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: The pair of twin rocket boosters that will power the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on NASA's Artemis II mission to the moon can now properly serve as candles for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and founding of the United States. As revealed on Tuesday (Dec. 2), both side-mounted boosters have been adorned with the official "America 250" logo marking the U.S.'s semiquincentennial.
: Soyuz MS-28 arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday (Nov. 27), bringing three new crew members just in time for a Thanksgiving Day feast. Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikayev along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams are set to spend eight months on board the orbiting complex as members of the Expedition 73/74 crew. They are the first crew to launch to space on Thanksgiving.
: Estes Rockets' latest flying model reproduces Russia's Soyuz in museum-quality detail. The $130 kit includes more than 100 parts that were formed using various molding methods, as well as the first 3D-printed resin component in an Estes product. The 1:48 scale model stands about 3.5-feet-tall (1.1-meters) and can fly as high as 500 feet (152 meters). The collector's kit also includes a digital data pack about the Soyuz and its design.
: 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.
The newly-announced NASA Artemis Space Launch System Rocket from LEGO does something that no prior LEGO set of the moon-bound vehicle has done before: launch! By turning a crank, the completed model climbs off its platform and heads toward space, separating its three stages along the way. Developed with NASA and ESA, the 632-piece kit will retail for $59.99 when its lands in stores on Jan. 1, 2026.
: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and The Jim Henson Company are bringing Gobo, Red and Uncle Traveling Matt to Florida for a new stage show. "Fraggle Rock: A Space-y Adventure" will see the subterranean Muppets interact with real space explorers in the form of "walkaround" Fraggles and Doozer puppets. Included with admission to the visitor complex, "A Space-y Adventure" will play twice daily beginning Dec. 22.
: 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.
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