Mariel Borowitz

“NASA has been trying to get humans to the moon for quite a long time,” said Mariel Borowitz, a former policy analyst at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate who now teaches at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “The U.S. has set that goal and then changed that goal multiple times in the past couple of decades. This is really the closest that NASA has ever gotten, the most progress they’ve made since the 1960s, of actually being able to return humans to the moon.

MARIEL BOROWITZ: In some ways, it's less dramatic than it sounds, you know? They're saying they're going to leave, but they're going to leave in 2024. And they're going to go through this process working with partners. So it's not an immediate, abrupt departure.

Satellites owned by private companies have played an unexpectedly important role in the war in Ukraine. For example, in early August 2022, images from the private satellite company Planet Labs showed that a recent attack on a Russian military base in Crimea caused more damage than Russia had suggested in public reports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the losses as evidence of Ukraine’s progress in the war.

Satellites owned by private companies have played an unexpectedly important role in the war in Ukraine. For example, in early August 2022, images from the private satellite company Planet Labs showed that a recent attack on a Russian military base in Crimea caused more damage than Russia had suggested in public reports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the losses as evidence of Ukraine’s progress in the war.