Deep Space

Missions, science, and exploration beyond the Moon.

• Astronomers Report First Plausible Moon Beyond the Solar System, a Jupiter-Mass Body Orbiting a Brown Dwarf

  October 25, 2026

  Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope have uncovered evidence of what may be the first moon ever detected beyond our Solar System. The object, found in the CD-35 2722 star system, is at least as massive as Jupiter and orbits a brown dwarf, which itself circles a star. If confirmed, it would mark the first detection of a natural satellite outside our Solar System and could change how astronomers define moons and planets. The findings emerge from months of wor

• NASA's Psyche Spacecraft Begins Near-Continuous Thrusting Toward Metal Asteroid

  October 22, 2026

  NASA's Psyche spacecraft has entered the main phase of its cruise, firing its solar electric propulsion system almost continuously after completing a Mars gravity assist. The maneuver keeps the mission on track to reach the metal-rich asteroid Psyche in the main asteroid belt by summer 2029. Following its October 2023 launch, the mission used its electric propulsion system intermittently to position itself to harness Mars' gravity for a propellant-saving speed boost and a slight trajectory chan

• NASA Advances Nuclear Power Module for SR-1 Freedom Mars Mission

  October 20, 2026

  NASA has agreed to key contract actions that advance work on the nuclear power module for SR-1 Freedom, the first spacecraft intended to demonstrate fission power beyond Earth's orbit. The agency says the moves reduce technical risk and keep the mission on course for a late 2028 launch to Mars. Space Reactor-1 Freedom was announced during NASA's "Ignition" event and will demonstrate nuclear electric propulsion in deep space. Progress is now underway on the mission's central element, the nuclear

• NASA Tests New Rotor Airfoil Designed to Extend Mars Helicopter Flight Range Twenty Fold

  October 20, 2026

  NASA researchers have developed an experimental rotor blade cross-section that could allow future Mars helicopters to fly as far as 18.7 kilometers in a single flight, compared with the 0.7 kilometers achieved by the agency's Ingenuity helicopter. The new design, called roamx-0201, uses a thinner, sharper, asymmetrical shape tuned specifically for flight in Mars' thin atmosphere. Ingenuity made history as the first powered aircraft to fly on another planet. The SkyFall mission, scheduled for la

• Seismic Evidence Shows Mars's Valles Marineris Canyon Is Still Tectonically Active

  October 20, 2026

  Scientists at Columbia University and Imperial College London have found direct seismic evidence that the largest canyon system in the solar system remains geologically active today. A marsquake detected by NASA's InSight lander originated beneath Valles Marineris and was caused by rocks slipping along a fault deep within the planet's crust, billions of years after the canyon first formed. The finding challenges the view that the vast Martian canyon system is a dead fossil landscape. It suggest

• NASA's Simulated Mars Crew Hits One Year in Houston Habitat, Exit Set for Oct. 31

  October 19, 2026

  Four crew members in NASA's CHAPEA Mission 2 have completed one year living in isolation inside a confined habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The milestone, marked on October 19, 2026, brings the 378 day simulated Mars mission close to its conclusion, with health and performance data expected to inform future long-duration missions. For the past 365 days, the crew has operated as though they were on Mars, growing crops, managing limited resources, navigating communication delays

• Livermore 3D Simulations Model How Nuclear Blasts Could Shatter or Deflect Asteroids

  October 17, 2026

  Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have built advanced three-dimensional simulations showing how a nuclear explosion detonated near an asteroid could deflect or destroy it, offering a potential last line of defense against a catastrophic impact. The work, published in The Planetary Science Journal, suggests nuclear mitigation could serve as an alternative to conventional deflection methods when an incoming object is too large or there is too little time to redirect it with a sp

• NASA's Twin Venus Missions Regain Momentum, DAVINCI Moves Up a Year

  October 14, 2026

  NASA's two Venus-bound missions, DAVINCI and VERITAS, are back on track after budget pressures threatened to cancel one and delay the other. DAVINCI will now launch in December 2030, a year earlier than previously planned, while VERITAS is scheduled for November 2032. The revival marks a turnaround for a scientific community whose exploration priorities have been sidelined for decades. The developments were announced last week at a meeting of the Venus Exploration Analysis Group, a gathering of

• Radiation, Not Weightlessness, Drives Lasting Heart Damage in Deep Space Study

  October 14, 2026

  Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have found that galactic cosmic radiation can trigger lasting cardiovascular damage, immune suppression, and permanent genetic mutations in rats, with some effects taking the equivalent of decades to appear. The findings, published in PLoS One, help quantify the long-term biological risks astronauts would face on a mission to Mars or elsewhere in deep space. On Earth's surface, the planet protects humans from both radiation and weightlessness, two

• JAXA Phobos Sample Mission Set for October 20 Launch on H3 Rocket

  October 13, 2026

  The Martian Moons eXploration mission will lift off aboard an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center at 04:41 JST on October 20, 2026. MMX will be the first mission to collect a sample from Mars's moon Phobos and bring it back to Earth, a planetary-science first. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which remain poorly understood despite the many missions sent to the Red Planet. No spacecraft has dwelled near them for long, leaving open the question of their origin. They may be asteroids

• UAE Reveals Asteroid Belt Lander Ahead of 2028 Launch to Mysterious Red Asteroid

  October 12, 2026

  The United Arab Emirates has unveiled the lander for its second interplanetary mission, an eight-year journey through the asteroid belt that will end with a touchdown on the unusually red asteroid 269 Justitia. The mission team presented a half-scale model of the homegrown probe at an October 1 press conference in Abu Dhabi, marking a major step toward a planned March 2028 launch. The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt follows the UAE Space Agency's Hope Mars orbiter, which has studied the R

• Hubble and Webb Team Up to Probe Solar System's Faintest Icy Relics

  September 27, 2026

  NASA's Hubble and James Webb space telescopes have jointly studied some of the most distant and faintest bodies in our solar system for the first time, directly observing 27 newly discovered Trans-Neptunian Objects. Researchers found fewer small TNOs than expected and discovered that these tiny bodies share the same color relationships as their larger family members, suggesting they preserve their primordial compositions. Trans-Neptunian Objects are small, faint, icy bodies orbiting the Sun bey