Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter during the week of October 18, 2026:

Human Space Exploration

• NASA giving update about Artemis Moon plans on October 23: Watch it live;
• NASA Safety Panel concerned about Artemis IV, future access to LEO
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Northrop Grumman;
• ‘Cabin leak suspected’: Artemis II astronaut reveals how a warning nearly derailed NASA’s epic Moon mission;
• ‘We’re never going to come home’: Artemis II commander recalls the most terrifying moment of his 10-day trip around the Moon;
• NASEM report on lunar landing sites;
• When will SpaceX and Blue Origin fly to the Moon? NASA reveals lunar lander timelines (and an Artemis III update);
• The surprising case for space mining;
• A supercomputer is about to launch to the Moon aboard a rover named FLIP;
• NASA’s simulated Mars crew marks one year inside habitat;
• ‘Let’s all choose to make tomorrow better’, Artemis II astronauts honored with Stephen Hawking Medal at Starmus;
• Veteran NASA engineer named Marshall Space Flight Center director;

Space Science

• NASA mission seeks to confirm existence of lunar lava tube;
• Scientists use ancient rains to map the possible origin life on Mars;
• For students with their sights set on space medicine, a new community takes flight;
• Using eyedrops in space – wearable patch offers a new approach;
• Space botanist conducts plant experiments in orbit | Space photo of the day for October 21, 2026;
• NASA closes the book on epic OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sampling mission: ‘I am immensely proud of what we did’;
• Lucy mission marks 5 years of discoveries;
• Uranus and Neptune may have taken different paths to becoming ice giants;
• Mars’ two tiny moons shouldn’t exist. A new mission has launched to reveal their secrets;
• NASA’s Mars orbiter fleet is getting old here’s how that could affect future exploration;
• The Moon is shrinking. 10,000 cracks on the lunar surface reveal by how much;
• Hera mission prepares for follow-up asteroid imaging;
• Artemis II results show how much science people can do at the Moon;
• Scientists simulated the universe and discovered the Milky Way may be one of the best places for life;
• The Orionid meteor shower peaks next week! Here’s what to expect;

Other News

• What a Russian satellite stalking a commercial spacecraft means for the Space Force;
• NASA JPL looks to next 90 years of innovation, exploration;
• A magical morning – Orionids, Mars and Jupiter;
• Uzbekistan signs Artemis Accords to boost cooperation with NASA;
• Blue Origin plans $330 million Florida expansion to ramp New Glenn launches;
• Russian satellite comes within 450 feet of key U.S. radar satellite, stoking fears of space warfare;
• ISRO completes Gaganyaan crew and service module separation tests;

Major Space-Related Activities for the Week

• The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) mission is set for launch on Monday at 3:41 p.m. EDT. NASA is providing two instruments for the mission to explore the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos and return a surface sample from Phobos in 2031. JAXA will live stream (https://www.youtube.com/live/sZGyK9jfoy4) the launch activities beginning at 2:45 p.m. EDT.
• NASA administrator Jared Isaacman is scheduled to lead a news briefing on Friday at 2 p.m. EDT, updating plans for the Artemis III mission, which is to launch four astronauts into low Earth orbit to demonstrate rendezvous and docking operations with the commercial lunar Human Landing Systems (HLSs) in development by Blue Origin (Blue Moon) and SpaceX (Starship). The challenging two-week mission has been planned for mid-2027.
• On Wednesday, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is to release its NASA requested Human Exploration Across the Moon report assessing sites on the Moon other than the lunar south pole of scientific value for human exploration.
• Also on Tuesday at 2 p.m. EDT, NASA has scheduled a news briefing to outline two upcoming ISS spacewalks to install the last two of eight Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) on the orbital lab’s solar power truss. The installations that began in June 2021 are augmenting the seven-person ISS’s solar power generation. Virtual access options to the Artemis III update and spacewalk news briefings will be available over NASA Live (https://www.nasa.gov/live/).
• 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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