Mars.

The name “Mount Washburn” was given to the field of rocks in honor of a mountain in Yellowstone National Park. (NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover)

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This rock type had been theorized to exist but never seen on the Martian landscape, according to Marca.

“Are there other rocks like this near the Jezero Crater rim? I’m on my way to find out,” the Perseverance rover’s X account said.

January 23, 2025
NASA spacecraft to scour Jupiter’s moon in search of life-supporting conditions
- NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is set to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa, one of the prime candidates for finding life beyond Earth.
- Europa Clipper will assess whether Europa’s conditions, such as its ocean beneath an icy crust, could support life.
- The spacecraft, NASA’s largest built to study another planet, will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
A NASA spacecraft is ready to set sail for Jupiter and its moon Europa, one of the best bets for finding life beyond Earth.

Europa Clipper will peer beneath the moon’s icy crust where an ocean is thought to be sloshing fairly close to the surface. It won’t search for life, but rather determine whether conditions there could support it. Another mission would be needed to flush out any microorganisms lurking there.

“It’s a chance for us to explore not a world that might have been habitable billions of years ago, but a world that might be habitable today — right now,” said program scientist Curt Niebur.

NASA RELEASES CLEAREST VIEW OF MARS, BLUE ROCKS SEEN ON LANDSCAPE

Its massive solar panels make Clipper the biggest craft built by NASA to investigate another planet. It will take 5 1/2 years to reach Jupiter and will sneak within 16 miles of Europa’s surface — considerably closer than any other spacecraft.

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Europa Clipper spacecraft over the moon, Europa, with Jupiter in the background. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

Liftoff is targeted for this month aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Mission cost: $5.2 billion.

Europa, the superstar among Jupiter’s many moons

One of Jupiter’s 95 known moons, Europa is almost the size of our own moon. It’s encased in an ice sheet estimated to be 10 miles to 15 miles or more thick. Scientists believe this frozen crust hides an ocean that could be 80 miles or more deep. The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted what appear to be geysers erupting from the surface. Discovered by Galileo in 1610, Europa is one of the four so-called Galilean moons of Jupiter, along with Ganymede, Io and Callisto.

Seeking conditions that support life

What type of life might Europa harbor? Besides water, organic compounds are needed for life as we know it, plus an energy source. In Europa’s case that could be thermal vents on the ocean floor. Deputy project scientist Bonnie Buratti imagines any life would be primitive like the bacterial life that originated in Earth’s deep ocean vents. “We will not know from this mission because we can’t see that deep,” she said. Unlike missions to Mars where habitability is one of many questions, Clipper’s sole job is to establish whether the moon could support life in its ocean or possibly in any pockets of water in the ice.

Supersized spacecraft

When its solar wings and antennas are unfurled, Clipper is about the size of a basketball court — more than 100 feet end to end — and weighs nearly 13,000 pounds. The supersized solar panels are needed because of Jupiter’s distance from the sun. The main body — about the size of a camper — is packed with nine science instruments, including radar that will penetrate the ice, cameras that will map virtually the entire moon and tools to tease out the contents of Europa’s surface and tenuous atmosphere. The name hearkens to the swift sailing ships of centuries past.

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Europa Clipper spacecraft above the surface of the moon Europa, foreground, and Jupiter behind. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

Circling Jupiter to fly by Europa

The roundabout trip to Jupiter will span 1.8 billion miles. For extra oomph, the spacecraft will swing past Mars early next year and then Earth in late 2026. It arrives at Jupiter in 2030 and begins science work the next year. While orbiting Jupiter, it will cross paths with Europa 49 times. The mission ends in 2034 with a planned crash into Ganymede — Jupiter’s biggest moon and the solar system’s too.

Europa flybys pose huge radiation risk

There’s more radiation around Jupiter than anywhere else in our solar system, besides the sun. Europa passes through Jupiter’s bands of radiation as it orbits the gas giant, making it especially menacing for spacecraft. That’s why Clipper’s electronics are inside a vault with dense aluminum and zinc walls. All this radiation would nix any life on Europa’s surface. But it could break down water molecules and, perhaps, release oxygen all the way down into the ocean that could possibly fuel sea life.

Earlier this year, NASA was in a panic that the spacecraft’s many transistors might not withstand the intense radiation. But after months of analysis, engineers concluded the mission could proceed as planned.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is pictured with two of its satellites, Io on the left and Europa on the right, in March 1979. The image was taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. (Space Frontiers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Other visitors to Jupiter and Europa

NASA’s twin Pioneer spacecraft and then two Voyagers swept past Jupiter in the 1970s. The Voyagers provided the first detailed photos of Europa but from quite a distance. NASA’s Galileo spacecraft had repeated flybys of the moon during the 1990s, passing as close as 124 miles. Still in action around Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has added to Europa’s photo album. Arriving at Jupiter a year after Clipper will be the European Space Agency’s Juice spacecraft, launched last year.

Ganymede and other possible ocean worlds

Like Europa, Jupiter’s jumbo moon Ganymede is thought to host an underground ocean. But its frozen shell is much thicker — possibly 100 miles thick — making it tougher to probe the environment below. Callisto’s ice sheet may be even thicker, possibly hiding an ocean. Saturn’s moon Enceladus has geysers shooting up, but it’s much farther than Jupiter. Ditto for Saturn’s moon Titan, also suspected of having a subterranean sea. While no ocean worlds have been confirmed beyond our solar system, scientists believe they’re out there — and may even be relatively common.

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Messages in a cosmic bottle

Like many robotic explorers before it, Clipper bears messages from Earth. Attached to the electronics vault is a triangular metal plate. On one side is a design labeled “water words” with representations of the word for water in 104 languages. On the opposite side: a poem about the moon by U.S. poet laureate Ada Limon and a silicon chip containing the names of 2.6 million people who signed up to vicariously ride along.
January 23, 2025
NASA reconnects with interstellar Voyager 1 spacecraft using technology not used since 1981

After a brief pause in communications with Voyager 1, NASA re-established a connection with the interstellar spacecraft located more than 15 billion miles away from Earth, using a frequency not used more than forty years.

Communication between NASA and Voyager 1 has been spotty at times. In fact, the spacecraft stopped sending readable data to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Nov. 14, 2023, and it was not until April that mission controllers began receiving commands once again.

More recently, the spacecraft turned off one of its two transmitters after what engineers suspected was due to Voyager 1’s fault protection system, which autonomously responds to onboard issues.

For instance, if the spacecraft uses too much power from its supply source, fault protection will kick in to conserve power by turning off non-essential systems, NASA explained.

VOYAGER 1 DETECTS ‘HUM’ WHILE IN INTERSTELLAR SPACE: REPORT

This illustration provided by NASA depicts The most distant spacecraft from Earth, Voyager 1, is seen in this NASA illustration. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California announced this week that Voyager 1s four scientific instruments are back in business after a technical problem in November. (NASA via AP, File)

The space agency said the flight team sent a command to activate one of the spacecraft’s heaters on Oct. 16. The command takes nearly 23 hours to travel from Earth to the spacecraft, and then another 23 hours for the data to travel back.

Engineers suspected Voyager 1 should have had plenty of power to operate the heather, though the fault protection system was triggered.

On Oct. 18, the team learned about the issue, because the Deep Space Network was unable to detect Voyager 1’s signal. Communication between NASA and the spacecraft occurs on the X-band radio transmitter, named for the frequency it uses.

NASA PUBLISHES NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PHOTOS OF ‘RAVIOLI’ MOON ORBITING SATURN

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artist’s concept traveling through interstellar space, or the space between stars, which it entered in 2012. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The fault protection system lowered the rate the transmitter was able to send data back to NASA, engineers determined, therefore changing the X-band signal the Deep Space Network needed to listen for.

Once the signal was located, Voyager 1 appeared to be in a stable state and the team began investigating what happened.

But on Oct. 19, communication between the team and Voyager 1 stopped again, this time entirely.

The team believed Voyager 1’s fault protection system was triggered two more times and switched to a second radio transmitter called the S-band, which uses less power.

NASA RE-ESTABLISHES COMMUNICATION WITH VOYAGER 1 INTERSTELLAR SPACECRAFT THAT WENT SILENT FOR MONTHS

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The JPL said it will let go of 530 workers this week. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Voyager 1 had not used the S-band to communicate with Earth since 1981.

Engineers with the Deep Space Network were ultimately able to detect the spacecraft’s communication from the S-band. Rather than risk turning the X-band back on before finding out what caused the fault protection system to trigger, the team sent a command on Oct. 22 to confirm the S-band transmitter was working.

Now, the team is working to gather information to help them find out what happened so it can return Voyager 1 back to normal operations.

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Voyager 1′s odyssey began in 1977 when the spacecraft and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched on a tour of the gas giant planets of the solar system.

After beaming back dazzling postcard views of Jupiter’s giant red spot and Saturn’s shimmering rings, Voyager 2 hopscotched to Uranus and Neptune. Meanwhile, Voyager 1 used Saturn as a gravitational slingshot to power itself past Pluto.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

January 23, 2025
Interstellar Voyager 1 resumes operations after pause in communications with NASA

NASA has confirmed that after a pause in communications with Voyager 1 in late October, the spacecraft has regained its voice and resumed regular operations.

Voyager unexpectedly turned off its primary radio transmitter, known as its X-band, before turning on its much weaker S-band transmitter in October.

The interstellar spacecraft is currently located about 15.4 billion miles away from Earth and the S-band had not been used in over 40 years.

Communication between NASA and Voyager 1 has been spotty at times and the switch to the lower band prevented the Voyager mission team from downloading science data and information about the spacecraft’s status.

NASA RECONNECTS WITH INTERSTELLAR VOYAGER 1 SPACECRAFT USING TECHNOLOGY NOT USED IN DECADES

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artist’s concept traveling through interstellar space, or the space between stars, which it entered in 2012. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Earlier this month, the team was able to reactivate the X-band transmitter and resume collection of data from the four operating science instruments onboard Voyager 1.

Now that the data can be collected and communications have resumed, engineers are finishing a few remaining tasks to return Voyager 1 back to the state it was in before the issue came up. One task is to reset the system that synchronizes Voyager 1’s three onboard computers.

The S-band was activated by the spacecraft’s fault protection system when engineers activated a heater on Voyager 1. The fault protection system determined the probe did not have enough power and automatically turned off systems that were not necessary to keep the spacecraft flying in order to keep providing power to critical systems.

VOYAGER 1 DETECTS ‘HUM’ WHILE IN INTERSTELLAR SPACE: REPORT

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, shown in this illustration, has been exploring our solar system since 1977, along with its twin, Voyager 2. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

But in the process, the probes turned off all nonessential systems except for science instruments, NASA said, turning off the X-band and activating the S-band, which uses less power.

Voyager 1 had not used the S-band to communicate with Earth since 1981.

NASA PUBLISHES NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PHOTOS OF ‘RAVIOLI’ MOON ORBITING SATURN

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the most distant spacecraft from Earth, Voyager 1. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California announced this week that Voyager 1’s four scientific instruments are back in business after a technical problem. (NASA via AP, File)

Voyager 1′s odyssey began in 1977, when the spacecraft and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched on a tour of the gas giant planets of the solar system.

After beaming back dazzling postcard views of Jupiter’s giant red spot and Saturn’s shimmering rings, Voyager 2 hopscotched to Uranus and Neptune. Meanwhile, Voyager 1 used Saturn as a gravitational slingshot to power itself past Pluto.

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There are 10 science instruments on each spacecraft, and according to NASA, four are currently being used to study the particles, plasma and magnetic fields in interstellar space.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

January 23, 2025
NASA finalizes strategy for human presence in space

This week, NASA finalized its strategy for sustaining a human presence in space. A document emphasized the importance of maintaining the ability for extended stays in orbit after the International Space Station is retired.

“NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Microgravity Strategy will guide the agency toward the next generation of continuous human presence in orbit, enable greater economic growth, and maintain international partnerships,” the document stated.

The commitment comes amid questions of whether the new space stations will be ready to go. With the incoming Trump administration’s effort to cut spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, there are also fears NASA could face cuts.

INTERSTELLAR VOYAGER 1 RESUMES OPERATIONS AFTER PAUSE IN COMMUNICATIONS WITH NASA

“Just like everybody has to make hard decisions when the budget is tight, we’ve made some choices over the last year, in fact, to cut back programs or cancel them all together to make sure that we’re focused on our highest priorities,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.

Commercial space company Voyager is working on one of the space stations that could replace the International Space Station when it de-orbits in 2030. The company applauded NASA’s strategy to keep humans in space.

A rendering shows a Voyager spacecraft. Voyager is working on one of the space stations that could replace the International Space Station, which is expected to be retired in 2030. (Voyager Space)

“We need that commitment because we have our investors saying, ‘Is the United States committed?’” said Jeffrey Manber Voyager’s president of international and space stations.

President Reagan first launched the effort to keep humans in space at a permanent residence. He also warned of the need for private partnerships.

“America has always been greatest when we dared to be great. We can reach for greatness,” Reagan said during his 1984 State of the Union address. “The market for space transportation could surpass our capacity to develop it.”

Jeffrey Manber, president of international and space stations at Voyager Space, praised NASA’s commitment to researching how to sustain a human presence in space. (Associated Press)

The first piece of the ISS was launched in 1998. Since then, it has hosted more than 28 people from 23 countries. For 24 years, humans have occupied the ISS continuously.

The Trump administration released a national space policy in 2020 that called for maintaining a “continuous human presence in earth orbit” and also emphasized the need to transition to commercial platforms. The Biden administration maintained that policy.

NASA ROVER CAPTURES SILHOUETTE OF A MARTIAN MOON IN STUNNING VIDEO

“Let’s say we didn’t have commercial stations that are ready to go. Technically, we could keep the space station going, but the idea was to fly it through 2030 and de-orbit it in 2031,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in June.

In recent months, there have been questions whether the policy would be maintained.

A rendering shows a Voyager Space spacecraft floating in orbit above the Earth. (Voyager Space)

“I just want to talk about the elephant in the room for a moment, continuous human presence. What does that mean? Is it continuous heartbeat or continuous capability? While we kind of originally hoped that this would just sort of emerge from this process, we’re still having conversations about that and understanding it,” Melroy said at the International Astronautical Congress in October.

NASA’s finalized strategy took into account concerns from commercial and international partners over what it would mean to lose the ISS without a commercial station ready to go.

“Almost all of our industry partners agreed. Continuous presence is continuous heartbeat. And so that’s where we stand,” Melroy said. “I think this continuous presence, it’s leadership. Today, the United States leads in human spaceflight. The only other space station that will be in orbit when ISS de-orbits, if we don’t bring a commercial destination up in time, will be the Chinese space station. And we want to stay and remain the partner of choice for our industry and for our goals for NASA.”

Three companies, including Voyager, are working with NASA to develop commercial space stations. Axiom signed an agreement with NASA in 2020. The agency awarded contracts to Nanoracks, now part of Voyager Space, and Blue Origin in 2021.

A rendering shows a Voyager Space spacecraft at a distance, passing in front of the moon. (Voyager Space)

“We’ve had some challenges, to be perfectly honest with you. The budget caps that were a deal that was cut between the White House and Congress for fiscal year (2024 and 2025) have left us without as much investment. So, what we do is we co-invest with our commercial partners to do the development. I think we’re still able to make it happen before the end of 2030, though, to get a commercial space station up and running so that we have a continuous heartbeat of American astronauts on orbit,” Melroy said.

Voyager says it is not behind in the development process and is still planning to launch their starship space station in 2028.

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“We’re not asking for more money. We’re going ahead. We’re ready to replace the International Space Station,” Manber said. “Everyone knows SpaceX, but there’s hundreds of companies that have created the space economy. And if we lose permanent presence, you lose that supply chain.”

Additional funds have been provided for the three companies since the initial space station contracts. A second round of funding could be crucial for some projects. NASA could also award funding for new space station proposals. One prospect is Long Beach, California’s Vast Space. The company recently unveiled concepts for its Haven modules. It plans to launch the Haven-1 as soon as next year.

“We absolutely think competition is critical. This is a development project. It’s challenging. It was hard to build the space station. We’re asking our commercial partners to step up and do this themselves with some help from us. We think it’s really important that we carry as many options going forward to see which one really pans out when we actually get there,” Melroy said.

Bret Baier currently serves as FOX News Channel’s (FNC) anchor and executive editor of Special Report with Bret Baier (weeknights at 6-7PM/ET), chief political anchor of the network and co-anchor of the network’s election coverage. Baier is also host of FOX News Audio’s “The Bret Baier Podcast” which includes Common Ground and The All-Star Panel. He joined FNC in 1998 as the first reporter in the Atlanta bureau and is now based in Washington, D.C.

January 22, 2025