Science Times: NASA’s year of uncertainty, and what it achieved.
A new leader and a look back and missions to the moon and Mars.
Science Times
December 19, 2025

On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur who twice went to orbit on private space missions. He’ll take over an American space program that has shed jobs, faced uncertainty about its ability to get astronauts back to the moon and explained itself to Kim Kardashian. For all that, the nation’s space agency put science experiments on the moon, made discoveries on Mars, kept its eyes on an interstellar comet and much, much more. Here’s a roundup of stories about what NASA achieved this year.

Jared Isaacman, wearing a black blazer and a patterned tie, sits at a table and gestures with his hands as he speaks into a microphone.

Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

NASA's new leader

As Jared Isaacman takes over at NASA, there may a model for his leadership. →

A close-up view of spots in a chunk of Martian rock.

NASA

Life on Mars?

A rock found by the Perseverance rover is the “clearest sign” something once lived on the red planet. →

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NASA/Lowell Observatory/Qicheng Zhang

Not an alien spacecraft

A fleet of NASA vehicles captured images of 3I/ATLAS, a comet from beyond our solar system. →

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The New York Times

Busy day on the moon

NASA sponsored the first fully successful commercial lunar lander this year. →

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UC Berkeley/UCLA/NASA

Take you on an ESCAPADE

Almost everything about NASA’s latest mission to Mars is unusual. →

A space capsule attached to four large parachutes creates a big splash as it hits the blue waters under a clear sky.

Keegan Barber/NASA, via Getty Images

Brought them home

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore never felt stranded in space, but NASA did get them back to Earth. →

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