Some things are hard to calculate in dollars and cents. NASA’s space programs definitely fall into this category.

The agency has an enormous annual budget, and its portfolio includes powerful spacecraft, telescopes and weather and asteroid forecasting.

It’s difficult to measure the scientific and material gains born from its basic research that have entered everyday life, such as memory foam, scratch-resistant lenses or home air purifiers.

But while the Artemis II mission made history when the Orion capsule carried four astronauts farther away from Earth than any humans in history, many questioned the cost and overall point of space travel.

Artemis II, Orion and $93 billion

During its 10-day mission, much attention has focused on Artemis II’s onboard toilet. Not only has it malfunctioned, but it also cost a reported $23 million (€19.6 million).

As with past projects, Artemis II was designed by NASA but assembled by aerospace companies such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.

Building and launching a single Orion crew capsule costs around $1 billion, according to a report by NASA’s inspector general published in November 2021.

Add to that $300 million for the “service module” that provides power and life support, which was supplied by the European Space Agency.

The launch vehicle, including its rocket boosters — called the Space Launch System — costs around $2.2 billion, and finally there is another $570 million for the necessary ground infrastructure, including mobile launchers.

That means each flight of Artemis I through IV costs around $4.1 billion.

The report admonished the agency for its lack of reliable accounting, but still came up with a projected estimate of $93 billion for the Artemis project up to 2025.

What do Americans get for their money?

NASA is the most famous space agency in the world and has had some spectacular ups and downs. It has received more than $1.9 trillion in cumulative funding since 1958 when adjusted for inflation.

In his first term, President Donald Trump pushed to get NASA back to the moon. But in his second term, he proposed cutting its 2026 budget by nearly 25%, though most of these requests were rejected by Congress.

Simultaneously, the agency was scarred by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its efforts to cut federal workers. Around 4,000 employees have left or will soon leave, around a fifth of its former workforce.

In December, Trump doubled down on his push to return to the moon and signed an executive order to expand US presence in space. It aims to have Americans back on the moon by 2028 and a permanent lunar outpost set up by 2030 — including nuclear reactors — to serve as a stepping stone for human missions to Mars.

Pride and US national security

Americans are generally supportive of NASA, but are more skeptical when it comes to human missions to space. A majority of US politicians, on the other hand, have long been fans.

At the dawn of the space age, many in Congress saw it as a duty to beat the Soviet Union.

Today, many see a need for the US to take the lead in planetary exploration and low Earth orbit where thousands of satellites and the International Space Station silently move.

“Make no mistake, we are in a new space race with China,” warned Senator Ted Cruz at a Senate committee hearing in fall 2025.

“China has made no secret of its goals,” said Cruz. “It is investing heavily in its space capabilities, maintaining a permanent presence in low Earth orbit with its Tiangong station and working to plant its flag on the Moon by 2030.”

To fund this “new space race,” Congress allocated NASA $24.4 billion for 2026, which is around 0.35% of all federal spending.

The agency’s budget request for 2027 is a much reduced $18.8 billion and is the Trump administration’s second attempt to cut funding by nearly 25%.

The plan envisions cuts for scientific research and the International Space Station, and a big increase for exploration, which aligns with a focus on the moon and Mars. Most industry watchers think Congress will keep funding at the same level.

Commercial space interests and long timelines

It is not just governments that have their eyes on the sky. The growth of commercial space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, or the talk of data centers in space, means a larger space economy is coming online.

SpaceX will play an important role in future missions to the Moon. Its Starlink division is responsible for many of the estimated 10,000 satellites overhead. Uncontrolled space debris is a growing concern.

“Space has changed completely over the last couple of years,” said Joseph Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency, in an interview with DW at the World Economic Forum in January.

Strong commercial actors and governments are realizing how important space is, says Aschbacher. Autonomy and independence are more important than ever and require more investments in defense and security.

At the same time, space projects often require 10 years or more to get off the ground.

“Space has become so strategic, so important, so commercially interesting that we have to really change gear literally and work very differently,” said Aschbacher.

Combining these interests and huge investments will be a challenge. Persuading governments, companies and taxpayers to get on board may require an extraordinary effort. (DW)

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NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore recently made their way back to Earth onboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on March 18, 2025, after a lengthy nine-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS).

Their initial mission, which was scheduled to last roughly eight days using Boeing’s Starliner Spacecraft was launched in June 2024 but due to technical issues with the Starliner, including issues with the propulsion system and helium leaks, their safe return was prevented causing a prolonged stay on the ISS for the astronauts. 

They were originally part of Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission. The goal of this mission was to test and certify Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft for future crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. 

However, with the issues in the spacecraft, William and Wilmore were forced to remain on the ISS for nine whole months while NASA and Boeing assessed possible solutions.

Hence, instead of returning on Starliner, NASA arranged SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule for them to come back home safely. Their SpaceX capsule successfully disembarked the station early this Tuesday for the 17-hour journey and splashed down off the coast of Florida at approximately 2.57 P.M. in Pacific Time and 3.30 P.M. in Sri Lankan Time.  

Their homecoming has now captured the world’s attention as well as hearts.  (Newswire)

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NASA has selected a new crew of four volunteers, including a Sri Lankan, to participate in a simulated mission to Mars within a habitat at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Issuing a statement, NASA announced that Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi, and Piyumi Wijesekara will step into the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, on Friday, May 10. 

Sri Lanka’s Piyumi Wijesekara will be part of the primary crew selected to participate in the simulated mission to Mars. Piyumi Wijesekara is a postdoctoral research scientist in the Radiation Biophysics Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. Her research focuses on developing tissue models to investigate the effects of spaceflight stressors, including ionizing radiation and lunar dust on the human respiratory system. 

Wijesekara earned her bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego, and her master’s and doctorate degrees in biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn. Her doctoral research focused on stem cell and organ engineering, with an emphasis on engineering lung models that mimic human lung physiology, to study respiratory diseases. Wijesekara currently lives in San Francisco. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, running along the San Francisco Bay, reading, hiking, volunteering at the food pantry, and attending concerts and musicals.

Once inside the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, the team will live and work like astronauts for 45 days. The crew will exit the facility on June 24 after they “return” to Earth. Jose Baca and Brandon Kent are this mission’s alternate crew members.

HERA enables scientists to study how crew members adapt to isolation, confinement, and remote conditions before NASA sends astronauts on deep space missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Crew members will carry out scientific research and operational tasks throughout their simulated mission to the Red Planet, including a “walk” on Mars’s surface using virtual reality. They will also experience increasing communication delays lasting up to five minutes each way with the Mission Control Center as they “near” Mars. 

This crew is the second group of volunteers to participate in a simulated Mars mission in HERA this year. The most recent crew completed its HERA mission on March 18. Two other missions will follow this year, with the final HERA crew slated to wrap up on Dec. 20.

In a first for HERA, one crew member, Shareef Al Romaithi, hails from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will participate in the mission through a partnership between NASA and the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).

As with the previous HERA mission this year, NASA’s Human Research Program is conducting 18 human health studies during the mission. The experiments will evaluate the physiological, behavioural, and psychological responses of crew members in an environment similar to what astronauts will face on a trip to Mars. Seven of these studies are collaborations with the MBRSC and the European Space Agency (ESA). Insights gleaned from the studies will allow researchers to develop and test strategies aimed at helping astronauts overcome obstacles on long missions deep into space. (Newswire)

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On Monday, April 8, most of North America will have the chance to see the Moon pass in front of the Sun during a solar eclipse. 

NASA is inviting the public to participate with in-person events, opportunities to do NASA science, and multiple ways to watch online.

Millions of people along the path of totality – which stretches from Texas to Maine in the United States – will see a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely covers the Sun. Outside the path of totality, people across the contiguous United States will have a chance to see a partial solar eclipse, when the Moon covers part of the Sun. Learn how to safely view this celestial event.

Watch Through Eyes of NASA

NASA will host live coverage of the eclipse starting at 1 p.m. EDT. The agency’s eclipse coverage will include live views of the eclipse from across North America, special appearances by NASA experts, astronauts aboard the space station, and an inside look at NASA’s eclipse science experiments and watch parties across the country. NASA’s broadcast will last three hours, and features live locations from across the nation including the agency’s only center in the path of totality, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Ohio, as well as:

• Carbondale, Illinois
• Dallas
• Houlton, Maine
• Indianapolis
• Kerrville, Texas
• Niagara Falls, New York
• Russellville, Arkansas

The NASA broadcast will stream on NASA+, air on NASA TV, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media and the agency’s app.

NASA also will host a watch party of the eclipse in Spanish starting at 1:30 p.m. on YouTube.

NASA will provide a no-commentary, telescope-only feed of the eclipse on NASA Television’s media channel and YouTube, starting at 1 p.m. and running for three hours. The telescope feed will incorporate views from multiple locations, and will be switched based on weather, the eclipse’s progress, and feed availability. Locations may include:

• Carbondale, Illinois
• Cleveland
• Dallas
• Houlton, Maine
• Indianapolis
• Junction, Texas
• Kerrville, Texas
• Mazatlán, Mexico
• Niagara Falls, New York
• Russellville, Arkansas
• Torreón, Mexico
• Tupper Lake, New York

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia will provide a commentated livestream of three sounding rocket launches for the Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path mission. The livestream will begin at 2:30 p.m. on NASA Wallops’ YouTube channel and conclude after the last of the three sounding rocket launches.

NASA’s interactive Eclipse Explorer Map will allow users to track the total solar eclipse in real time on April 8 as it moves across North America. Use the tool ahead of time to search by zip code or city for eclipse timing, get real-time weather updates, percent of eclipse coverage, and even a corona prediction for locations in the path of totality.

Media Resources

Media resources are available on NASA’s eclipse website. To request a remote or in-person eclipse interview with NASA, please contact agency-eclipsemedia@mail.nasa.gov.

Details about in-person eclipse events and registration requirements for media are available online.

NASA eclipse photos will be shared on the Flickr account.  

To learn more about the total solar eclipse, visit: go.nasa.gov/Eclipse2024 (NASA)

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Aiming to expand space explorations to Mars and beyond, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officials are mulling roping in India for their Artemis Accords, and all this is happening ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit from 21-25 June, reported Times of India on 19 June.

According to the report, a US expert expects cooperation in the space field will be among the main areas of discussions between US President Joe Biden and PM Modi. Both global leaders are scheduled to meet next week in the White House.

Recently, associate administrator Bhavya Lal said that India could become the 26th country as Signatory to the Artemis Accords.

Before completing his bachelor’s and master’s in nuclear engineering from MIT, Lal — serving as acting chief technologist of NASA — did his schooling in Delhi.

On the other hand, another US expert Mike Gold opined that the US-India relationship is critical on Earth and would be more in space. Describing India as a ‘sleeping giant’, Gold said that for India the sky is no longer the limit.

Meanwhile, Gold, considered to be the architect of the Artemis Accords, has requested India to join the US Lunar programmes.

Earlier, the US kicked off its Artemis program in November 2022, after it launched the unmanned Orion spacecraft towards and moon and brought it back safely.

Considering, if PM Modi and President Biden discuss India joining NASA’s Artemis program, it will benefit ISRO’s exploration projects. (Mint)

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