This week, we're covering what's been trending in Space News for the last 10 days...and IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MOON! Starting up a new weekly segment where we gather the biggest stories and launches from the last week, gathered by our AI Assistant SKYE and reported by your human host Spaceman Alex! I'm Alex G. Orphanos, your space science podcast host and your favorite mad scientist.
Tell me what you think of the SKYE Report, and which segments to dig deeper into. Don't forget to catch the NASA Roman Telescope mission - join us live Sunday August 30th!
LIVE Launch Hangout link for Roman here: https://www.youtube.com/live/V3pipbUu3X0?si=TdaEN9pN-SCkFH-P
Be well, stay safe, and stay curious.
Youtube ID: IISCwaC_saI
THE BOOK The Book of Uncommon-Sense 3D Printing is out now in hardcover and on Kindle: https://ag3dlabs.com/book MORE TODAY IN SPACE https://todayinspace.net - We just updated the site! Check it out
SKYE is free and it runs every 30 minutes: https://todayinspace.net
CHAPTERS
00:00 A new segment, and why I built SKYE
00:26 todayinspace.net: the mission clock and live space news
01:49 The brief — 514 items, 49 stories, 18 sources, 9/9 launches
02:58 The Moon is trending: 24% of the week, 11x its normal share
03:43 Twenty days from impact to peer-reviewed paper
03:57 Artemis II crew receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor
05:00 Artemis III: shuttle-veteran RS-25 engines, and the crew
05:31 Zeno Power books a nuclear payload to the Moon
06:22 THE TAKE — the outrage, the fake news, and what we owe the science
09:38 What's next: the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
10:00 What Roman will actually do
10:40 SpaceX's $100B Louisiana spaceport
11:09 SKYE is the machine. I'm the human.
12:09 Clear skies
WATCH ROMAN LAUNCH LIVE
Falcon Heavy from LC-39A, no earlier than 7:26am ET, Sunday August 30. NASA coverage
opens 6:20am ET, post-launch conference 9:30am. We'll be live on Today In Space.
LIVE Launch Hangout link for Roman here: https://www.youtube.com/live/V3pipbUu3X0?si=TdaEN9pN-SCkFH-P
SOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE
THE LUNAR IMPACT
NASA — LRO images the Falcon 9 crater, learns new details
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/nasas-lro-images-falcon-9-crater-on-moon-learns-new-details/
Space.com — A NASA spacecraft spotted the rocket's lunar grave
https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/a-spacex-rocket-slammed-into-the-moon-this-month-and-a-nasa-spacecraft-has-spotted-its-lunar-grave-photos
arXiv — Energetics, crater scaling, and comparison with LRO observations
https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.22325
ARTEMIS
NASA — Artemis II crew to receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-artemis-ii-crew-set-to-receive-congressional-space-medal-of-honor/
NASA — The ceremony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGjffGccQig
NASA — Artemis III engine install begins; boosters and crew training advance
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/08/27/nasa-starts-artemis-iii-engine-install-boosters-crew-training-advance/
NASA — Turkiye and the Artemis Accords
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-invites-media-to-turkey-artemis-accords-signing-ceremony/
LUNAR SURFACE
Payload — Zeno Power books its first nuclear mission to the Moon
https://payloadspace.com/zeno-power-books-its-first-nuclear-mission-to-the-moon/
ROMAN
NASA — Coverage set for the Roman Space Telescope launch
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-sets-coverage-for-roman-space-telescope-launch-from-florida/
NASASpaceflight — Launch preview: Falcon Heavy with Roman
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/08/launch-preview-082426/
SPACEX
Ars Technica — SpaceX intends to invest up to $100B in a Louisiana spaceport
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/spacex-intends-to-invest-up-to-100-billion-in-massive-louisiana-spaceport/
IMAGES: NASA · NASA/GSFC/Arizona State (LRO) · KARI/KASA (Danuri) · Payload · SpaceX
#falcon9 #moon #spacenews #artemis #romanspacetelescope #nasa #spacex #lro
#spacepodcast #todayinspace
Youtube ID: IISCwaC_saI
