NASA Is Broken. It’s Time For A New One
One small step in restructuring NASA now could lead to one giant leap for the American space program in the years to come.One small step in restructuring NASA now could lead to one giant leap for the American space program in the years to come.Is real-life 'Star Wars' America's manifest destiny?
On December 18, 2025, the White House released an executive order on “Ensuring American Space Superiority.” The document begins with a premise that is less policy than existential stance: “Superiority in space is a measure of national vision.” This technical roadmap finds room for the terminology of providence, suggesting that a country’s greatness is now to be measured by its cosmic reach.
The order attempts to revive a specific American mythology. Since the 1960s, we have been told that space is the “final frontier,” a phrase that carries a reminder of 19th-century manifest destiny. The document reaffirms belief in America’s providential expansion, positioning the United States as the nation destined to lead in exploration, security, and commerce. It transforms orbits and planets into strategic high ground, repositories of resources that serve national ends.
Business leaders such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are the cultural heroes of this narrative.
We are, it seems, in the midst of a new space race. The memory of Apollo 11, that singular image of the Stars and Stripes planted in the lunar dust, remains the template. The order calls the return of Americans to the moon through the Artemis Program by 2028, a deadline meant to reassert leadership in a domain now crowded with rivals. The primary antagonist in this narrative is China, which has announced its own plans to land taikonauts on the moon by 2030. Former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has been blunt, citing China’s aggressive claims in the South China Sea as an analogy for what might happen in lunar locales.
While the 1967 Outer Space Treaty forbids claiming sovereignty in space, there is fear that the first mover will gain de facto control. The rhetoric has shifted. We have moved from the cooperative optimism of the Apollo-Soyuz era to a harder-edged strategic competition. The order even revokes certain prior structures, such as the 2021 National Space Council, in favor of a more “America First” approach. This is a shift from the “global commons” to the “ultimate high ground.”
The technical ambitions of the order are sweeping. It delineates four priority areas, beginning with a permanent lunar outpost by 2030. To achieve this, the government is leaning heavily on the “power of American free enterprise.” The order sets a target of attracting $50 billion in private investment into U.S. space ventures by 2028. Business leaders such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are the cultural heroes of this narrative, visionary risk-takers who are expected to provide the commercial replacement for the aging International Space Station by 2030.
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However, beneath the talk of economic growth and high-paying aerospace jobs lies a more somber preoccupation with security. The order directs the Pentagon to demonstrate prototype missile defense technologies, an “Iron Dome for America” in space. The U.S. Space Force is no longer merely a passive observer but now must develop capabilities to directly counter threats. We are entering an era of satellite dogfighting, where maneuverable spacecraft practice close-approach maneuvers near U.S. assets. In 2024, intelligence revealed that Russia was developing a nuclear-powered vehicle capable of carrying a weapon into orbit, a development the order addresses by instructing agencies to draft plans for countering such placements.
Perhaps the most striking technical goal is the National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power. The order calls for deploying nuclear reactors on the moon and in orbit by 2030. This deployment is a significant challenge, building small nuclear plants for extraterrestrial use, but it is seen as a necessary precursor for faster deep-space travel and energy-intensive lunar mining. The intent is to ensure that the foundational architecture of space activity, 50 or 100 years from now, bears a “Made in USA” stamp.
This drive for superiority explicitly equates technological progress with national destiny. The White House fact sheet links these efforts to a “pioneering legacy” that stretches from Lewis and Clark to the moon. The narrative is designed to rally public support, turning scientific milestones into geopolitical trophies. By connecting cosmic endeavors to broadband internet and weather forecasting, the administration tries to frame space superiority as a bread-and-butter issue rather than a merely abstract concern. Yet it cannot answer the deeper questions about our relationship with space. Marshall McLuhan once noted that with satellite technology, the Earth has become a “global theater” enclosed by a man-made environment. From this god’s-eye view, the planet becomes a dataset to manipulate rather than a home to nurture.
The order bets squarely on expansion, following the logic of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who said that, while Earth is the cradle of humanity, one cannot live in a cradle forever. However, as we venture out, the stakes are not merely who gets there first, or who builds the most, but whether our reach for the stars elevates the human spirit or merely extends our appetites into the void. The destiny we are shaping is, for the first time, interplanetary. Whether we go as guardian angels or warring gods remains the crucial question.
'Who put them there?' Scientists struggle to explain UFO-like objects captured in 1950s astronomy photos.
The National Geographic Society undertook a massive astronomical survey between 1949 and 1958 at the Palomar Observatory in California, snapping thousands of photographs of the sky from the north celestial pole to 33 degrees south of the celestial equator.
According to a 1959 leaflet issued by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the result was a "map of the sky, one that can be used like any road map, to help the astronomer find his way to objects too faint to see directly at the eye-piece of a telescope."
The Palomar Observatory Sky Survey images captured a multitude of inexplicable star-like objects that astronomers had reportedly seen appear then quickly vanish. The objects, which flashed in the sky several years before the October 1957 launch of Sputnik, supposedly cannot be chalked up to gravitational lensing, gamma ray bursts, fragmenting asteroids, and/or various non-astronomical effects.
"We've ruled out some of the prosaic explanations, and it means we have to at least consider the possibility that these might be artificial objects from somewhere," Stephen Bruehl, a professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told Live Science.
In a peer-reviewed study published in October in the journal Scientific Reports, Bruehl and co-author Beatriz Villarroel, a Swedish astronomer, found that there are "associations beyond chance between occurrence of transients and both nuclear testing and [unidentified anomalous phenomenon] sightings."
The duo analyzed the transient data available for the time period Nov. 19, 1949, to April 28, 1957, and tested for possible associations between the occurrence of 107,875 transients, which were observed on 310 of the 2,718 days in this period, and above-ground nuclear weapons tests, which were conducted by the U.S., the U.K., and the former USSR on 123 days during the study period.
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The researchers found that a "transient was 45% more likely to be observed on dates within a nuclear test window compared to dates outside of a nuclear test window."
The duo also linked the transients to unidentified flying object/unidentified anomalous phenomenon reports, noting that "for days on which at least one transient was identified, significant associations were noted between total number of transients and total number of independent UAP reports per date."
'Why do they seem to show interest in nuclear testing?'
"For every additional UAP reported on a given date, there was an 8.5% increase in number of transients identified," Bruehl and Villarroel wrote.
When it came down to hypothesizing what the transients might be, the duo came up with two possibilities that could account for associations of transients with both nuclear testing and UAP reports.
"The first involves an unexpected and previously undocumented atmospheric phenomenon triggered by nuclear detonations or related to nuclear fallout that may serve as a stimulus for some UAP reports and appear as transients on astronomical images," they wrote.
The duo noted, however, that this first hypothesis is problematic, as effects in the atmosphere "would be likely to result in a streak on the image over the 50 min exposure, yet all transients appear as distinct point sources rather than streaks."
Additionally, the researchers noted that transients were "most often observed one day after a nuclear test; such atmospheric phenomena would have to be sustained and remain localized in one location for approximately 24 h to account for the visual appearance of transients."
After poking holes in their first hypothesis, the duo propped up their second hypothesis on the "well-known strand of UAP lore suggesting that nuclear weapons may attract UAP."
"Within this latter hypothesis, our results could be viewed as indicating that transients are artificial, reflective objects either in high-altitude orbits around Earth or at high altitudes within the atmosphere," they added.
Bruehl said to Live Science, "If it turns out that transients are reflective artificial objects in orbit — prior to Sputnik — who put them there, and why do they seem to show interest in nuclear testing?"
Michael Wiescher, a nuclear astrophysicist at the University of Notre Dame in France, suggested to Scientific American that nuclear tests alone might be the simpler explanation for the transients as they "obviously have an impact on the atmosphere" and can leave "a lot of junk in the outer atmosphere."
Sean Kirkpatrick, former head of the Department of War's UAP-investigating All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, similarly suggested that the explanation likely has to do with nuclear tests and the sun, noting that the "first thing that comes to mind is solar flare radiation or ionized particle radiation from nuclear testing."
Kirkpatrick also suggested that high-altitude balloons, which were used for nuclear monitoring, could account for some of the UAP reports.
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Troops in orbit? US dominance demands Space Force 'guardians,' ex-military brass claim
A group of former military officers says human Space Force missions could tilt the scales against America's enemies.
In a new report, the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies advocated the integration of man in space as the next step required to gain a tactical edge.
'Astronaut guardians may be necessary to execute and secure missions that cannot be accomplished through remote operations.'
The Mitchell Institute calls itself an "independent, nonpartisan research organization" and consists of a plethora of retired military personnel. This includes a former Air Force brigadier general, general, and lieutenant general. Notably, the staff boasts retired Space Force Colonel Charles Galbreath, who serves as a director and senior resident fellow for space studies.
It was Galbreath who concluded the recent study that determined dynamic space operations with the Space Force will need to encompass orbital and terrestrial links, and establish space infrastructure in the future.
One of the most important areas of focus, Galbreath wrote, should be the need for crewed missions.
Labeling humans as the "most flexible system ever launched into space," the former Space Force colonel said that "guardians in space" may be essential for future operations.
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"Today, the Space Force does not have guardians operating in the space domain for military missions. However, as humanity’s interests in space go further from the Earth, astronaut guardians may be necessary to execute and secure missions that cannot be accomplished through remote operations," Galbreath wrote.
The adaptability of human decision-making could present "fundamental challenges" to enemy decision-making procedures, he argued. For example, adding humans into a spacecraft would "raise the threshold" of acceptable hostile actions from foreign governments.
"Harming an uncrewed satellite is one thing; harming a space station with military crew on it is a completely different risk calculus for an adversary to consider," Galbreath hypothesized.
As reported by Defense One, John Shaw, the former deputy leader of U.S. Space Command, recently appeared on a virtual event for the Mitchell Institute, where he expressed skepticism about putting troops in space in the immediate future.
"It's probably when we're projecting power across great distances, and it's probably so they can be closer to an intense command and control capability where you need humans in the decision-making," Shaw said.
Describing the placement of guardians in space as "inevitable," Galbreath said during the same event that it's going to take about 10 years to get the idea into practice due to the time it takes to develop the pipeline and training that would enable such a program.
"We can't wake up one day and say, ‘My gosh, we need guardians in space.' ... We needed to make that decision 10 years ago," Galbreath claimed.
According to the Mitchell report, there also exists a need for the Space Force to use alternate forms of propulsion, conduct in-space assembly, and create a supply chain for parts and infrastructure in order to fix satellites, for example.
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3I/ATLAS: Why are ‘scientists’ desperate to deny intelligent aliens could exist?
The Manhattan-size comet known as 3I/ATLAS that flew eerily close to the sun as well as several other planets has ignited a spirited debate surrounding the comet’s true meaning — with some pointing out that it could be an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
And Harvard’s renowned astrophysicist Avi Loeb is among them, proposing a 40% chance that alien technology hides inside the mysterious comet.
“Do you believe that, with what we’ve seen from 3I/ATLAS, that there is a chance that life form is on it, whether the life form is dead or alive?” BlazeTV contributor Jeff Fisher asks Loeb on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”
“It’s possible,” Loeb responds. “It’s possible that life was delivered to the solar system from outside. We just don’t know, you know, and scientists are very good at pretending to be the adults in the room saying, ‘You know, that’s what we think,’ but the point is, you know, nature is much more imaginative than we are.”
“And the best way to learn is to observe and study whatever nature delivers to our backyard. And the thing about a visitor from outside the solar system or that comes to our backyard is, you know, that it’s a new risk that nobody considered before,” he continues.
“And why is it, do you think, that other scientists are so reluctant to admit the possibility that this is alien tech or that there’s alien tech out there?” BlazeTV host Pat Gray asks. “I mean, it’s a massive universe, and certainly there’s life in it other than us.”
“Well, I think, first, they are quite arrogant in thinking that there is nothing as intelligent as we are, and that includes not only scientists but other people” Loeb responds.
“I think it’s arrogant to believe that because most of the stars, you know, formed before the sun by billions of years, and there are 100 billion stars. So just thinking that we are the smartest in the class of intelligent civilization is really arrogant. Makes no sense,” he continues.
“And, you know, one way to find them is not by waiting for a phone call like we did for 60 years waiting for a radio signal," he says. "Instead, let’s just check our backyard."
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Comet or alien? NASA-led group ramping efforts to track mysterious city-size object in our solar system
An asteroid warning network has announced it will investigate a comet that allegedly has potential alien origins.
The comet, known as 3I/ATLAS, allegedly has peculiar traits that have not been seen in nature before. This theory is disputed, though.
'Never seen in comets before.'
A NASA coordinated group called the International Asteroid Warning Network has added 3I/ATLAS to its list of observation campaigns for November, stating that it will monitor the comet for two months, ending in late January.
Concurrently, a Harvard astrophysicist told the New York Post that the comet, in addition to being the size of Manhattan, has several unusual characteristics that defy common knowledge about the objects.
Avi Loeb told the Post the comet has what is referred to as an "anti-tail," which is a jet of particles that points toward the sun instead of away from it. It's also emitting a plume — gas and dust that erupts from the surface — that contains four grams of nickel per second. Allegedly existing without iron, Loeb said this was unheard of.
Loeb also claimed the object also has non-gravitational acceleration that will bring it close to Jupiter, Venus, and Mars, which is suspicious enough for him to claim that the comet could actually be an alien probe.
The comet also allegedly contains a toxic gas that is not seen naturally occurring on Earth.
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The nickel compound nickel tetracarbonyl is apparently present in the comet. According to ScienceDirect, this gas is formed from the reaction of carbon monoxide with metallic nickel and is the primary cause of acute nickel toxicity. The gas is used in the process of obtaining "very pure nickel" but can cause "severe health effects" in humans.
Loeb said the process is only imaginable because it's used in industry and was "never seen in comets before."
At the same time, the Post cited a study that suggests that the compound could form naturally in a carbon monoxide-rich environment.
"The [nickel] emission is more centrally concentrated in the nucleus of the comet and favors hypotheses involving easily dissociated species such as metal carbonyls or metal-polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbon molecules," the study reads.
Loeb also said the object did not have a cometary tail, which "we usually see ... and in this case there was no evidence for such a tail."
Despite Loeb's alien warnings and the IAWN's plan for a lengthy observation period, the group states on its campaign page that the comet "poses no threat."
It does, however, present a "great opportunity for the IAWN community to perform an observing exercise due to its prolonged observability from Earth and high interest to the scientific community."
The group plans on holding a workshop on techniques to correctly measure the comet's astrometry, "a transformation without a change to a figure's shape or size, such as rotation or reflection."
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Jim Lovell Overcame Extreme Adversity In ‘NASA’s Finest Hour’
For the past 55 years, Jim Lovell served as living proof of what man can accomplish when he puts his mind to it.This 'Star Wars' vehicle is now real, and you don't need a license to fly one
Employees at aviation and aerospace company Volonaut have been watching a few too many movies. For the general population, though, that's a good thing.
While many young males were dreaming of light saber battles or flying through the wilderness on a speeder bike, Volonaut founder Tomasz Patan was thinking about how to build his own futuristic equipment.
On Wednesday, the company revealed it had created a real-world "Star Wars" method of transportation.
'No special effects, no CGI, no AI, pure engineering.'
While the Death Star may have been too big of a project, Volonaut's feat is still incredibly impressive, as the company revealed a real-life speeder bike, listed on their website as the Airbike, a "personal hoverbike of the future."
"Excited to share this raw flight footage including take-off and landing, all with real sound. No special effects, no CGI, no AI, pure engineering," Patan wrote on X.
The "fully functional real-world 'speeder bike'" was shown lifting off about 10 feet into the air before carrying its pilot across a dusty, vacant field.
Despite weighing 209 pounds and having an insane max speed of 63 mph (102 km/h), prospective pilots will not require a license to fly one of the Airbikes.
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According to the company, the Airbike is in compliance with FAA ultralight rules, which, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association, has a few pointed requirements.
In order to be compliant, the vehicle must be manned by a single occupant, can only be for sport or recreation, and must weigh less than 254 pounds if powered.
Other restrictions exist regarding the fuel capacity (5 gallons) and speed (55 knots or 63.2929 mph), which the Airbike abides by.
"Airbike flying motorbike is a breakthrough in personal air mobility," Volonaut wrote on its website. "The futuristic single occupant vehicle is a realization of a bold concept often portrayed in science-fiction movies."
While, according to the company's LinkedIn page, it seemingly has just one key figure, founder, and inventor — Patan — the inventor has been working for months bringing this project to light and dropped a "Star Wars" themed promo on May 4.
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Dressed in full costume, a Volonaut pilot flew an Airbike through the woods, recreating a famous scene from "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi."
The stunning visuals did not garner nearly as much fanfare as the July release, which has now been seen by more than 3.9 million viewers on X.
The Airbike's flight time is unfortunately just 10 minutes, and it runs on a combination of diesel, biodiesel, Jet A-1 jet fuel, and kerosene. Its refuel time is listed at under one minute.
It should come as no surprise, though, that Patan is working on other futuristic vehicles. This includes an electric vertical take-off and landing machine, or eVTOL, which is a fancy term for a single-man mini-helicopter.
The eVTOL has more real-world application than the speeder bike, though, and is intended to assist first responders in mountain rescue operations.
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China is winning the Cold War 2.0 ... and we’re letting it happen
The threat to the United States from the People’s Republic of China is multifaceted, long-term, and aggressive. Whether it’s from military modernization to economic coercion, cyber warfare to space competition, China’s national security challenge is global, and it targets U.S. interests, values, security, and standing in the world.
While much of the focus of U.S. policymakers has been on the military threat from China, the communist country has also implemented a multipronged approach to weaken the United States economically, politically, culturally, and diplomatically. It is enlisting a whole-of-government strategy, blending civil and military approaches with tactics short of war to expand its influence and improve its geopolitical position.
The US is involved in a cold war with China and urgently needs to do more to stop its aggressive actions.
China's determined plan uses economics, media, education, politics, culture, diplomacy, and information — among many other approaches — in a highly integrated and orchestrated fashion. Its actions take place within the U.S. domestically. It seeks to undermine the U.S. regionally and globally, while sowing doubt in the minds of U.S. allies.
In short, in many respects, the U.S. is involved in a cold war with China and urgently needs to do more to stop its aggressive actions.
Reshaping public opinion
A central component of the cold war with China is the effort of its government to influence American public opinion and culture. The Chinese government has a veritable army of anonymous social media accounts, which it uses to not only present its views but to foment division among our people while silencing critics of its regime. It also distributes government-funded newspapers within the U.S., little more than propaganda broadsheets, and invests in key media infrastructure — not only to support its views but also to mute criticisms of its policies.
Additionally, through massive state support, it also seeks to shape American culture through supporting select movies, such as the 2019 movie "Midway," to create division between the alliance of the United States and Japan as well as prompting the temporary removal of the flag of Taiwan from the jacket of the actor Tom Cruise in the 2022 movie “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Much like the Soviet Union during the Cold War, China uses all of its resources to challenge, coerce, silence, and divide opinions about its policies and actions. It uses cultural influence as much as any other capability at its disposal.
No better example of China’s cold war tactics is what the regime has done to expand its capabilities in space. Through robust state-funded support, economic espionage, theft, and coercion, China has aggressively grown its constellation of satellites and other capabilities, giving its military and intelligence services, as well as its state-run industries, significant advantages. To this end, it has even tried to replicate Elon Musk’s reusable rocket concept, the Starship, as well as its Mechazilla Catching Tower.
These are just the latest examples of Chinese economic espionage, which has been going on for decades and done great harm to our commercial space companies. Even as it has advocated for peaceful uses of space, China has also aggressively militarized space, creating advantages that could be used in a future conflict. The U.S. needs to do a better job at confronting this sustained threat.
Attacking global institutions
The Chinese government has also sought to systematically expand its power and take over international institutions affiliated with the United Nations and other global and regional organizations. These efforts are made not only to expand its control but also to mute international criticism of China’s actions and to create diplomatic and other complications for the U.S. and its allies.
Consider China’s involvement with United Nations environmental organizations — how it has been able to silence criticism and prevent investigations of the activities of its maritime militia.
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China pillages fish stocks around the globe and often destroys reefs and harasses other national fishing fleets. It has also done much to downplay the country’s significant contributions to air pollution and how its development projects worldwide, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative, destroy the environment. Finally, it consistently seeks to reduce Taiwan’s role on the world’s stage and delegitimize its political system and exclude it from international forums.
While China’s leaders publicly call for peaceful relations with the United States, they are relentlessly pursuing a campaign to challenge the United States in virtually every economic, political, diplomatic, and military sphere of activity. China consistently seeks advantages using a sustained, long-term campaign of relentlessly expanding its influence using all of the resources of its government.
In many respects, our country is involved in a new cold war with China, requiring a similarly enduring approach that enlists not just the resources of the United States government but also of our own civil society, allies and partners, and freedom-loving people across the world. We must do a better job of making America first and China last.
Editor’s note: This article was published originally by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.
Why Trimming NASA To Focus On The Lunar Space Race Is The Right Move
NASA has long suffered from shifting political winds, its mission rewritten every few years. This move gives NASA the right goals.Today's top stories
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