Tag: space

NASA’s Artemis Program Is a Monument to Government Waste. It Can Only Go Up From Here.

If the pending Artemis II mission is successful, it will not just send Americans around the moon and back for the first time in more than half a century—it will send them further than any human being has traveled into space. If the rest of the Artemis program proceeds on schedule, astronauts will return to the lunar surface by the end of the decade.

That’s been a long time coming. The government has been working to get Americans back on the moon since the Bush administration created the Constellation program in the mid-2000s. Wondering why it’s taking so long, given that the original moon mission required only seven years? The answer involves the familiar forces of government inefficiency and pork barrel congressional politics.

How We Got Here

After the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated while reentering the atmosphere in 2003, the Bush administration decided to shift the space program away from the Space Shuttle program. The result was the more targeted, purpose-driven Constellation program, which focused on completing the International Space Station and laying the groundwork for a “return to the Moon no later than 2020.” This, officials hoped, would be a stepping stone toward a crewed mission to Mars not long afterward.

By the time President Barack Obama took office, the Constellation program was already on the way to cancellation; the new administration declared the program “over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation.” When the Shuttle program retired in 2011, no vehicle was set to take its place. So in 2010, Congress mandated that several legacy aerospace companies create the Space Launch System (SLS), both to take over the missions that the shuttle had been servicing and to provide for future space missions.

As development began on the rocket, the projected budget cost through 2017 was $18 billion, a number that would soon start growing. Early in development, each launch was projected to cost $500 million, a number very optimistic in hindsight: According to the White House’s 2026 budget proposal, an SLS launch costs about $4 billion. Through last year, the total cost of the program has exceeded $60 billion.

The SLS program isn’t just way over budget. It’s way behind schedule too. Congress told it to fly by 2016, but the first launch didn’t come until 2022. The second launch will be Artemis II.

When the first Trump administration started the Artemis program in 2017, the vision was to send Americans to the moon and then Mars. As the program developed, officials set a goal of having humans on the moon again by 2024. In April 2021, SpaceX won the bidding process to build the Human Landing System—the lunar lander that would deliver the astronauts to the moon’s surface. Blue Origin then sued NASA over losing out to SpaceX, and NASA had to pause work until the lawsuit ended. The suit was resolved in November, at which point SpaceX and NASA returned to work. 

Infrastructure issues plagued Artemis, with repairs spanning months. Rocket launches require good weather, and launch windows can be tight, so a few days of bad weather can postpone a launch by weeks or months.

After Jared Isaacman became NASA administrator last year, the Artemis mission schedule underwent substantial structural changes. Artemis III, which had been set to be the mission that would send astronauts to our satellite’s surface, has now become Artemis IV, scheduled for 2028; the new Artemis III will test on-orbit capabilities but will stay in low Earth orbit. Further missions down the line are supposed to begin assembly of a U.S. lunar base. The current slate of missions run through Artemis X, projected to have a 2035 launch date.

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BACK TO THE MOON: Crewed Lunar Mission Artemis II Confirmed for Wednesday as NASA Says It’s ‘Ready’ for Historic Launch

In two days, Space exploration goes larger-than-life again.

While the MSM is doing its best not to acknowledge how historic the Artemis II mission will be, the day when humans return to the moon is upon us.

NASA is confirming Wednesday, April 1st, as the target date for the launch of the lunar mission.

The technical teams have found ‘zero technical issues’ leading up to the liftoff that will fly astronauts around the moon and back.

Space.com reported:

“That Artemis 2 launch window opens on Wednesday at 6:24 p.m. EDT (2324 GMT) and extends for two hours. If the launch is delayed or scrubbed for any reason, there are more opportunities for liftoff through April 6. But still, NASA officials are voicing a high degree of confidence in the mission’s chances of launching on the agency’s massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on time. Notably, NASA completed a flight readiness review for the mission ahead of SLS’ rollout to the pad on March 20, and has since flagged no issues or risk acceptances that need closing before clearing Artemis 2 to launch.”

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NASA Partially Lifts Redactions in James Webb Briefing Records Following Appeal

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case involving congressional briefings on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has yielded additional records following a successful appeal, but the newly released material continues to be heavily redacted, leaving key portions of the briefing content concealed.

The case, labeled as 25-00860-F-HQ, stems from a September 22, 2024, FOIA request seeking “all briefings about the James Webb telescope and program, made for Congress,” including both classified and unclassified material related to discoveries made by the observatory. The request was originally denied with a “no records” determination, a conclusion later overturned on appeal.

As previously reported, NASA ultimately acknowledged that responsive records did exist and released a set of briefing slides in August 2025. However, those materials were almost entirely redacted under FOIA Exemption (b)(5), which protects pre-decisional and deliberative communications within government agencies.

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NASA Officials Investigating Cause of Mystery Condition That Suddenly Left an Astronaut Unable to Speak

NASA is reportedly reviewing the medical information of its astronauts following an unusual incident that left one of them unable to speak while aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The incident, which occurred earlier this year, led to the first-ever evacuation of the ISS following a medical incident.

It was later revealed that 59-year-old Mike Fincke, a retired Air Force colonel and veteran astronaut who had served on multiple past missions, had been the crew member who experienced the condition that prompted the emergency action, although at that time, NASA officials had not revealed any further details about the nature of the medical concern.

Now, Fincke has revealed that on January 7, what began as a normal dinner break with his fellow crew members suddenly took an alarming turn when he found himself unable to speak.

“It was completely out of the blue,” Fincke recently told the Associated Press of the strange situation. “It was just amazingly quick.”

The crew had been in preparation for a planned spacewalk scheduled for the following day when the incident occurred. Although Fincke said he experienced no pain or other severe discomfort, the sudden onset of the mystery condition did cause alarm among other members of his crew, who immediately notified officials back on Earth about the situation.

“My crewmates definitely saw that I was in distress,” Fincke recalled of the situation. “It was all hands on deck within just a matter of seconds.”

For the next twenty minutes, Fincke said the odd condition persisted, which struck like a “very fast lightning bolt.” Gradually, his ability to speak returned, and Fincke said that he had never experienced anything like this in the past, nor since returning to Earth.

Although NASA did not reveal which astronaut had experienced the medical emergency, Fincke voluntarily came forward because of public speculation about what specifically caused the incident.

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OVER THE MOON: NASA Artemis II Crew in Final Phase of Preparation for First Lunar Mission in Over Half a Century

The final stretch before lift-off.

Since 1972, no human being has orbited or set foot on the moon. And now, after much to-and-fro, it seems like the time has come to return to our natural satellite.

The four Artemis II astronauts arrived in Florida today (27), in the final phase of preparations for the historic mission.

Reuters reported:

“NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are set to launch from Kennedy Space Center as soon as April 1 aboard NASA’s towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, riding inside an Orion crew capsule built to carry humans into deep space. The roughly 10-day mission will ​send the crew on a high-speed loop around the Moon and back.”

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NASA Unveils Plan for First Nuclear-Powered Interplanetary Spacecraft

The first-ever nuclear-powered spacecraft built for interplanetary travel will set off on a mission to Mars in 2028.

The Space Reactor‑1 Freedom (SR-1 Freedom) project was unveiled in Washington on March 24. NASA leadership said it’s the first step toward nuclear power on the moon and for exploratory missions farther out in space, where solar panels and traditional chemical propulsion would be less and less effective.

The ship was introduced by Steve Sinacore, NASA’s Fission Surface Power program executive, who said it comes from utilizing more than 60 years of NASA’s research into fission nuclear propulsion and repurposing a power and propulsion unit already nearing completion.

It will be fueled with low-enriched uranium, producing more than 20 kilowatts of advanced electric propulsion primarily through the transfer of heat from the uranium. It will also be equipped with radiation shielding and high-rate direct-to-Earth communications with images and data.

SR-1 Freedom’s first mission will be a year-long journey to Mars for a mission called “Skyfall.” Its job will be to deliver a payload of three helicopter drones modeled after “Ingenuity,” the first helicopter to fly on Mars, to the surface. The aircraft will then take readings of and below the planet’s surface in anticipation of a crewed mission, such as searching for water as ice trapped beneath the surface, and scouting out a landing site.

NASA leaders didn’t announce where the launch would take place or disclose what kind of rocket would be used.

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ELUSIVE MOON: Artemis II Lular Mission Delayed Again – SLS Rocket and Orion Capsule May Have To Be Rolled Back to Vehicle Assembly Building

How difficult it is to go back to the Moon…

The Artemis II Lunar mission suffered another setback, as it is expected to miss the March launch window.

Reuters reported:

“NASA is taking steps to potentially roll back the Artemis II rocket and Orion spacecraft to its Vehicle Assembly Building after observing an interrupted flow of helium, the space agency said on Saturday. ‘This will almost assuredly impact the March launch window’, NASA said.”

Sky News reported:

“On Friday night, however, NASA discovered that the flow of helium – which is required for launch – to the rocket had been interrupted during a key part of the preparation process.

[…] Before the setback, the agency had announced that it was targeting 6 March to launch four astronauts around the moon and back.”

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BACK TO THE MOON: NASA Performs Successful Fueling Test, and Artemis II is Set To Launch for Historic Crewed Mission to the Lunar Orbit on March 6

It’s been fifty-four years since humans have been to the moon, but if all goes well, the wait is about to be over soon.

NASA announced that it successfully conducted a fueling test of the powerful SLS rocket, and with that, it’s aiming to launch the Artemis II mission in two weeks, on March 6.

The mission will send four astronauts on a historic trip around the moon.

CBS News reported:

“Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen are expected to enter pre-flight medical quarantine Friday evening at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

An early evening shot of NASA’s huge Space Launch System rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, awaiting launch on a mission to send four astronauts on a flight around the far side of the moon.”

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Renowned scientist who discovered water on distant planet shot dead on front porch of California home

A renowned scientist who contributed to the discovery of water on a distant planet was mysteriously shot and killed on the front porch of his desert California home. 

Carl Grillmair, 67, was identified as the victim of a fatal shooting in Llano, a rural area of northern Los Angeles, on Monday morning. 

Colleagues called Grillmair’s research ‘ingenious’ and said that discovering water ‘is a telltale sign the conditions of the planet are auspicious for life.’

The astrophysicist was found with a gunshot wound on his front porch after detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide responded to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon just after 6am. 

Emergency responders attempted life-saving measures, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. 

While investigating the shooting call, the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station responded to a carjacking in the same area and arrested a man named Freddy Snyder, 29, who was named as a person of interest in Grillmair’s homicide case. 

Snyder was arrested for murder, carjacking, and burglary on Wednesday. He is in custody with a $2 million bail. 

Law enforcement has not released a motive in the alleged homicide. It’s unclear if the two men knew one another or whether the shooting was targeted. 

The LACSD hasn’t released Snyder’s booking photo or any further information on the case. 

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Elon Musk’s ‘Moon Cities’ Fairy Tale: A Transparent Cover for Militarizing Lunar High Ground

Introduction

In February 2026, Elon Musk announced a sudden, dramatic pivot for SpaceX, shifting focus from his long-touted goal of colonizing Mars to building a ‘self-growing city’ on the Moon within a decade [1]. This abrupt change, presented as a pragmatic realization that the Moon is closer, has been breathlessly reported by a compliant tech press. But to those who scrutinize the patterns of power, this narrative is not a scientific epiphany; it is a masterclass in strategic deception.

Musk’s track record is one of comic-book futures sold to a scientifically illiterate public-from perpetually ‘next year’ Full Self-Driving cars to the erratic Grok AI. His moon city promise is the latest chapter, a fantastical cover story designed to secure public funding and approval for a far darker agenda: the weaponization of the ultimate strategic high ground. This article will deconstruct the biological impossibilities of lunar habitation, expose the suicidal environmental realities, and reveal how the seductive fantasy of ‘moon cities’ is a transparent smokescreen for deploying the most terrifying planetary bombardment system ever conceived.

Elon’s Sci-Fi Fantasy: From Mars to Moon, Same Empty Promises

Elon Musk’s declaration that ‘SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon’ represents a glaring contradiction of his own multi-year Mars colonization crusade [1]. This isn’t a course correction based on new science; it’s strategic theater. Musk himself noted the Moon lacks the carbon dioxide needed to make methane for his Starship fuel, a fundamental logistical flaw he previously used to justify focusing on Mars [2]. The sudden ‘realization’ that the Moon is a quicker target is a laughable excuse for a public long conditioned to accept technocratic fairy tales.

This pattern of overpromising and underdelivering is Musk’s hallmark. He sells visions of the future to a public whose understanding of physics and biology has been eroded by a corrupt education system and a deceitful media. The moon city narrative is merely the latest shiny object dangled before the masses to distract from the underlying military-industrial drive. As investigative journalist James Corbett has warned, one of the most important strategies to prepare against government-endorsed weaponized narratives is to build community with like-minded people who share your views [3]. Questioning Musk’s sudden lunar zeal is the first step in seeing through the con.

The Biological and Physical Impossibility of Lunar Cities

The dream of a bustling lunar metropolis shatters against the unforgiving reality of lunar environmental science. First and foremost is the lethal radiation environment. The Moon has no protective magnetosphere or substantial atmosphere to shield its surface from galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events. As research has confirmed, ‘The radiation dose rates from measurements obtained over the last four years… are higher than previously conceived’ [4]. Prolonged exposure to this radiation would lead to rapid cancer development and catastrophic genetic damage for any surface dweller.

Furthermore, the Moon’s lack of atmosphere means a pure vacuum at its surface. This presents two immediate, insurmountable problems for human life and machinery. First, any pinhole breach in a habitat or suit means instant explosive decompression and death. Second, the vacuum eliminates the possibility of combustion, rendering standard internal combustion engines for heavy machinery-necessary for any construction or mining-utterly useless [5]. The concept of operating functional heavy machinery in a vacuum without oxygen is a fantasy.

Finally, the extreme thermal environment would mechanically destroy any human-made structure. Surface temperatures swing between -173°C (-279°F) at night to 127°C (261°F) during the day [6]. This constant, radical expansion and contraction would fatigue and crack even the most advanced materials, leading to inevitable catastrophic structural failure. The notion of permanent surface cities is an engineering impossibility.

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