Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter during the week of Jan 19, 2026:

Human Space Exploration

• NASA honors fallen astronauts with ceremonies across U.S. on Day of Remembrance;
• Crew-11 enthusiastic despite early return
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• NASA’s upcoming mission is offering to ‘send your name around the Moon’;
• NASA launches Mars to table challenge to build Earth-independent food systems for deep space;
• What the first medical evacuation from the International Space Station tells us about healthcare in space;
• Space exploration in the backyard, on a budget how NASA simulates conditions in space without blasting off;
• Artemis II rolls out to LC-39B for first crewed lunar mission since 1972;
• NASA juggling piloted Moon mission and space station crew replacement flight;
• Crew-11 astronauts arrive in Houston after 1st-ever medical evacuation from ISS;

Space Science

• Study shows how earthquake monitors can track space junk through sonic booms;
• Wobbling exoplanet hints at a hidden exomoon so massive it could redefine the word ‘moon’ altogether;
• Scientists sent viruses to space and they evolved in surprising ways;
• The early universe was a total galaxy factory way earlier than we thought;
• Webb reveals Helix Nebula in glistening detail;
• NASA uses satellite technology to better understand earthquakes;
• Earth was just hit by the strongest solar radiation storm in over 20 years here’s what it means;
• Severe G4 geomagnetic storm sparks jaw-dropping northern lights worldwide;
• Our solar system is extremely weird: Best ideas of the century;
• How astronomers plan to detect the signatures of alien life in the atmospheres of distant planets;
• Was the Red Planet once blue? New evidence points to an ancient ocean on Mars;
• Significant x-class solar flare;
• Astronomers searching for alien life are sharpening our cosmic clocks;

Other News

• The next phase of space transportation policy must embrace public, private, and global stakeholders;
• 10 milestones in American space exploration;
• All sorts of interesting flags and artifacts will fly to the Moon on Artemis II;
• Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches satellite internet service to rival SpaceX, Amazon;
• U.S. Space Force awards 1st-of-its-kind $52 million contract to deorbit its satellites;
• U.S. vulnerable to Russian escalation in space, new report warns;
• ‘Commercialization of space key to future technologies’: NASA astronaut Sunita Williams in Delhi;
• China’s Shenzhou-20 return capsule touches down on Earth;
• Rocketdyne redux: Seattle area’s oldest rocket factory to get new ownership under old name
  Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, L3Harris;
• China wants to send thousands of satellites to space and challenge SpaceX’s dominance;

Major Space-Related Activities for the Week

• A significant milestone in NASA’s efforts to prepare for the Artemis II mission launch of four astronauts around the Moon is the Wet Dress Rehearsal, a countdown simulation planned for February 2. With the Artemis II mission’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule now at their Florida launch pad, activities ahead of the Wet Dress Rehearsal will unfold this week.
• On Wednesday, NASA plans a 2:15 p.m. ET news briefing with the Crew Dragon-11 ISS crew that carried out an expedited return to Earth last Thursday due to an undisclosed medical concern after a 167-day mission. The briefing can be watched on NASA’s YouTube channel.
• This Thursday also marks NASA’s annual Day of Remembrance, a tribute to the astronauts lost in the January 27, 1967 Apollo 1 fire and the January 28, 1986 shuttle Challenger and February 1, 2003 shuttle Columbia tragedies.
• Meanwhile, the U.S. House and Senate continue efforts to come together on a budget for the 2026 fiscal year that began on October 1 or a second Budget Continuing Resolution (CR) if needed. The current Budget Continuing Resolution (CR) expires January 30, creating the possibility of a government shutdown if neither a budget or a second CR has been approved.

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