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: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy has launched NASA's first mission to an ocean world beyond Earth. Europa Clipper is now on a six-year cruise to Jupiter, where it will make 49 flybys of the icy moon Europa in search of the ingredients necessary for life to exist. The solar powered-probe is carrying eight science instruments, a plaque inscribed with an ode to water, 100 translations of the word "water" and a chip with 26 million people's names.
: With space shuttle Endeavour covered in protective scaffolding and a white wrap, construction workers have erected a diagrid above and around it. Now they have reached the roof. To mark the milestone, the California Science Center in Los Angeles is topping off the Samuel Air and Space Center with three ceremonial beams signed by many of the architects, engineers, builders, staff and supporters who made ascending to this point possible.
: Purdue University has digitized thousands of pages containing the words spoken by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong at his many talks, addresses and speeches. The online archive reveals the moonwalker's handwritten notations and quips, which he made while preparing his remarks. The physical documents, which were donated by Armstrong's wife Carol, are just one part of his archives held by the Indiana school.
: "Aurora," the plush baby falcon that served as a zero-g indicator for the launch of SpaceX's Crew-9 mission on Saturday (Sept. 28), is the first such toy to fly on both Russian and American flights. Crew-9 commander Nick Hague previously flew the same doll on his two previous Soyuz launches, including one that ended in an in-flight abort. Aurora, Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov will spend the next five months aboard the ISS.
: Just as it did the first time it shot for the moon, NASA is again inviting artists to interpret and capture the cultural significance of its efforts. The space agency has relaunched its art program with a pair of murals in New York City's Hudson Square. "To the Moon, and Back," by Brooklyn-based artists Geraluz and WERC, focuses on the dreams of children while inviting the public to more deeply reflect on why it is we explore space.
: In a feat involving rocketry and robotics, SpaceX has successfully captured a rocket in mid-air returning to its launch pad using a giant pair of arms like chopsticks. The catch, which was one of the goals of Sunday's (Oct. 13) fifth integrated flight test of the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster, advanced SpaceX's pursuit of "full and rapid reusability." While the booster was recovered, Starship sank in the Indian Ocean as planned.
: Guests touring Space Center Houston will soon be able to experience a "day in the life" of an astronaut living in lunar orbit aboard NASA's Artemis Gateway. The visitor center for Johnson Space Center on Tuesday (Oct. 8) took delivery of Northrop Grumman's first full-size mockup of a cis-lunar habitat, which evolved into the Gateway's HALO, or Habitation and Logistics Outpost. The module is being added to the center's Artemis exhibit.
: Sixty-two years ago on Thursday (Oct. 3), Wally Schirra lifted off on his Mercury mission wearing his personal wristwatch, a newly-released 2nd-generation Omega Speedmaster. Though he could not know it at the time, his choice led to six-decade-long legacy of Omega watches flying in Earth orbit and beyond. Now, a new "The First Omega in Space" Speedmaster honors that history by combining heritage details with a modern calibre.
: More than 25 years after it went into storage, the first-ever full-size mockup of the space shuttle is heading for display. Using state funds, the model's pieces will be moved in October to a facility for its reconstruction and restoration, bringing "Inspiration" back to how to appeared when North American Rockwell built it in 1972. A new building at the Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey, California will house the exhibit.
: Soyuz MS-25 crewmates Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and Tracy Dyson have returned home from the International Space Station. Landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, Dyson completed a 184-day stay on the orbiting complex, while Kononenko and Chub tallied the longest single mission stay on the ISS at 374 days. For Kononenko, the landing also marked his record 1,111th day in space, a total spread over five flights.
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