The MIT student team CERBERUZ won first prize in both the Prototype and Digital Twin tracks of NASA's LunaRecycle Challenge, as reported on Oct. 20, 2026, for a system that grinds and molds waste into composite parts.
NASA says contract actions will advance the nuclear power module for Space Reactor-1 Freedom, planned to launch in late 2028 as the first fission-powered spacecraft to travel beyond Earth orbit.
NASA said Astrolab and Lunar Outpost are building crewed lunar terrain vehicles for delivery ahead of Artemis missions, while the VIPER rover is due to reach the Moon's South Pole in 2027.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image showing numerous protostars and stars within the glowing gases of NGC 7129, a stellar nursery about 3,300 light-years from Earth, the agency said in an image article published Oct. 20, 2026.
Uzbekistan signed the Artemis Accords in Samarkand, becoming the 77th country to commit to the principles guiding safe and transparent civil space exploration, NASA said.
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 20, 2026, features a partial rainbow-like fan photographed at sunset in Presenzano, Italy, where the Sun appears to be in the wrong place.
ESA and JAXA team members described the BepiColombo mission in three words to mark the anniversary of its 2018 launch, as the spacecraft approaches Mercury for a December 2026 arrival.
NASA's October 18, 2026 Astronomy Picture of the Day pairs a Hubble and Chandra view of the Eagle Nebula's pillars with a sonification that turns stars and dust into sound.
A red/blue stereo view of Comet 67P's double-lobed nucleus, built from two Rosetta OSIRIS images taken on July 25, 2015, was featured as NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 17, 2026.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman appointed Stephen Cash to lead the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, effective Monday, Oct. 19, the agency announced Oct. 16.
NASA reported on Oct. 16, 2026, that five spacecraft were docked at the station following Dragon's arrival, while astronauts unloaded science supplies and prepared experiments and solar-array work.
NASA says analysis of underwater imagery and later measurements confirmed that the Orion heat shield on Artemis II protected the crew and spacecraft systems during reentry.
WeeklyTrail