Kurt Polzin, chief engineer of NASA's space nuclear propulsion project, and Robert Schleicher of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems roughed out a nuclear rocket engine design on a napkin during a conference conversation last year. The concept remains at an early paper-planning stage, following a long tradition of major technical breakthroughs first appearing as napkin sketches, from Compaq's portable PC to Vishay's power resistor.
spectrum.ieee.org
· 2026-08-29
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, ahead of its upcoming launch, carries a hand-sized experimental coronagraph designed to directly capture starlight reflected off a planet's surface for the first time from space. The instrument uses deformable mirrors and adaptive optics to block a star's glare while revealing much fainter orbiting planets, a technique already used on ground telescopes but never before flown at this level of sophistication in orbit.
wired.com
· 2026-08-29
President Trump awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, who flew around the moon in April. At the same ceremony, he signed an executive order establishing a Presidential Commission, chaired by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, to draft plans within 120 days for a new United States Space Academy meant to train personnel for NASA, the Space Force, and private space companies.
science.slashdot.org
· 2026-08-29
NASA plans to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Aug. 30, a $4.3 billion observatory built from a spare satellite donated by the National Reconnaissance Office roughly 15 years ago. The telescope will search for Type 1A supernovas and study dark energy, the mysterious force driving the universe's expansion, while also hunting for exoplanets.
npr.org
· 2026-08-28
President Trump signed an executive order at Johnson Space Center establishing a commission to develop the first US Space Academy, a NASA-run institution rather than a military service academy. The signing came during a ceremony honoring the four Artemis II astronauts with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is leading the effort as part of his broader Project Athena plan to reshape the agency's workforce strategy.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-08-28
Cloud Imperium Games has again delayed Squadron 42, the single-player Star Citizen spinoff, this time to the second quarter of 2027. Director Chris Roberts said the studio wants to avoid launching alongside GTA 6, which arrives on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S this November and is expected to dominate media coverage. A limited group of original backers and veteran content creators will get early access on October 9-10, with a firmer release date to follow.
techspot.com
· 2026-08-28
The European Space Agency signed contracts totaling hundreds of millions of euros with three European launch startups—Rocket Factory Augsburg, PLD Space and Isar Aerospace—to fund continued development of their small launch vehicles. RFA received 186.9 million euros, PLD Space 158.9 million euros, and Isar Aerospace 197.8 million euros, mostly financed by their home nations with contributions from partner countries. A separate deal with MaiaSpace is reportedly close to finalization.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-08-28
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to launch Sunday from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The $4.3 billion observatory began as a surveillance satellite platform built by the National Reconnaissance Office for post-9/11 intelligence gathering, which was donated to NASA after the spy program was scrapped before launch.
futurism.com
· 2026-08-28
Belgian startup Any has launched the LUV1, a modular electric motorcycle that combines cargo-bike-level storage capacity of up to 120 liters with a top speed of 100 km/h. Designed by former Pininfarina design director Lowie Vermeersch, who also serves as creative director and investor, the vehicle offers customizable frames and accessories for commuters, families, and outdoor enthusiasts.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-08-28
RhinoShield and Sent Into Space sent an iPhone 17 Pro fitted with RhinoShield's AirX case up on a high-altitude balloon from Kiruna, Sweden, then released it from over 30,600 meters. After a 25-minute fall through temperatures as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius, the phone landed intact in remote terrain and was later recovered, powered on, and used to make calls and take photos. Guinness World Records confirmed the feat as the highest drop of a phone in a case onto natural landforms.
techspot.com
· 2026-08-28
NASA has repainted one of its T-38 supersonic training jets with a new black-and-white design featuring blue and red stripes, the Artemis program logo, and Moon graphics on the rear fuselage. The design, proposed by pilot Sean Brady of the Aircraft Operations Division at Johnson Space Center, was applied during the jet's scheduled repainting rather than for any special ceremony. The aircraft, tail number N924NA, is now the only one of NASA's 14 active T-38s that doesn't wear the agency's traditional blue-stripe livery.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-08-27
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center on 30 August after completing vibration testing at Goddard Space Flight Center. The telescope's wide field of view and infrared sensitivity are expected to let it survey far more sky in far less time than the Hubble Space Telescope, dramatically expanding the catalog of known exoplanets.
nature.com
· 2026-08-27
GoKawiil