Latest news with #Marsmissions
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Wants to Shut Down Several Perfectly Good Spacecraft Orbiting Mars for No Reason
The scientific community was appalled by the news that president Donald Trump's administration was looking to deal a devastating blow to NASA's science budget. In its 2026 budget request, released last month, the White House announced it was looking to more cut funding for NASA's science directorate by more than half, leading to overwhelming criticism from the scientific community, as well as from both Republican and Democrat lawmakers. The "skinny" budget calls to end operations of several spacecraft currently orbiting Mars, the Washington Post reports — including Mars Odyssey, a probe that has been orbiting the Red Planet for a record 24 years, and the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission, which has been studying the planet's atmosphere for over a decade. It would also strip all funding for the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission, which was launched in 2003, as laid out by Science earlier this year. Despite their old age, all three missions are still collecting valuable data about the planet and relaying important communications from NASA's rovers currently roaming its rugged surface. Experts have warned that simply giving up on them would be an enormous waste. Even planned trips to the Martian surface could be erased in their entirety, including NASA's flagship — but immensely costly — Mars Sample Return mission, which has already led to heated discussions surrounding its hefty budget during the Biden administration. Alongside almost all major NASA science missions, abruptly ending the agency's operations in Mars' orbit could deal a devastating blow to the United States' space program overall, an enormous self-inflicted wound that could give adversaries, including China and Russia, room to catch up and dominate in space. "This is a tragic mistake for the new administration," Southwest Research Institute scientist and former NASA science chief Alan Stern told Science earlier this year. But not all is lost. As widely expected, the proposed budget has faced an enormous amount of resistance in Congress, with members from both sides of the aisle calling for a far less brutal budget. Most recently, the Senate's appropriations committee revealed a counteroffer that would keep NASA's existing $24.9 billion budget largely intact for 2026. Even NASA's staffers have taken to protesting outside of NASA's headquarters late last month, waving signs that read "Save NASA." It's not hard to see the Trump administration's prioritizing of human spaceflight, setting aside a whopping $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs. But by gutting most major science missions, the White House could throw a major wrench in those plans as well, potentially blacking out communications by needlessly killing off spacecraft already in the planet's orbit. Besides, now that Trump has called it quits with his frenemy Elon Musk, who controls SpaceX and its Mars-bound Starship rocket, the administration could face a major uphill battle in sending the first humans to the Red Planet. More on NASA: Democrats and Republicans Unite in Last-Ditch Effort to Save NASA Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
20-07-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Growing number of Americans want astronauts to visit Mars
A recent YouGov / CBS News poll indicates strong public support in the United States for further space exploration. The poll found that 67 per cent of Americans wish to see astronauts return to the moon, with 65 per cent supporting missions to Mars. Support for space exploration is consistent across all age demographics, with younger adults aged 18-29 showing the highest favourability at 71 per cent. A significant majority, 77 per cent, believe the 1969 moon landing was a worthwhile endeavour. Most Americans also feel that space exploration contributes positively to both national pride and scientific advancements.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Florida's Exolith Lab: Building the blueprint for a moon-based future
The Brief UCF scientists are leading global research on how to build roads, landing pads, and infrastructure on the moon using simulated lunar soil. Their work could enable future missions to Mars, solve key energy problems on Earth, and launch a space-based industrial revolution. Florida-based experiments in lunar construction, AI robotics, and energy-saving techniques are already showing promising results. Dr. Phil Metzger, a planetary scientist at UCF's Florida Space Institute, believes the moon holds the key to three major goals for humanity: Unlocking the history of the solar system Launching cheaper missions to Mars Relocating energy and resource-intensive industries off Earth "It's like the moon is Earth's attic," Metzger said, referring to how its untouched surface holds a preserved record of how life-supporting elements like water and carbon may have arrived on Earth. The moon is loaded with water ice—especially at its South Pole. Metzger explained that we can use solar power to extract that ice, split it into hydrogen and oxygen, and produce rocket fuel. "By building a mining and rocket fuel production facility on the moon, we can cut the cost of Mars missions by an order of magnitude," he said. This would transform the moon into a spaceport, launching Mars missions and satellites more efficiently than from Earth. As AI continues to expand, so does its need for massive computing power and energy. Metzger argues that we should move industrial operations into space—and the moon is the first step. "There's no reason why we can't put that AI off the Earth into space," he said. "We need material to build the infrastructure… and move Earth's economic burden off the planet." Space offers billions of times more solar energy than Earth. Tapping into that energy can help: Power space-based AI servers Beam clean energy back to Earth Expand civilization sustainably To make lunar construction possible, UCF's Exolith Lab is testing simulated moon soil to solve problems created by heavy landers, which can: Kick up dangerous dust Create damaging craters Risk tipping over spacecraft To counter this, researchers are developing: Landing pads made by melting lunar soil Roads and structures that don't waste precious water Microwave-powered construction methods using sorted magnetic minerals "We proved that we could reduce the amount of energy [needed to build with microwaves] by 70%," Metzger explained. They achieved this by developing a moon grain sorter that separates the most magnetic grains—making construction three times more energy-efficient. PREVIOUS: Project Moon Base: Central Florida's role in building a colony on the Moon Because of the tsignal delay between Earth and the moon, controlling robots remotely is a challenge. The solution: AI digital twins Operators control a virtual version of the robot in real-time. The simulation then directs the real robot on the moon—and corrects for any mismatches automatically. "The simulation has to resynchronize without confusing the operator," Metzger said. This makes complex construction and mining tasks possible, even from Earth. What's next From simulated soils in Florida labs to real robotic systems on the moon, scientists are laying the foundation for: Permanent lunar research stations Space-based industries Cheaper, more sustainable exploration of Mars and beyond For more on these breakthroughs, including how Central Florida is shaping the future of space exploration, visit the Fox Local App and check out the Breakthroughs in Science section. CLICK HERE:>>>Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The Source This report is based on in-depth interviews with Dr. Phil Metzger, a planetary scientist at the University of Central Florida. It includes original reporting from UCF's Exolith Lab.
