ESA and NASA will team up for the next Mars rover. The Rosalind Franklin rover will be Europe's first on Mars, but it has been stalled since collaboration with Russia collapsed following the invasion of Ukraine. Now, NASA has accepted to take over by providing launch capabilities and components of the spacecraft's heating and landing systems. Rosalind Franklin, scheduled to land in 2029, will drill deep into the Martian soil to search for signs of past life. Image credit: ESA.
After 60 years, NASA's first black astronaut candidate finally arrived in space. Ed Dwight, an Air Force pilot who was recommended (but rejected) for NASA's astronaut corps in the 1960s, reached space finally as a passenger on a private mission. Blue Origin's New Shephard spacecraft carried Dwight and five others on the suborbital flight. Along the way, Dwight broke William Shatner's record as the oldest person to visit space.
India's next mission to Mars could include a helicopter. Officials from the country's space agency have revealed that Mangalyaan-2 will not only attempt to land on Mars, but also deploy a rover and a helicopter. This combination echoes NASA's Mars 2020 mission, which brought both the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter to the red planet. Mangalyaan-2 currently lacks a launch date, but if successful, the mission would make India the fourth country to soft land on Mars.
The Artemis Accords have expanded to 40 countries. First established in 2020, the declaration of principles in space exploration has been quickly adopted by a broad coalition of international partners.
