Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter during the week of August 30, 2026:

Human Space Exploration

• NASA revising requirements to keep Artemis spacesuit on schedule
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• It turns out that Orion’s much-maligned heat shield performed really well
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Two astronauts replace ISS camera and docking aid on 6th-ever all-female spacewalk (video);
• SLS picks up the pace, four vehicles in production;
• Watch 2 astronauts take 6th-ever all-female spacewalk today;
• President Trump gives Artemis II Moon astronauts the Congressional Space Medal of Honor;
• NASA, SpaceX delay Crew-13 launch after Dragon leak detected;

Space Science

• The Moon may have formed intact within hours of the collision that created it;
• The BepiColombo mission begins its arrival at Mercury after nearly 8 years;
• China’s space station is getting a mini-moon;
• Physicists determine cause of “runaway” supermassive black hole;
• Are we prepared for the fallout of finding life beyond Earth?;
• Young sunlike system reveals comets may carry water toward forming planets;
• NASA breaks the sound barrier with new Mars helicopter rotors;
• Is a sea change coming for New Horizons heliospheric science?;
• Scientists may have detected the 1st direct evidence of dark matter;
• NASA bets $700 million on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for Mars missions;
• NASA’s doomed Swift space telescope restarts science work after rescue mission fails;
• The universe may have been building rocky planets almost from the start;
• High-Orbit laser satellites could guide future lunar travelers;
• Roman will try to photograph exoplanets a billion times fainter than their stars;
• JWST reveals likely Type II supernova from when universe was only 2 billion years old;
• What’s next for the Roman Space Telescope? Here’s how NASA’s flagship observatory will open up the universe;
• NASA launches its Roman Space Telescope to explore the hidden universe;
• NASA’s new telescope is named after astronomer Nancy Grace Roman but who was she?;

Opinion

• Let’s launch the Artemis III mission to the Moon in 2027
  SpaceNews (8/31): In an opinion article, Doug Cooke, a retired former NASA associate administrator in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), calls for the Artemis III mission to launch its crew of four astronauts on a lunar orbital mission. Artemis III is currently planned for 2027 and will launch an Orion crew into low Earth orbit to demonstrate rendezvous and docking operations with the lunar Human Landing Systems (HLSs) being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.

Other News

• Learning from a satellite servicing mission’s failure;
• New NASA office to consolidate launch procurements;
• Nonprofit wants to launch 80,000-year mission to Alpha Centauri in 2029 (video);
• House clears FY2027 CR, now to the President;
• Turkey signs NASA’s Artemis space pact ahead of first lunar mission
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• Blue Origin breaks ground on new processing facility;
• Trump hails NASA’s space telescope launch;
• Trump honors Artemis II crew, signs Executive Order to establish a U.S. Space Academy;
• SpaceX test-fires Starship Super Heavy booster ahead of critical Flight 14 (video);

Major Space-Related Activities for the Week

• On Monday, Turkey is to become the 71st country to sign NASA’s Artemis Accords, which provides principles for the peaceful, transparent and responsible civil exploration of deep space.
• On Monday at 2 p.m. EDT, NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel reports on its latest meetings with the agency.
• On Tuesday, NASA and European Space Agency astronauts Jessica Meir and Sophie Adenot are to conduct spacewalk maintenance activities outside the ISS that include the installation of a navigation aide to further enable the automated rendezvous and docking of SpaceX Dragon crew and cargo capsules to the orbital lab’s U.S. segment Harmony module forward docking port and to prepare the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer for a radiator upgrade. NASA’s spacewalk coverage begins at 7 a.m. EDT, with streaming options available at nasa.gov/live/.
• On Wednesday, the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy will hold a Space Policy Forum at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.
• On Thursday, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman is to formally hand over his role as chief of Space Operations of the U.S. Space Force to Gen. Douglas Schiess.
• While the U.S. House is in session this week, the Senate is in recess except for pro forma sessions until September 14.

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