Associated Press
• Marcia Dunn
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter identified a previously undocumented, 222-meter-wide crater—roughly twice the length of an American football field—believed to have formed when an asteroid or comet struck the Moon in 2024. Named McGetchin, the feature offers a new reference point for studying lunar geology and impact frequency.
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NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter identified a previously undocumented, 222-meter-wide crater—roughly twice the length of an American football field—believed to have formed when an asteroid or comet struck the Moon in 2024. Named McGetchin, the feature offers a new reference point for studying lunar geology and impact frequency.
NASA has started activating instruments aboard the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope for the first time as the observatory travels nearly 1 million miles to its final orbit. The commissioning milestone precedes Roman’s scientific mission to study the universe with a wide field of view.
Space Cargo Unlimited has contracted to fly microgravity research payloads on SpaceX’s Starfall reentry vehicle, adding an in-space research option as the company develops broader access to microgravity missions. The agreement positions Starfall as a potential platform for recurring commercial payload opportunities.
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Roscosmos’ uncrewed Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft launched aboard a Soyuz 2.1b rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sept. 16 and entered orbit successfully. The vehicle is scheduled to dock with the ISS’s Poisk module on Sept. 19, carrying supplies and equipment for the Teledroid program.
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Russia’s Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft is expected to launch from Kazakhstan on Sept. 16, shortly after Progress MS-33 departs the International Space Station. The mission will sustain the station’s logistics pipeline, delivering cargo and supplies to the orbiting complex.
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NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman describes broad leadership and organizational reforms while repositioning the agency around building a permanent base on the moon. He frames China and Russia’s strategy for the lunar South Pole as creating urgency for U.S. exploration and national space policy.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency is looking to its 1960s playbook as it seeks to “get our swagger back.” Speaking at the WSJLI Technology Council Summit, Isaacman framed a restoration of NASA’s historic mission focus as central to moving the agency forward.
A new breakthrough could make it possible to produce rocket fuel on Mars rather than transport it from Earth. Local production would reduce the mass a Mars mission must launch and carry, potentially improving mission architecture and expanding the feasibility of sustained exploration beyond Earth.
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