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It was December 14, 1972, the final day on the moon for the last Apollo mission. The Challenger lander was dusted in a fine coating of gray lunar dirt, called regolith, both inside and out. Geologist Jack Schmitt was packing the sample containers, securing 243 pounds of rocks to bring home. After passing Schmitt the last science instruments, commander Eugene Cernan took a final look at the landscape before climbing into the spacecraft behind him. “As we leave the moon,” Cernan radioed to Houston, “we leave as we came, and God willing as we return, with peace and hope for all mankind.” He ascended the ladder, leaving the last set of bootprints on the moon, on a valley between a range of low mountains and soft sculptured hills. Five decades later, NASA has a plan to send astronauts back to the lunar surface. Called Artemis, after the sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, the project aims to visit a new area of the moon and retrieve new samples, this time with new faces behind the sun visors—including the first woman and first person of color. Whether this plan will succeed—and whether a fresh moon landing will inspire a new “Artemis generation” in space exploration, as NASA leadership hopes—is a matter of debate. The differences between Artemis and the Apollo program, which itself fizzled out sooner than many had hoped, are certainly stark. Artemis is built on a less exact, less nimble, and much less well-heeled vision of space exploration than the one that launched Cernan and his predecessors. Where Apollo was conceived and executed as a high-priced monument to American ingenuity and the power of capitalism, its sister program is more a reflection of American politics and the power of inertia. Though the program is officially only three years old, elements of Artemis have been in the works for many years, even decades. Its ancillary projects, spread throughout NASA and at university partners across the US, in many cases existed long before the Trump administration gave the program a name. Its origins were rocky even before fueling problems and two hurricanes delayed its first launch in November. Artemis has many disparate purposes, serving very different groups. For some space enthusiasts, it’s simply a way back to the moon, a destination that will always loom largest in our collective consciousness. For others, it represents a path to Mars. Some see Artemis as a way to reclaim American superiority in space, something that was most visibly lost when the space shuttle retired in 2011. Still others see it as a means to unlock a new era of scientific discovery and invention, first undertaken during Apollo but arguably begun the first time humans looked at the moon and wondered what it was.

Mars Exploration Rovers 2023. A Mars rover is a motor vehicle designed to travel on the surface of Mars. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to weather winter months, and they can advance the knowledge of how to perform very remote robotic vehicle control. They serve a different purpose than orbital spacecraft like Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A more recent development is the Mars helicopter

SpaceX, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider and satellite communications company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and to colonize Mars. The company manufactures the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Starship heavy-lift launch vehicles, the Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon spacecraft, the Starlink mega-constellation satellite and rocket engines. In early 2001, Elon Musk donated US$100,000 to the Mars Society and joined its board of directors for a short time.[10]: 30–31  He gave a plenary talk at their fourth convention where he announced Mars Oasis, a project to land a greenhouse and grow plants on Mars.[11][12] Musk initially attempted to acquire a Dnepr ICBM for the project through Russian contacts from Jim Cantrell.[13] When Musk returned to Moscow, Russia, with Michael Griffin, they found the Russians increasingly unreceptive.[14][15] On the flight home Musk announced he could start a company to build the affordable rockets they needed instead.[15] By applying vertical integration,[14] using cheap commercial off-the-shelf components when possible,[15] and adopting the modular approach of modern software engineering, Musk believed SpaceX could significantly cut launch price.[15] Griffin would later be appointed NASA administrator,[16] conceive the COTS program, and approve SpaceX for the $278 million award in 2006 before SpaceX had flown any rockets.[17][18] In early 2002, Musk started to look for staff for his company, soon to be named SpaceX. Musk approached rocket engineer Tom Mueller (later SpaceX's CTO of propulsion) and invited him to become his business partner. Mueller agreed to work for Musk, and thus SpaceX was born.[19] SpaceX was first headquartered in a warehouse in El Segundo, California. Early SpaceX employees, such as Tom Mueller (CTO), Gwynne Shotwell (COO), and Chris Thompson (VP of Operations), came from neighboring TRW and Boeing corporations. By November 2005, the company had 160 employees.[20] Musk personally interviewed and approved all of SpaceX's early employees.[21] Musk has stated that one of his goals with SpaceX is to decrease the cost and improve the reliability of access to space, ultimately by a factor of ten. SpaceX developed its first orbital launch vehicle, the Falcon 1, with internal funding.[23][24] The Falcon 1 was an expendable two-stage-to-orbit small-lift launch vehicle. The total development cost of Falcon 1 was approximately $90 million[25] to $100 million.[26] The Falcon name was adopted from the DARPA Falcon Project, part of the Prompt Global Strike program of the US military.[citation needed] [27] In 2005, SpaceX announced plans to pursue a human-rated commercial space program through the end of the decade, a program that would later become the Dragon spacecraft.[28] In 2006, the company was selected by NASA and awarded $396 million to provide crew and cargo resupply demonstration contracts to the ISS under the COTS program.[29] The first two Falcon 1 launches were purchased by the United States Department of Defense under a program that evaluates new US launch vehicles suitable for use by DARPA.[24][30][31] The first three launches of the rocket, between 2006 and 2008, all resulted in failures, which almost ended the company. Financing for Tesla Motors had failed, as well,[32] and consequently Tesla, SolarCity, and Musk personally were all nearly bankrupt at the same time.[33] Musk was reportedly "waking from nightmares, screaming and in physical pain" because of the stress.

From our own solar system to the distant reaches of space, Hubble's observations have triggered scientific breakthroughs and expanded our understanding of the cosmos. The Hubble's Universe video series highlights some of Hubble's most intriguing breakthroughs over the past three decades. The Hubble Space Telescope has led us on a journey of discovery through our cosmic neighborhood, showing us the dynamic, changing solar system that we live within. It has captured storms on nearby planets, found previously hidden moons, and glimpsed passing visitors from interstellar space.

Alan Eustace's jump was recorded from the height of 135,889 feet (41.41 kilometers), making his the highest jump ever, topping even the Red Bull highest skydive. The precise physiological exertions experienced by Baumgartner's body as he momentarily reached 833.9mph, or Mach 1.24, during his descent are still being studied by his team.