NASA Unlocks Golden Age of Innovation, Exploration in Trump’s First Year

One year into President Donald J. Trump’s second term, NASA is delivering measurable progress across human spaceflight, science, aeronautics, and cutting-edge technology. These advances mark the beginning of a new Golden Age of American space leadership driven by clear national direction and historic investment through the Working Families Tax Cut Act.

Since his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, NASA has sharpened its mission rooted in President Trump’s national space policy, reinforcing American superiority in space and accelerating progress across exploration, discovery, and innovation. With a renewed focus on human spaceflight, scientific excellence, and national capability, the agency is moving with clarity and momentum.

President Trump’s enduring commitment to space exploration has shaped every aspect of this progress. During his first term, the United States stood up the U.S. Space Force, commenced the Artemis campaign, established the Artemis Accords, which now have 60 signatories and are still growing, and returned American astronauts to human spaceflight from U.S. soil following the space shuttle era.

Now, with a clear National Space Policy and Working Family Tax Cut Act, NASA has the direction, resources, and authority to advance a bold vision for the future.

In the first year of the President’s second term, NASA has flown two human spaceflight missions, launched 15 science missions, and successfully test-flown a new X-plane, while accelerating work across lunar exploration, Earth science, planetary defense, next-generation aeronautics, and technologies to prepare for future missions to Mars.

Soon, NASA will launch the Artemis II mission, sending humans around the Moon for the first time in over 50 years, and setting the stage for America’s return to the lunar surface, but this time, to stay. These milestones reflect a workforce empowered to move faster, think bigger, and deliver results for the American people.

“In the first year of this administration, NASA has moved with clarity, purpose, and momentum, advancing President Trump’s bold vision for American leadership in space,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “From strengthening our focus on human spaceflight and preparing for the first deep space exploration by NASA astronauts in more than half a century, to accelerating innovation across science, technology, and national capability, the President has provided the clearest executive direction for NASA since the Kennedy era. President Trump’s National Space Policy sharpened our mission, aligned our priorities, and empowered our workforce to move faster and think bigger. Because of that leadership, NASA is confidently delivering on a future of American space superiority for generations to come.”

NASA is positioned to build on this momentum. Under President Trump’s leadership, American astronauts will return to the surface of the Moon by 2028 and establish a sustained human presence with a lunar base. The agency will continue launching missions of science and discovery, including bringing the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope into operation before the end of the year. In line with the President’s vision, NASA is advancing nuclear power and propulsion technologies to enable deep space missions and transform what is possible for exploration.

With a focused mission, empowered workforce, and strong partnership with industry and international allies, NASA is entering the second year of President Trump’s second term positioned to change the world, extending American leadership in space and unlocking discoveries that will benefit humanity for decades to come.

For more information about NASA’s missions and programs, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

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Bethany Stevens / George Alderman
Headquarters, Washington
771-216-2606 / 202-374-6002
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / george.a.alderman@nasa.gov

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Jennifer M. Dooren

Hubble Snaps Stellar Baby Pictures

Newly developing stars shrouded in thick dust get their first baby pictures in these images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble took these infant star snapshots in an effort to learn how massive stars form.

Protostars are shrouded in thick dust that blocks light, but Hubble can detect the near-infrared emission that shines through holes formed by the protostar’s jets of gas and dust. The radiating energy can provide information about these “outflow cavities,” like their structure, radiation fields, and dust content. Researchers look for connections between the properties of these young stars – like outflows, environment, mass, brightness – and their evolutionary stage to test massive star formation theories.

These images were taken as part of the SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey, which investigates how stars form, especially massive stars with more than eight times the mass of our Sun.

The high-mass star-forming region Cepheus A hosts a collection of baby stars, including one large and luminous protostar, which accounts for about half of the region’s brightness. While much of the region is shrouded in opaque dust, light from hidden stars breaks through outflow cavities to illuminate and energize areas of gas and dust, creating pink and white nebulae. The pink area is an HII region, where the intense ultraviolet radiation of the nearby stars has converted the surrounding clouds of gas into glowing, ionized hydrogen.
Cepheus A lies about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus.

Glittering much closer to home, this Hubble image depicts the star-forming region G033.91+0.11 in our Milky Way galaxy. The light patch in the center of the image is a reflection nebula, in which light from a hidden protostar bounces off gas and dust.

This Hubble image showcases the star-forming region GAL-305.20+00.21. The bright spot in the center-right of the image is an emission nebula, glowing gas that is ionized by a protostar buried within the larger complex of gas and dust clouds.

Shrouded in gas and dust, the massive protostar IRAS 20126+4104 lies within a high-mass star-forming region about 5,300 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. This actively forming star is a B-type protostar, characterized by its high luminosity, bluish-white color, and very high temperature. The bright region of ionized hydrogen at the center of the image is energized by jets emerging from the poles of the protostar, which ground-based observatories previously observed.

New images added every day between January 12-17, 2026! Follow @NASAHubble on social media for the latest Hubble images and news and see Hubble’s Stellar Construction Zones for more images of young stellar objects.

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Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 to Discuss Space Station Science Mission

After 167 days in space, the crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission will hold a news conference at 2:15 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss their science expedition aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will answer questions about their mission. The crew members returned to Earth on Jan. 15, splashing down off the coast of San Diego, and arrived in Houston on Friday, where they will undergo standard postflight reconditioning and evaluations.

NASA will provide live coverage on the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of additional online platforms, including social media.

Media are invited to attend in person or virtually. For in-person attendance, contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. CST, Tuesday, Jan. 20, at jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111. Media participating by phone must dial into the news conference no later than 10 minutes prior to the start of the event to ask questions. Questions also may be submitted on social media using #AskNASA. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is available on the agency’s website.

The crew spent more than five months in space, including 165 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, traveling nearly 71 million miles, and completing more than 2,670 orbits around Earth. While living and working aboard the station, the crew completed hundreds of science experiments and technology demonstrations.

Get the latest NASA space station news, images, and features on Instagram, Facebook, and X.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is opening access to low Earth orbit and the space station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities. For more than 25 years, people have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies that enable us to prepare for human exploration of the Moon as we prepare for Mars.

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

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Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov  

Anna Schneider / Shaneequa Vereen
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
anna.c.schneider@nasa.gov / shaneequa.y.vereen@nasa.gov

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Gerelle Q. Dodson

NASA Receives 15th Consecutive ‘Clean’ Financial Audit Opinion

For the 15th consecutive year, NASA received an unmodified, or “clean,” opinion from an external auditor on its fiscal year 2025 financial statements.

The rating is the best possible audit opinion, certifying that NASA’s financial statements conform with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for federal agencies and accurately present the agency’s financial position.

“NASA has delivered a complete and reliable report of our fiscal operations, critical to our success for the Golden Age of exploration and innovation,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “NASA’s mission drives innovation in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Our fiscal year 2025 budget fuels economic growth, drives the growing space economy, and keeps America first amidst increasing global competition.”

The 2025 Agency Financial Report provides key financial and performance information and demonstrates the agency’s commitment to transparency in the use of American taxpayers’ dollars. In addition, the 2025 report presents progress during the past year, and spotlights the array of NASA missions, objectives, and workforce advanced with these financial resources.

“This achievement reflects our team’s diligent stewardship of NASA’s resources, including our commitment to responsibly managing taxpayers’ dollars entrusted to the agency,” said Sidney Schmidt, NASA’s acting chief financial officer. “Their unwavering dedication to sound financial management and robust internal controls ensures we uphold public trust. Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved for your commendable efforts and hard work.”

In fiscal year 2025, NASA marked significant progress toward the Artemis II test flight. Targeted to launch no earlier than Friday, Feb. 6, the Artemis II mission will send four astronauts around the Moon and back to test the systems and hardware which will return humanity to the lunar surface. NASA and its partners landed two robotic science missions on the Moon, welcomed seven new signatory countries to the Artemis Accords, and advanced medical and technological experiments for long-duration space missions like hand-held X-ray equipment and navigation capabilities.

NASA also led a variety of science discoveries, including launching a joint satellite mission with India to regularly monitor Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces, as well as identifying and tracking the third interstellar object in our solar system; achieved 25 continuous years of human presence aboard the International Space Station; and, for the first time, flew a test flight of the agency’s X-59 supersonic plane that will help revolutionize air travel.

For more information on NASA’s budget, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/budgets-plans-and-reports

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Bethany Stevens / Elizabeth Shaw
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov

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Jennifer M. Dooren