NASA will provide an update on its plans to return American astronauts to the surface of the Moon by 2028 at 2 p.m. EDT, Friday, Oct. 23, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Learn where to watch online:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Participants in the briefing include:

• NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
• NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya
• Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s Artemis program manager

The update will include details about NASA’s Artemis III mission that will send four astronauts to low Earth orbit next year to test critical systems needed for future lunar landings, and how plans to return American astronauts to the Moon by 2028 are progressing.

U.S. media interested in attending in person must apply online by 12 p.m., Friday, Oct. 16. To ask questions remotely, media must request the dial-in number from the Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour prior to the start of the update by emailing: [email protected]. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. 

As part of a Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA will send Artemis astronauts on increasingly difficult missions near the lunar South Pole to explore more of the Moon than ever before. In addition to providing economic benefits and advancing scientific discovery through its Moon missions, NASA will establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface and build on the agency’s foundation for the first crewed mission to Mars.

Learn more about Artemis:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis

-end-

Rachel Kraft
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
[email protected]

Tiffany Fairley
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
[email protected]

Source: www.nasa.gov

APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Mars and the Beehive Under an Aurora

Explanation: What a cosmic coincidence! In today’s image, Mars joins the Beehive cluster (M44 or Praesepe) below an auroral curtain and above a horizon of happy little trees near Lansjärv, Sweden. An eruption off the Sun reached Earth on October 10th, 2026 causing strong disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field. Energetic particles from the eruption collide with and energize the molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, which release that extra energy as the colorful aurora captured here. Auroras, or guovssahasat in North Sámi, is traditionally viewed with respect by the Sámi people indigenous to Sweden and other Arctic regions. Coincidentally, Mars appeared closest to the center of the Beehive cluster in the sky at the time. Although bees have been to space, the Beehive cluster is actually a swarm of young stars. Their rotation periods have helped humanity learn about how stars spin slower over time as they lose mass through their stellar winds.

Tomorrow’s picture: open space

Date:	October 14, 2026
Credit:	Petr Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava), Josef Kujal, Vojan Höfer
Authors & editors:	Keighley Rockcliffe, Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti
A service of:	ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.

Source: science.nasa.gov

Students in Florida will hear from NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney as they answer prerecorded STEM questions while aboard the International Space Station.

The Earth-to-space call will begin at 12 p.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 16, and will stream live on the agency’s Learn With NASA YouTube channel.

This event is hosted by Sally Ride Elementary School in Orlando, Florida, for students in grades K-12, and the community. This unique opportunity aims to deepen understanding of space exploration and enhance awareness of STEM careers.

Media interested in covering the event must RSVP no later than 5 p.m. EDT, Thursday, Oct. 15, to Jenny Morgan at (407) 858-3100, or at [email protected].

For more than 25 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station helps NASA understand and overcome the challenges of human spaceflight, expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit, and build on the foundation for long-duration missions to the Moon, as part of the Artemis program, and to Mars.

For more information on NASA in-flight calls, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Source: www.nasa.gov

NASA engineer and astronaut Christina Koch will serve as the agency’s acting deputy chief engineer beginning on Sunday, Nov. 1, following the retirement of Katherine Van Hooser, who will conclude more than 35 years of distinguished service to the agency on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

In her new role, Koch will help lead NASA’s engineering community, supporting technical oversight, mission readiness, and engineering excellence across the agency’s programs and projects. With this appointment, Koch will transition to management astronaut status and will no longer be eligible for future spaceflight assignments.

“Christina has seen NASA engineering from both sides of the equation: developing complex systems on the ground and trusting them with her life in space,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “After spending nearly a year living and working aboard the International Space Station and helping lead America back around the Moon on Artemis II this year, she brings an extraordinary combination of technical expertise, operational experience, and judgment to this role. I am excited to see the impact she will have across NASA as we return Americans to the lunar surface, build the Moon Base, get underway on nuclear power in space, and develop the capabilities that will ultimately take us on to Mars.”

“Katherine has been an extraordinary leader throughout her career, bringing technical expertise, sound judgment, and an unwavering commitment to mission success to some of NASA’s most complex engineering challenges,” said Amit Kshatriya, NASA associate administrator and chief engineer. “Her leadership has strengthened our engineering community and helped guide the agency through critical milestones and transitions. Christina brings a unique combination of engineering expertise, operational experience, and proven leadership, both on the ground and in space. I am grateful to Katherine for her exceptional service and confident Christina will continue the tradition of technical excellence that is essential to everything we do at NASA.”

Koch most recently served as a mission specialist aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission in April, helping carry out the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years. She previously spent 328 consecutive days aboard the International Space Station, setting the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman and participating in the first all-female spacewalks.

Koch began her NASA career as an electrical engineer at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, developing scientific instruments for space missions. Before her selection as an astronaut in 2013, her experience also included scientific field engineering in Antarctica and the Arctic. She has since held leadership positions within NASA’s Astronaut Office and at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, bringing a combination of technical expertise, operational experience, and firsthand understanding of the demands of human spaceflight to her new role.

Van Hooser joined NASA in 1991 at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, beginning a distinguished career in propulsion engineering and technical leadership. Her early work focused on liquid rocket engine turbomachinery before she became chief engineer for the space shuttle main engine, leading engineering efforts through the final 21 shuttle flights. She later served as the first chief engineer for the Space Launch System’s Liquid Engines Element, helping advance the propulsion systems supporting NASA’s Artemis missions.

As Marshall’s chief engineer and, since 2023, NASA’s deputy chief engineer, Van Hooser provided critical technical leadership and oversight across the agency’s programs. Her steady guidance through complex engineering challenges and organizational transitions helped maintain continuity, strengthen collaboration, and keep mission readiness at the forefront of NASA’s work.

Learn more about NASA’s missions on the agency’s website:

https://www.nasa.gov/

George Alderman / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
[email protected] / [email protected]

Source: www.nasa.gov

1 Min Read

Comparing Off-World Rover Driving Distances

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Comparing Off-World Rover Driving Distances

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This infographic illustrates the distances driven by various rovers on the surface of Earth’s Moon and Mars. Of the vehicles shown, the NASA Mars rovers Perseverance and Curiosity are still operational and moving across the surface; the figures shown for those two are distances driven as of Oct. 11, 2026. As of that date, Perseverance exceeded the distance record held by NASA’s Opportunity rover, which came to a final halt in 2018 at about 28.1 miles (45.16 kilometers) driven. 

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.

For more about Perseverance: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/

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Source: science.nasa.gov

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NASA’s Record-Setting Perseverance Rover Team

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NASA’s Record-Setting Perseverance Rover Team

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Members of NASA’s Perseverance Mars mission team gather in the Mars Yard at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California with a certificate from Guinness World Records marking the rover distance record on the Red Planet. Positioned in front of the team is OPTIMISM (Operational Perseverance Twin for Integration of Mechanisms and Instruments Sent to Mars), a full-scale engineering model used to plan the rover’s driving routes and science activities on Mars. NASA JPL, which is managed by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.

For more about Perseverance: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/

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Source: science.nasa.gov

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Perseverance Navcam Image Marks Record Drive

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Perseverance Navcam Image Marks Record Drive

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Rover tracks and a rocky Martian landscape are shown in this image captured by one of the navigation cameras (navcams) aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on Oct. 11, 2026, the 2,006th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. During that sol’s drive, spanning 299.6 feet (91.31 meters), the mission passed a major milestone: pushing Perseverance’s total driving distance beyond that of the agency’s Opportunity rover, which logged 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers) during its 15-year mission on Mars.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.

For more about Perseverance: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/

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Source: science.nasa.gov

Three NASA-supported small spacecraft, along with many commercial payloads, are shown before being encapsulated in a SpaceX Falcon 9 ahead of launch on Oct. 1, 2026. The ASCENT Propulsion Dual Mode CubeSat, the Supernova Remnants and Proxies for ReIonization Testbed Experiment (SPRITE) CubeSat, and the Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) mission will demonstrate new propulsion technologies, study how galactic dust and high-energy radiation move through galaxies, and advance capabilities for inspecting inactive satellites.

Image credit: SpaceX

Source: www.nasa.gov

• Vacancy Announcement for Chief Counsel at NASA Glenn Research Center

Source: www.nasa.gov

3 Min Read

Voyager Technologies’ Griffin-1 Completes Environmental Testing at NASA JPL

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Voyager Technologies’ Griffin-1 Completes Environmental Testing at NASA JPL

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PIA26708 Figure C

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PIA26708 Figure D

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A lunar lander from Voyager Technologies completed nearly three months of environmental testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in late September 2026. The tests demonstrate that the spacecraft is prepared to face the harsh conditions of launch, its journey to the Moon, and landing on the surface. Its final trial was in JPL’s historic 25-Foot Space Simulator, a thermal vacuum chamber listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its role in supporting historic missions like those of the Ranger, Surveyor, Mariner, and Voyager programs. 

Engineers and technicians on Aug. 31, 2026, used a crane to position the spacecraft within the towering chamber, where Griffin-1 alternately baked at up to 167 degrees Fahrenheit (75 degrees Celsius) and froze at temperatures as low as minus 148 F (minus 100 C). This thermal vacuum testing simulates the extreme temperatures the spacecraft will experience during its mission. The yellow-striped box atop the lander simulates a payload that will later be attached to the spacecraft: Astrolab’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover.

In Figure A, engineers and technicians move Griffin-1 through a hallway leading to the 25-Foot Space Simulator on Aug. 31. The corridor is lined with photographs of some of the historic spacecraft that have been tested in the facility since the 1960s.

Figure B shows Griffin-1 on July 29 in an anechoic chamber for electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility testing, which ensures signals from the spacecraft’s electronic components don’t interfere with one another. Long foam spikes line the chamber walls to absorb sound waves and electromagnetic waves.

In Figure C, taken on July 20, Griffin-1 rotates rapidly on a special table to measure its mass properties, enabling engineers to look for any unexpected wobbles as they assess how the vehicle will move through space — vital information for determining the spacecraft’s readiness for flight and surface operations.

In Figure D, microphones are arrayed around Griffin-1 on Aug. 12 during acoustic testing in which giant horns powered by compressed gaseous nitrogen blast the spacecraft with up to 153 decibels inside the sealed acoustic chamber to mimic the roar of launch. 

Griffin-1 also endured vibration testing, during which hundreds of sensors monitored the spacecraft as a “shaker table” rattled it in three directions — with increasingly intense force — to simulate the ride out of Earth’s atmosphere atop a rocket.

After proving its mettle at JPL, Griffin-1 was shipped back across the country to Voyager Lunar Systems’ Pittsburgh facility for final assembly. Part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative within the Moon Base Program, Griffin-1 is expected to launch in late 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The infrastructure-class lander will deliver more than 1,100 pounds (455 kilograms) of cargo — 10 payloads from six countries — to Nobile Crater near the lunar South Pole.

Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA.

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Source: science.nasa.gov