Deep Space Extra

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

Human Space Exploration

• Race to the Moon: Power, politics and the new space order;
• NASA still confident that Artemis astronauts will land on the Moon in 2028 despite spacesuit delays
  Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Collins Aerospace;
• Mirroring mango salad: How ISS culture shaped Artemis II;
• Vast unveils Astronaut Flight Suit and revolutionary Large Docking Adapter
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Artemis II and Tiangong space station astronauts set record for farthest distance between humans;
• Latvia joins the Artemis Accords;
• NASA IG raises more questions about readiness for human lunar landings
  Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Collins Aerospace;
• NASA showcases Artemis III Moon rocket stage in New Orleans
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, L3Harris;
• NASA rolls out core stage for next Moon mission, Artemis III;
• NASA’s giant crawler moves launch tower to prep for Artemis III Moon mission;
• Artemis II’s heat shield seems to have aced its trial by fire;

Space Science

• Scientists focus on the challenges of working and living in outer space;
• Japan’s audacious sample-return mission to the Mars moon Phobos has made it to the launch pad;
• Scientists trace latest interstellar comet’s home to a cold, isolated corner of the Milky Way;
• Quiet with a chance of solar flares;
• The Universe is expanding too fast and scientists can’t explain why;
• Did NASA’s Curiosity rover find signs of ancient life on Mars? An astrobiologist explains how we determine ‘life’;
• MSL Curiosity found new organic chemicals on Mars, proof that the planet can preserve ancient biosignatures;
• Tis the season for blue auroras;
• Which types of civilizations collapse and which can endure?;
• Newly-identified geological feature points to vast, long-dried up ocean in Northern Plains of Mars;
• The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s next great observatory, is finally complete;
• Black hole jets pack power of 10,000 suns, stunning new study reveals;
• Astronauts face grip strength challenge in space and on Earth, scientists find;
• The Lyrid meteor shower is visible now and peaking soon. Here’s how to spot it;
• China to step up international space cooperation in 2026: CNSA;
• The little probe that could: Why Voyager 1 matters, and why NASA just switched part of it off;

Other News

• Jordan signs the Artemis Accords;
• House Science Committee opposes cuts in NASA’s FY2027 budget request;
• Needham astronaut Sunita Williams reflects on Artemis II and space exploration, prepares for Boston marathon
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• In a first, Blue Origin uses a recycled rocket to send a satellite into space but it ends up in ‘off-nominal orbit’;

Major Space-Related Activities for the Week

• The U.S. House Science, Space and Technology Committee has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday at 10 a.m. EDT with virtual access, regarding the White House’s 2027 NASA budget request, with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman as the only witness. The NASA budget request for the fiscal year beginning October 1 would cut NASA’s overall budget from $24.4 billion to $18.8 billion, with most of the cut coming from space science to enable a 9.5 percent increase in the Moon to Mars exploration initiative. Congress rejected a similar White House request for the current 2026 NASA budget;
• Nicola Fox, the head of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, is scheduled on Tuesday to address the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group session at 11 a.m. EDT also with virtual access;
• On Tuesday at 4 p.m. EDT, also with virtual access, Fox is to join Isaacman and others at the Goddard Space Flight Center to discuss the status of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission that is planned for launch later this year in compliance with cost restraints.
  .

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter:
Don’t miss the latest developments in space policy, science, and exploration with Deep Space Extra, delivered directly to your inbox from Monday to Friday.