Space Race Shake-Up: NASA Kills Moon Probe, Record Launches & Billion-Dollar Deals (Aug 4–5, 2025 Roundup)
NASA formally ended the Lunar Trailblazer mission on July 31 after a Feb. 26 liftoff, a ~$94 million low-cost orbiter meant to map lunar ice with two novel instruments that lost contact the day after launch and showed misaligned solar panels draining the batteries. NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity marked 13 years on Mars, with software upgrades enabling it to drive and relay data to orbiters simultaneously, extending science hours after 4,600 Martian days. NASA’s Artemis II astronauts will orbit the Moon in about six months, marking the first crewed lunar flyby in 53 years. ISS Crew-11 Dragon docked at the