Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter during the week of October 4, 2026:

Human Space Exploration

• Space Station crew closes out 8-month mission with picture-perfect Pacific Ocean splashdown;
• Can we protect historic sites on the Moon from the coming lunar rush?;
• NASA progress with SLS vehicles for upcoming Artemis missions;
• SpaceX’s Crew-12 astronauts undock from ISS to return to Earth after nearly 10 months in space;
• SpaceX’s Crew-12 astronauts heading home October 7 after nearly 10 months in space;
• Space Command tries to bridge Colorado and Alabama as joint future of space defense
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman;
• Exclusive: NASA administrator outlines how U.S. can win space race;
• Team selected for NASA program to explore potential lunar cave;
• NASA, SpaceX set no earlier than October 7 for Crew-12 departure;
• ESA to pursue crew transport and space stations as European launchers come online
  Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Boeing;
• Blue Origin unveils huge ‘Power Tower’ to boost solar electricity on the Moon (video);

Space Science

• If you’re looking, here’s a “good deal” for NASA and the European Space Agency;
• James Webb Space Telescope helps detect the most distant Fast Radio Burst ever seen and scientists are surprised by its source;
• ‘Dude! No way!’ Scientists jump for joy over Artemis II Moon science results;
• Giant Martian cloud may form through physics never before seen in planetary atmosphere;
• NASA releases Artemis II lunar science data, images;
• Wandering black holes may hold clues to the evolution of the universe;
• Scientists detect a major shift beneath the Sun’s surface;
• Pentagon betting on solar power from space;
• A hidden asteroid crater under Oklahoma could be connected to one of Earth’s major mass extinctions;
• Chandra X-ray Observatory drops new view of our galaxy’s unruly centre;
• Space radiation sparks a biological cascade of cancer;
• The phoenix planet: Astronomers find a world reborn from its star’s ashes;
• ESA, CAS release first images from SMILE; officially begin science operations;
• NASA chief Jared Isaacman wants to stay ‘open-minded’ about UFOs: ‘If it’s aliens, I think NASA should have a seat at the table’;
• Could we ever create artificial gravity on a spaceship?;
• Supermassive black holes ‘kill’ their host galaxies using plasma jets as their murder weapons;

Other News

• A dead Soviet satellite just broke apart in orbit (again). Experts say it’s part of ‘a worrying trend’;
• Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announces five actions to accelerate commercial space licensing;
• FAA advances Starship, New Glenn and Terran R reviews for Cape Canaveral launches;
• Blue Origin confirms plans for Hutto campus expected to create 2,000 jobs;
• Geomagnetic storm watch;
• Lack of transparency in what space weapons nations are pursuing and even on what’s already in orbit;
• NASA astronaut Christina Koch at Eagles vs. Rams;
• Seattle Space Week shines a light on eight problems and prospects for pioneers on the final frontier;
• The Draconids peak next week: Finally, a meteor shower that respects bedtime;

Major Space-Related Activities for the Week

• Sunday marked the start of World Space Week and the 69th anniversary of the first launch of an artificial satellite, the former Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1. Among the week’s celebratory events is the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) hosted by Antalya, Türkiye, with “The World Needs More Space” as the theme. In session Monday through Friday, some of the presentations are to be livestreamed.
• Due to weather and sea state conditions, the undocking of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Dragon from the ISS has moved from Monday to no earlier than Wednesday at 1:05 a.m. EDT, with a parachute assisted splashdown and recovery in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California planned for Thursday at 11:25 a.m. EDT.
• NASA plans to release lunar science data gathered by the four-person Artemis II mission around the far side of the Moon in early April, during a virtually accessible event on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. EDT.
• The U.S. House and Senate remain in recess except for pro forma sessions until after the November 3 midterm elections.

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