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Flight-proven space art: Last May, Tristan Eaton watched as the artwork he created for SpaceX lifted off on the company's first flight to carry NASA astronauts. Now, the artist is staging a launch of his own. Replica panels and metallic prints of Eaton's "Human Kind" SpaceX-flown pieces are set to go on sale on Thursday (Dec. 3). The art features NASA and SpaceX vehicles in montages designed to highlight the overlap between science and culture.
Chang'e 5 launch: China launched a robotic moon mission on Monday (Nov. 23) in an attempt to return the first lunar rocks and soil to Earth in almost 45 years. The Chang'e 5 lander is targeted for a touchdown at Mons Rümker in the Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) on the near side of the moon, where it will collect 4.4 pounds (2 kg) of regolith. The mission launched atop a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in China.
'The Real Right Stuff': A new documentary film from director Tom Jennings serves as a companion to the National Geographic and Disney+ series "The Right Stuff." In the aptly titled "The Real Right Stuff," Jennings trades the actors and set pieces of the episodic drama for rarely-seen archival footage, voiceovers by author Tom Wolfe and an original orchestral score to immerse viewers in the real stories of NASA's Mercury 7 astronauts.
Lunar lawsuit: The long legal trail following an Apollo 11 lunar sample bag has taken a turn toward the dust. A Kansas City law firm has sued the Illinois woman who auctioned the $1.8 million pouch, claiming their stake in the tape strips that NASA used to lift moon dust off the bag for tests. The firm says it is due 28.5% of whatever the five pieces of tape are worth.
This is the way: The four astronauts on the SpaceX Crew-1 mission revealed their fifth crew member: "The Child." A small plush toy of "Baby Yoda" from the Disney+ Star Wars series "The Mandalorian," the doll served as the crew's zero-g indicator. Seen floating around the cabin after the Dragon capsule entered orbit, The Child continues a Russian tradition that has now been adopted by SpaceX.
Crew-1 firsts: Inspired by their SpaceX flight designation, astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi adopted a practice of posing with their index fingers extended to represent the number "1" for Crew-1. Though unintended, their gesture could also be seen as a nod to the many firsts they will set as a crew and as individuals, including flying on SpaceX's first operational crewed launch for NASA to the International Space Station.
'The Right Stuff' recap: In "Ziggurat," the seventh episode of the National Geographic series "The Right Stuff" on Disney+, Alan Shepard (Jake McDorman) attempts to top Tom Wolfe's proverbial pyramid and join the "Brotherhood of the Right Stuff itself." Read a recap and review the right, wrong and real stuff from space history in what is the penultimate episode of the series' first season.
'The Astronauts' astronaut: Nickelodeon launches "The Astronauts" on Friday (Nov. 13), a new live action series from Imagine Kids+Family. The cast, who plays a group of kids who sneak on board a rocket and then accidentally launch, got tips on how to act like they were in space from someone who had been there: NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. "He told us everything about being in space, what it's like launching, what you have to do, stuff like that," said Kayden Grace Swan, "Doria" on "The Astronauts."
Senator astronaut: For only the fourth time in U.S. history, a NASA astronaut has won a seat in Congress. Mark Kelly, who launched on four space shuttle missions, was elected by the state of Arizona to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday (Nov. 3). Prior to Kelly, Mercury 7 astronaut John Glenn and Apollo moonwalker Harrison Schmitt served as senators. Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert was elected to the House of Representatives, but died before taking office.
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Chang'e 5 landing: One week after leaving Earth, China's Chang'e 5 probe has touched down on the moon to collect and bring back samples. Landing in the "Ocean of Storms" near an isolated volcanic formation, Chang'e 5 is humanity's 21st mission to safely reach the surface. If all goes to plan, Chang'e 5 will be the 10th mission to bring back lunar rock and soil for its study and display on Earth.
Reviewing 'Figures': The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee has reviewed and made its recommendations for the designs of five Congressional Gold Medals to be presented in honor of NASA's "Hidden Figures." The gold medals (and their bronze duplicates to be sold to the public) recognize the contributions of computer Katherine Johnson, manager Dorothy Vaughan, and engineers Mary Jackson and Christine Darden, as well as the hundreds of other women mathematicians whose work at NACA and NASA advanced supersonic flight and the moon landings.
'The Right Stuff' recap: "Flight," the eighth episode of National Geographic's "The Right Stuff," lifts off with the first flight of a Mercury 7 astronaut into space. Read a recap of the episode and learn about the right, wrong and real stuff taken from space history as depicted in the series' first season finale, now available to stream on Disney+.
Poisk and Pirs: Two cosmonauts made the first spacewalk out of the Russian Poisk mini research module on Wednesday (Nov. 18), venturing outside of the International Space Station to begin readying their former airlock, the Pirs docking compartment, for removal in 2021. Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov conducted the EVA, which was their first, the 47th Russian ISS spacewalk and the 232nd in support of the station's assembly and upkeep.
To the moon and back? First thought to be an asteroid, an object that was captured by Earth's gravity on Sunday (Nov. 8) could be a rocket stage that helped launch an ill-fated moon lander in 1966. Designated 2020 SO, the temporary but new satellite may be the Centaur upper stage that sent NASA's Surveyor 2 probe sailing into deep space. The booster continued into an orbit around the Sun, but the lander suffered a failure and impacted the moon.
'Over the Moon' rover: China's lunar rover Yutu-2, which continues to make history on the far side of the moon, landed a cameo in the new animated film "Over the Moon," now streaming on Netflix. Director Glen Keane included the real rover as part of the film's fantastical story about a young girl who builds a rocket to the moon to add what Walt Disney referred to as the "plausible impossible."
'The Right Stuff' recap: The sixth episode of National Geographic's "The Right Stuff" is set in early 1961 as NASA's efforts to launch the first Mercury astronaut into space faces new challenges from several fronts. Read a recap of "Vostok" and then review the right, wrong and real stuff from space history as now streaming on Disney+.
Ties to 20 years: Monday (Nov. 2) marks 20 years since the Expedition 1 crew arrived at the International Space Station and began a continuous two decades of operations on the orbiting complex. Asked to choose one item to represent the milestone, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, a flight engineer on the Expedition 64 crew, selected a simple tool to "tie" together the complements of the past 20 years.
'The Right Stuff' recap: The fifth episode of National Geographic's "The Right Stuff" now on Disney+ sets the competition to be first to fly into space against the fallout from earthly temptations. Read a recap of "The Kona Kai Séance" and review the right, wrong and real stuff from the actual space history as depicted in the latest episode.
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