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What's up for March 2025: Skywatching Tips from NASA | JPL
Here are examples of skywatching highlights for the northern hemisphere in March 2025:
March has great opportunities to spy fast-moving Mercury, stay up late to enjoy a total eclipse of the Moon, and learn about the dark side of the Moon!
First Pakistani Astronaut to Visit China Space Station
The first Pakistani astronaut will fly to the Chinese space station with the two countries signing a cooperation agreement in Islamabad, Pakistan on Feb. 28, 2025. The agreement was signed between the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) and the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO).
Under the agreement, the Chinese government will select and train a group of Pakistani astronauts with one of them becoming the first foreign astronaut to enter the Chinese space station.
The selection process will last about a year, and the Pakistani astronauts will join a comprehensive and systematic training camp in China. They will then carry out short-term flight missions in batches together with their Chinese counterparts in the space station in the next few years.
In the presence of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the agreement was signed by Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA and Muhammad Yousuf Khan, chairman of the SUPARCO at the Prime Minister's House.
"It is a landmark milestone in the history of the Pakistan space program, and I see the human space flight program of China nowadays is at the top. So this program, this cooperation agreement is very important for Pakistan," said the SUPARCO chairman.
"Pakistan will select and train its first astronaut, while China will take the first step in selecting and training foreign astronauts and participating in space station missions. China and Pakistan will continue to strengthen their traditional friendship in the vast expanse of space," said Lin.
Chinese astronaut Ye Guangfu, the current Chinese record holder for longest spaceflight duration, also attended the signing ceremony. He said he could feel the passion of the Pakistani people for the advancement of space research and the advancement of relations between the two countries.
"We can feel that Pakistan is very sincere and enthusiastic, and they have high expectations for cooperation between China and Pakistan in the field of manned spaceflight," said Ye.
Moon Landing in Sight! Blue Ghost Week 6 Update | Firefly Aerospace
Firefly Aerospace: "We're in the 'are we there yet?' phase of the roadtrip and our team is eagerly counting the final mile marker signs on our way to the Moon! So far, Blue Ghost has now downlinked more than 27 GB of data. As we get closer to our final destination, hear from the team on how we're preparing for descent and what's next after we land."
Firefly Aerospace is targeting no earlier than 3:45 a.m. EST on Sunday, March 2, 2025, to land the Blue Ghost lunar lander on the Moon. This is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence. Blue Ghost is seeking to land in Mare Crisium to deliver ten NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations to the Moon. They will perform numerous science and technology demonstrations, including lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, and X-ray imaging of Earth’s magnetic field to advance research for future human missions on the Moon and provide insights into how space weather impacts the planet. Mare Crisium is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. It was formed by the flooding of basaltic lava that filled an ancient asteroid impact.
