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: On Monday (Nov. 17), the Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey, California, broke ground for a new 20,000-square-foot expansion that among other purposes will display the original full-scale space shuttle mockup built by Rockwell in 1972. The center has named the education facility after the orbiter, which in recent years has become known as "Inspiration." The project's campaign seeks $50 million to be completed.
: The New Mexico Museum of Space History is restoring a big part of the state's role in sending astronauts to the moon. The Alamogordo institution has exhibited one of only two surviving Little Joe II rockets since 1985. Now, working with Blast Off, Inc. and the Smithsonian, the museum is returning the Apollo abort test booster to it original state. The restoration will clear out the birds, fortify support beams and correct the roll pattern.
: Two mini-fridge size spacecraft are on their way to study the effects of space weather on the planet Mars, having launched on Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket. NASA's Mars ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) probes, named "Blue" and "Gold," are expected to enter Mars' orbit in September 2027. Built by Rocket Lab, the twin craft are adorned with company touches, including a couple of kiwis.
: The commander of the "return to flight" after the space shuttle Challenger tragedy in 1986, NASA astronaut Rick Hauck died on Thursday (Nov. 6) at the age of 84. Prior to STS-26 on Discovery in 1988, Hauck flew with the first U.S. woman in space, Sally Ride, on STS-7 and led the first space salvage mission in 1984 with the STS-51A crew. In total, he logged 18 days, 3 hours and 8 minutes in space while completing 288 orbits.
: Scott "Maker" Tingle is the new chief of the astronaut office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. He will help assign crews to missions, including the first astronauts to land on the moon in more than 50 years. He will also manage the corps' activities in-between flights and coordinate their work with international partners. Tingle is the 19th astronaut to be appointed chief, succeeding his former space station crewmate, Joe Acaba.
: Twenty-five years ago on Nov. 2, 2000, the first people moved aboard the International Space Station and made it their home. Expedition 1 began a quarter-century-long continuous human occupancy on board the ISS. Looking at the station today, though, you might not be able to tell how many people formed that chain and who they were. Fortunately, all 126 people from 12 countries left behind their mark: colorful decals showing they were there.
: The last but perhaps largest step before the California Science Center can open its new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, the home of NASA's retired space shuttle Endeavour, is to populate it with hundreds of exhibits and artifacts. The first installations in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery include a walkthrough solid rocket booster segment, a space shuttle main engine and a Rocket Lab Electron small-lift booster.
: After six months in space and finding a "tiny" debris strike had damaged their ride home, China's Shenzhou 20 crew landed on the Shenzhou 21 capsule on Friday (Nov. 14). Their safe touchdown in the Gobi desert left the Shenzhou 21 crew on the Tiangong space station to wait for a replacement capsule (Shenzhou 22) to launch. The Shenzhou 20 crew of Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie logged more than 204 days in orbit.
: Astronaut Leland Melvin and his fellow Club For the Future ambassadors Sian Proctor and Gary Lai have collaborated on t-shirt designs for Uniqlo's "Peace For All" charity sale. The two new tees feature the International Space Station and a photo that Melvin took of the moon from Earth orbit. The proceeds from the $24.90 shirts go to support organizations working to bring together all of humanity, adding to the $16.6 million sold since 2022.
: In most cases, mission patches celebrate a spaceflight, its crew or payload and the program to which it belongs. Rarely is a patch the mission itself, but that is the situation with Margaritaville's new emblem, which is the first-ever insignia to directly fund science on the International Space Station. Created by the late Jimmy Buffett, the patch is the product of a partnership between Margaritaville and the ISS National Lab (CASIS).
: The result of the largest immersive production ever filmed in space, Felix & Paul's "Space Explorers: The ISS Experience" already delivered the best way to visit the International Space Station short of actually launching there. Now the studio's "Ultimate Edition" adds augmented reality (AR), an exclusive chapter about NASA's Artemis program and the return to the moon, improved VR controls and visuals optimized for 8K viewing.
: The HTV-X1, Japan's first advanced resupply spacecraft, arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday (Oct. 29), three days after its launch. JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui used the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to grapple the vehicle. On board the HTV-X1 are science equipment and technology demonstrations, as well as commercial payloads including a sake fermentation test and an airline's clients' passports.
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