Falcon 9 upper stage (4,000 kg dry) now expected to impact lunar surface at 06:35 UTC on August 5, 2026. | Artemis III test mission set for 2027, names 4 crew members. | The details of Japan’s SLIM lander deploying a baseball-sized rover (LEV-2) on the lunar surface has been published in a paper. | Univ. of Florida researchers used “laser forming” manufacturing techniques on lunar regolith simulant. | Analysis of Northwest Africa (NWA) 12593 meteorite shows three distinct impact records from the Moon, the meteorite itself and on Earth. | Exhaustive list of India’s Chandrayaan lunar program produced by Mehta at Moon Monday. | SpaceX IPO (ticker SPCX) opened at $150/share, selling nearly 555.6 million shares, despite its first quarter 2026 $4.3B net loss / $4.7B in revenue. | Four companies split $2M from Canadian Space Agency to study lunar in-situ resource utilization. | Shiv Shakti Point lunar soil is found to be chemically similar (iron/magnesium-rich, aluminum-deficient) to an Antarctic lunar meteorite.
Five Men Assigned to Artemis III Mission
On June 9, NASA announced the names of Astronauts for the Artemis III mission: Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, as well as the backup crew member Bob Hines. Currently, there are 37 active NASA Astronauts, of whom 15 are women, representing 40% of the corps. While all NASA Astronauts share in the program’s achievements, each standing ready, able and trained to serve—the reveal elicited considerable criticism due to the absence of women, as well as celebration for the inclusion of Latino and Black American men. The importance of the USA-led Artemis ‘Return to the Moon’ program remains the same, but it becomes challenging to sustain enthusiasm and inspiration when leadership decisions continue to disappoint the public, particularly those who were not represented during the Apollo program. The Artemis III crew selection comes after the January 2025 Trump administration executive orders directing NASA to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The Artemis II crew, announced April 2023, included only one woman and one person of color among its four members, and dishearteningly, Artemis III features no women at all. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended the choice of the all-male crew stating, “every crew is part of a larger campaign to get America back to the Moon and to build the future we all dreamed about as children.” Without a commitment to gender-balanced Artemis teams, this selection feels reminiscent of the past, accompanied by a few gestures. (Image Credits: NASA, ASI)
HUMANS IN SPACE
☆ International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 74 seven crew member consisting of 3 Russian Cosmonauts, 3 NASA and 1 ESA Astronauts are continuing to assess the increased air leak in the PrK transfer tunnel inside the Zvezda module, while also entering “safe haven” safety mode when deemed necessary and continuing science hardware installations, plant and tissue experiments, air quality analysis, and systems upkeep, alongside routine operations. Currently docked at ISS are SpaceX CRS-34 Dragon cargo ship, Northrop Grumman Cygnus, Russian Progress resupply ships 94P and 95P, and crew vehicles SpaceX Crew-12 Dragon and Soyuz MS-28.
☆ Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou-23 Commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying (also known as Li Jiaying, the first Astronaut from Hong Kong) are conducting dozens of scientific experiments including those involving lipid metabolism, rice plant growth, perovskite solar cells. They are performing daily exercise, system upkeep, and science hardware work following the recent handover. Docked to Tiangong are the Shenzhou 23 crew craft and Tianzhou-10 cargo ship, which brought ~7 tons of supplies, propellant, a new spacesuit and experiment payloads.
Near-Earth Objects Close Approaches – Mon June 15: Apollo Asteroid 2015 MC (0.073 AU) | Tue June 16: Apollo Asteroid 2026 LV (0.008 AU) | Thu June 18: Aten Asteroid 2003 LN6 (0.009 AU) | Sun June 22: Apollo Asteroid 2025 WC4 (0.026 AU)
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A major European meeting on planetary science. Originally known as the European Planetary Science Congress, the first EPSC was held in Berlin in 2006....
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Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV), Guiana Space Centre, ~5°N, French Guiana
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Launch Complex 1, ~39°S, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
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On June 9, NASA announced the names of Astronauts for the Artemis III mission: Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, as well as the backup crew member Bob Hines. Currently, there are 37 active NASA Astronauts, of whom 15 are women, representing 40% of the corps. While all NASA Astronauts share in the program’s achievements, each standing ready, able and trained to serve—the reveal elicited considerable criticism due to the absence of women, as well as celebration for the inclusion of Latino and Black American men. The importance of the USA-led Artemis ‘Return to the Moon’ program remains the same, but it becomes challenging to sustain enthusiasm and inspiration when leadership decisions continue to disappoint the public, particularly those who were not represented during the Apollo program. The Artemis III crew selection comes after the January 2025 Trump administration executive orders directing NASA to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The Artemis II crew, announced April 2023, included only one woman and one person of color among its four members, and dishearteningly, Artemis III features no women at all. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended the choice of the all-male crew stating, “every crew is part of a larger campaign to get America back to the Moon and to build the future we all dreamed about as children.” Without a commitment to gender-balanced Artemis teams, this selection feels reminiscent of the past, accompanied by a few gestures. (Image Credits: NASA, ASI)
Near-Earth Objects Close Approaches – Mon June 15: Apollo Asteroid 2015 MC (0.073 AU) | Tue June 16: Apollo Asteroid 2026 LV (0.008 AU) | Thu June 18: Aten Asteroid 2003 LN6 (0.009 AU) | Sun June 22: Apollo Asteroid 2025 WC4 (0.026 AU)
