Remembering Missions And Anticipating Those To Come

NASA is still trying to get Hubble back up and running. The agency says it finished conducting a formal review of the telescope’s operations; next it will attempt to switch Hubble to its backup hardware, which could happen later this week. This has been an ongoing issue since June, when Hubble’s payload computer suddenly stopped working. Pictured: Hubble being deployed from the space shuttle Discovery in 1990. Image credit: NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Lockheed Corporation.

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) found four “teenage” exoplanets about 130 light-years away. The age of these planets is actually pretty special — not much is known about the transitional period of time in an exoplanet’s life, so the discovery will offer scientists a unique learning opportunity.

This week Virgin Galactic kicked off the first of two back-to-back space tourist flights. Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch vehicle will lift off July 20. Though Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have similar overarching ambitions, there are some stark differences in their approaches to spaceflight. Read our handy overview of the two companies’ space tourism programs.

The U.S. House of Representatives proposed spending $25 billion on NASA next year. This is nearly a quarter-billion more than requested by the Biden Administration. The additional money would fund the NEO Surveyor asteroid-hunting telescope, Mars Sample Return, and an upgraded configuration of the Space Launch System rocket. It also rejects the proposed cancellation of NASA’s SOFIA telescope and nuclear thermal propulsion program. Next stop: the Senate. See our FY 2022 NASA Budget tracking page for more details.

If you thought Ingenuity was cool, just wait until you see Dragonfly. The much more advanced flying spacecraft (pictured in this artist’s concept) will study Saturn’s moon Titan, a freezing world with strange similarities to Earth. Titan is the only other world in our solar system with liquid lakes, rivers, and oceans on its surface, but with average temperatures of -179 degrees Celsius (-290 degrees Fahrenheit), these bodies are filled with liquid methane and ethane instead of water. You’ll have to wait awhile to discover this fascinating world, though; the dual-quadcopter Dragonfly won’t arrive at Titan until 2037. Image credit: Johns Hopkins APL.

What do we know about Venus, the cloud-shrouded planet next door? With the possibility of life high in the Venusian clouds being hotly debated, there are many questions yet to be answered. Two new NASA missions are heading there in the coming decade to find some answers. VERITAS and DAVINCI principal investigators return to Planetary Radio this week for a celebration of the recent mission selection announcement and a deep dive into their spacecraft and the mysteries of Earth’s broiling-hot sister world.

The Planetary Society has been selected as one of 19 organizations to receive a $1 million grant from Club for the Future. The education-focused nonprofit founded by Blue Origin aims to inspire the next generation of space explorers. This grant will help The Planetary Society in our mission to increase public involvement in advancing planetary exploration, searching for life beyond earth, and defending Earth from dangerous asteroids and comets.