NASA has told Elon Musk's SpaceX to pause work under an exclusive Moon program contract until the Government Accountability Office rules on rival bidders' challenges, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: Companies including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin vied for the contract as a source of funding to build a lunar spacecraft. The high-profile project is looking to send humans back to the Moon for the first time since 1972.
Former Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) was unanimously confirmed by Senate on Thursday to serve as head of NASA.
The big picture: As NASA administrator, Nelson will lead the agency as it works to send astronauts back to the Moon, which would pave the way for an eventual Mars mission.
Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin teased the start of ticket sales for its New Shepard rocket on Thursday.
Driving the news: In a video, Jeff Bezos wears a cowboy hat (channeling Kimbal Musk) and drives a Rivian, an electric truck contracted by Amazon, to a New Shepard test flight landing site.
A renewed interestin using psychedelic drugs to help treat psychiatric disorders is fueling a search for compounds that have similar effects but don't produce hallucinations.
The big picture: There is a tremendous need for new tools to help people with themental and substance use disorders that are a leading cause of disability globally.
The White House announced the U.S. is sending more than $100 million worth of supplies to India — which set new records for COVID-19 cases and deaths in a single day on Thursday.
Driving the news: Coronavirus cases are surging in India amid a widespread oxygen shortage and slow vaccine rollout. The country's pandemic death toll surpassed 200,000 on Wednesday, amid reports that COVID fatalities and cases are going uncounted.
Officials in China launched the core element of a new permanent space station into orbit on a Long March-5B Y2 rocket from Wenchang in Hainan Province, Thursday, per the BBC.
Why it matters: The launch from Wenchang Space Launch Center marks a significant step in the space program drive of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, seen as a rival to the U.S. in space.
