NASA Spaceflight
• Eleanor Day
NASA has formally integrated a Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 2 test article into the revised Artemis III low-Earth-orbit flight profile. The move comes as Blue Origin works toward a potential return to flight by late 2026 and seeks selection for Artemis IV.
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On Oct. 29, 1991, Galileo passed asteroid Gaspra and took images while traveling at about 18,000 mph. The encounter added an asteroid observation to the spacecraft’s journey to Jupiter, demonstrating how a planetary mission could gather science during its cruise through the solar system.
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NASA has formally integrated a Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 2 test article into the revised Artemis III low-Earth-orbit flight profile. The move comes as Blue Origin works toward a potential return to flight by late 2026 and seeks selection for Artemis IV.
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NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk spent seven hours and 11 minutes outside the International Space Station on Oct. 29 installing and unfurling the seventh of eight roll-out solar arrays. The upgrades are intended to strengthen the station’s power system through its planned retirement in 2030.
NASA has set an ambitious timetable for its lunar program, with Artemis III potentially flying in summer 2027 and two crewed landings planned for 2028. The mission’s rocket assembly has reached a major milestone, while its astronauts met President Donald Trump as they train for a critical test flight of the lunar lander.
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A reddish meteorite found in Mali’s Sahara in 2022 formed in the Martian crust at least 4.1 billion years ago, scientists say. The rock could be the oldest of the 435 meteorites from Mars identified on Earth, offering a rare sample of the planet’s early geological history.
On the anniversary of its first flight, NASA’s experimental X-59 QueSST has begun its first eastbound journey, departing California for Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The aircraft stopped in Texas en route and is headed to a NASA air show, pausing a flight-test program that has logged more than 40 flights in its first year.
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The article argues that NASA needs SpaceX more than SpaceX needs NASA, giving the company and its chief executive leverage in their relationship. It raises questions about the agency’s dependence on a commercial provider, though the supplied article details no specific contracts, missions or policy changes.
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Reid Wiseman, a retired emeritus astronaut, will become deputy director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the agency’s premier center for deep-space robotic missions. The appointment moves an astronaut with a human-spaceflight background into a senior leadership role at NASA’s robotic-exploration center.
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