NASA will not launch the Artemis III crew until Blue Origin's Moon lander is checked out in orbit, Isaacman says

The stories

8 stories on this beat today.

Every story told the same way: what happened, who is involved, why it matters, how it works, the truth and the good news.

1. 01

   NASA will not launch the Artemis III crew until Blue Origin's Moon lander is checked out in orbit, Isaacman says

   30 days

   how long Blue Origin's lander can wait in orbit while it is checked

   NASA commits the crew rocket only after those checks [1]

   3

   rockets for one crewed practice flight

   New Glenn first, then SLS with the crew, then Starship [1]

   290 miles

   above Earth, where Orion meets the test landers

   about 40 miles higher than the International Space Station [2]

   What happened

   • NASA will not launch the Artemis III crew until Blue Origin's Moon lander is in orbit. [1]
   • Jared Isaacman, head of NASA, the US space agency, said this to NASASpaceflight, a news site. [1]
   • Blue Origin, a rocket company, will launch its Blue Moon lander first. [1]
   • Blue Moon can wait in orbit for about 30 days while engineers check it. [1]
   • The mission needs 3 launches on 3 different rockets, Isaacman said. [1]
   • First Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, then NASA's SLS rocket with the crew, then SpaceX's Starship. [1]
   • Starship, from Elon Musk's SpaceX, is the other Moon lander NASA has ordered. [2]
   • Isaacman said NASA has never flown a crew mission built from three launches like this. [1]
   • 'We're not going to launch without Blue Origin in it,' Isaacman said. [1]
   • Once SLS lifts off, NASA is committed, so the lander has to be checked before then. [1]
   • Starship will practise meeting and docking during the crew's roughly two weeks in orbit. [1]
   • Isaacman named the lander as the main thing still holding up the schedule. [1]
   • He said Blue Origin has not yet finished putting together its test lander. [1]
   • Even with both landers ready today, NASA would still fly this rehearsal first, he said. [1]
   • He compared it to Apollo 9, an earlier practice flight near Earth before Apollo 11 landed. [1]
   • NASA sent hundreds of its own staff to help repair the pad, including welders. [1]
   • It also flew huge rocket parts across the US in C-17 military cargo planes. [1]
   • Isaacman said NASA would accept a month's delay to learn more from Blue Origin's lander. [1]

   New Glenn + Blue Moonfirst

   ↓→

   SLS + crew in Orionthen

   ↓→

   Starshiplast

   Who is involved

   Artemis III is a crewed practice flight near Earth, due in 2027, not a Moon landing. [2]

   Four astronauts in NASA's Orion capsule will dock with test Moon landers about 290 miles up. [2]

   Randy Bresnik of NASA commands; Luca Parmitano of Italy's space agency is the pilot. [2]

   Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, both from the US, complete the crew of four. [2]

   • Jared Isaacman head of NASA, the US space agency; he set the order of Artemis III's launches
   • Randy Bresnik a NASA astronaut; he commands the Artemis III crew of four
   • Luca Parmitano pilot, Italy's space agency
   • Blue Moon Blue Origin's lander
   • Starship SpaceX's lander
   • Blue Origin a US rocket company; it builds the Blue Moon lander and the New Glenn rocket, and launches first
   • SpaceX Elon Musk's rocket company; its Starship lander joins Artemis III last

   How it unfolded

   NASA turned the flight into a rehearsal in February because SpaceX's Starship lander was not ready. [2]

   A rocket blew up in a test on Blue Origin's only Florida pad on 28 May. [2]

   1. February landing turned into a rehearsal
   2. 2027 Artemis III flies
   3. 2028 Artemis IV aims to land
   4. First New Glenn carries Blue Moon
   5. Then SLS carries the crew in Orion
   6. Last Starship joins them
   7. Apollo 9 practice near Earth
   8. Apollo 11 landing on the Moon
   9. 1972 last Moon landing
   10. 2028 NASA's hoped-for landing
   11. Feb 2026 NASA turns Artemis III into a practice flight near Earth [2]
   12. 28 May a rocket blows up on Blue Origin's only Florida pad [2]
   13. This week Isaacman: Blue Moon launches first, then the crew [1]
   14. 2027 Artemis III is due to fly [2]
   15. 2028 NASA hopes Artemis IV lands on the Moon [2]

   Why it matters

   Blue Origin has only carried people on New Shepard, which hops up and back down. [1]

   So Artemis III is Blue Origin's first test of keeping people alive for long. [1]

   NASA hopes Artemis IV, in 2028, will land the first astronauts on the Moon since 1972. [2]

   How it works

   Systems engineers call this retiring risk: checking the least-proven part before any step that is final. [1]

   Here the least-proven part is Blue Moon, so it flies first and SLS waits. [1]

   The truth

   • What is really going on NASA has made Blue Origin's unfinished Blue Moon lander the gate for its next crewed flight: the Artemis III crew launches only after that lander is in orbit and checked, and NASA is lending its own staff and cargo planes to get it there. [1]
   • Why it works on people A firm order of launches sounds like a schedule that is on track, even though the first piece in it has not been fully built. [1]
   • Blue Origin gains NASA staff, cargo planes and patience to finish its lander. [1]
   • NASA pays in time: its crew flight waits on a lander not yet fully assembled. [1]
   • Who gains Blue Origin, the US rocket company — NASA is lending it hundreds of staff and C-17 planes, and will hold the crew rocket until its lander is checked. [1]
   • Who pays NASA's Artemis III schedule — The crew flight cannot start until Blue Moon is in orbit and checked, and Isaacman would accept a month's delay to learn more. [1]
   • Who pays SpaceX — Its Starship flies last on Artemis III and adds practice, while Blue Origin's lander is the test the crew launch waits on. [1]
   • Nobody knows yet

     When Blue Origin's test Blue Moon lander will be fully built.

     Isaacman said there is no fully assembled test lander yet, and he gave no date for one. [1]

   • Nobody knows yet

     When New Glenn can fly again from Blue Origin's damaged Florida pad.

     The BBC reported in June that rebuilding the pad would take many months, and the interview gave no new date. [1][2]

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether NASA's 2028 Moon landing date holds.

     Artemis IV's landing depends on Artemis III flying first, and Artemis III now waits on Blue Moon. [1][2]

   Good news

   • NASA sent hundreds of its own staff, welders among them, to help Blue Origin repair its damaged Florida launch pad.

   What comes next

   Next, Blue Origin must finish building its test lander, then launch it on New Glenn. [1]

1. 02

   Rubin finds more of Neptune's trailing asteroids

   What happened

   • Astronomers led from Queen's University Belfast found new Trojan asteroids that trail behind Neptune. [3]
   • The team used early test images from the Rubin Observatory, a new telescope in Chile. [3]
   • It identified 2 of these asteroids and 1 more possible one. [3]
   • That doubled the known trailing Trojans on orbits that last a very long time. [3]
   • Their colours showed the leading and trailing groups have similar surfaces. [3]

   Who is involved

   Trojans are rocks that share a planet's path round the Sun, ahead of or behind it. [3]

   How it unfolded

   Jupiter's Trojans were first seen in 1906. [3]

   For ten years this group sat in front of the bright centre of our galaxy. [3]

   1. 1906 Jupiter's Trojans first seen
   2. Now more of Neptune's found

   Why it matters

   These rocks are thought to be leftovers from when the planets formed. [3]

   The truth

   • What is really going on The rest of the day is science, where new looks at old spacecraft data and early telescope images changed what scientists think about Ceres's salt, Mars's crater ice and Neptune's Trojan asteroids. [3][4][5]
   • The third object stays only a possible Trojan until more sightings confirm it. [3]
   • Who gains The Rubin Observatory — Its early test images doubled the known trailing Neptune Trojans, a first sign of what its nine-year survey can find. [3]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether Rubin's third object near Neptune is a real Trojan.

     It is listed only as a possible member so far. [3]

   Good news

   • Early images from the new Rubin Observatory in Chile doubled the number of known Trojan asteroids trailing Neptune on long-lived orbits.

   What comes next

   Rubin's survey runs 9 more years and should find tens to hundreds more. [3]

1. 03

   Ceres may hide more salt than thought

   What happened

   • Ceres may hold 30 to 50 percent more salt than earlier readings showed, a study says. [4]
   • Two Caltech researchers combined Dawn's data with computer models of how the surface changes. [4]
   • They found water ice mixed in with the salt can hide it from view. [4]
   • Salty ice turns straight to gas faster, and the gas drifts to colder ground. [4]
   • The salt stays behind, so bright spots grow saltier over time. [4]
   • Landslides keep uncovering fresh ice, which keeps this going. [4]

   Who is involved

   Ceres is a dwarf planet and the largest object in the main asteroid belt. [4]

   • Two Caltech researchers built the models

   How it unfolded

   NASA's Dawn spacecraft studied it from 2015 to 2018 and saw bright salty spots. [4]

   1. 2015 Dawn reaches Ceres
   2. 2018 Dawn's work ends

   Why it matters

   Ceres' bright salt marks past water activity at its surface, so the amount matters. [4]

   How it works

   Planetary scientists call ice turning straight to gas sublimation. [4]

   Why ice on a cold world gathers in the coldest spots and leaves its salt behind

   With little or no air, ice turns straight to gas where it is warmer and freezes again where it is colder, leaving its salt behind.

   The twist

   Ice on a cold world keeps leaving warm ground and settling on cold ground. So where the ice sits today shows where it is coldest, not where the water first came from.

   The picture

   32 of 36

   Mars polar craters where the bright ice changed

   Step by step

   1. 1 With little or no air pressing on it, ice skips melting and turns straight into gas. Scientists call this sublimation.
   2. 2 Warmer ice turns to gas much faster than colder ice.
   3. 3 The gas drifts and freezes again on the coldest ground nearby, which is called a cold trap.
   4. 4 Anything that cannot turn to gas, like salt or dust, stays behind as a crust, which geologists call a lag.
   5. 5 So over many seasons, ice gathers in the coldest, shadiest spots and salt builds up in the warmer ones.

   The same force, elsewhere today

   Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

   • Ceres may hide more salt than thought

     Salty ice on Ceres turns to gas faster, the gas moves to colder ground, and the salt left behind makes the bright spots saltier.

   • Ice in Mars's polar craters comes and goes

     Ice on the crater floors grows in the cold months and shrinks in the warm ones, and each crater's own shape and shade decide how much.

   • An AI tool picks Moon landing sites

     The water ice LUMINA looks for sits in Moon craters that never see sunlight, the coldest ground there, which is where a cold trap collects it.

   Where you've seen this

   Old ice cubes in a freezer

   they slowly shrink, and the water turns up as frost on the coldest walls

   Comets near the Sun

   their ice turns to gas and leaves a dark crust of dust behind

   Freeze-dried food

   the water is frozen, then pulled off as gas in a vacuum, and the food stays

   The catch

   On Earth, thick air and warmth usually melt ice into water first, so this sorting is clearest on cold worlds with little or no air.

   And the whole of it

   Planners choosing Moon landing sites are looking for ice that drifted into the darkest craters over millions of years. Each team sees one crater or one dwarf planet, while the same slow drift runs across the solar system, down to the frost in a kitchen freezer.

   The truth

   • The result rests on models and Dawn's old data, since Dawn's work ended in 2018. [4]
   • Who gains Scientists working from old spacecraft records — Dawn's data from 2015 to 2018 and HiRISE pictures from 2006 to 2025 gave new results without a new launch. [4][5]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How much salt Ceres really holds.

     The 30 to 50 percent figure comes from models run on Dawn's data, and Dawn's work there ended in 2018. [4]

1. 04

   Ice in Mars's polar craters comes and goes

   What happened

   • Ice on the floors of craters near Mars's north pole grows and shrinks with the seasons. [5]
   • Researchers studied pictures of 36 craters taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. [5]
   • The pictures came from its HiRISE camera, between 2006 and 2025. [5]
   • Bright ice deposits changed in 32 of the 36 craters. [5]
   • In the other 4, the brightness did not change. [5]

   How it unfolded

   Mars's northern cap is water ice; its southern cap is frozen carbon dioxide. [5]

   A year on Mars lasts 668 Earth days. [5]

   1. 2006 first pictures
   2. 2025 latest pictures

   Why it matters

   The changes differed from crater to crater, the team found. [5]

   So each crater's own shape and weather likely matter more than Mars's overall climate. [5]

   How it works

   Planetary scientists call a small area's own weather a microclimate. [5]

   Ice on the crater floors grows in the cold months and shrinks in the warm ones, and each crater's own shape and shade decide how much.

   The idea, in story 03: Why ice on a cold world gathers in the coldest spots and leaves its salt behind →

   The truth

   • Frost on the ground outside a crater may also change how bright it looks. [5]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Why 4 of the 36 Mars craters showed no change.

     The study saw no change in their brightness, and frost on the ground outside a crater can also change how bright it looks. [5]

2. 05

   Exploding stars may have slowed the cosmic dawn

   What happened

   • Exploding stars may have slowed the clearing of the early universe's fog, not caused it. [6]
   • Many thought winds from exploding stars, called supernovas, blew holes that let this light escape. [6]
   • They studied six galaxies 3.5 billion light-years away, stand-ins for early ones. [6]
   • In their first 3 million years, winds from young stars let the light out. [6]
   • Later, supernova winds stirred up gas that trapped the light instead. [6]
   • The study was published on 15 October in Nature Astronomy. [6]

   Who is involved

   Cody Carr of the University of Michigan led a team using the Hubble Space Telescope. [6]

   • Cody Carr astronomer, University of Michigan

   How it unfolded

   About 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the first atoms formed and filled space like fog. [6]

   Ultraviolet light from the first stars later broke those atoms apart and cleared it. [6]

   Why it matters

   It disagrees with most computer models, where the light escapes most after supernova winds start. [6]

   How it works

   Cosmologists call the clearing reionization: light strips electrons off hydrogen atoms. [6]

   The truth

   • Six galaxies are a small sample, and the team wants more to check it. [6]
   • Who pays Builders of most computer models of the early universe — The Hubble study disagrees with models in which light escapes most after supernova winds start. [6]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether the universe's first galaxies behaved like the six that were studied.

     The team used six galaxies 3.5 billion light-years away as stand-ins and says more are needed. [6]

3. 06

   The Moon meets Mars and Jupiter

   What happened

   • On the night of 1 to 2 November, the Moon passes close to Mars and Jupiter. [7]
   • They sit in Leo, a group of stars also called the Lion. [7]
   • About an hour after midnight, the Moon is less than 5 degrees from Mars. [7]
   • That gap is about the width of three fingers held at arm's length. [7]
   • From Australia and Indonesia, the Moon will pass in front of Jupiter and hide it. [7]
   • Astronomers call this an occultation; it starts at 20:45 GMT on 2 November. [7]
   • On 3 November, parts of South America see the Moon cover Regulus, a bright star. [7]

   How it unfolded

   1. 2 Nov Moon covers Jupiter, seen from Australia
   2. 3 Nov Moon covers Regulus, seen from South America

   Why it matters

   Which part people see depends on where on Earth they stand. [7]

   How it works

   The Moon looks biggest, yet it is less than half as wide as Mars. [7]

   Jupiter is more than 20 times wider than Mars. [7]

4. 07

   An AI tool picks Moon landing sites

   What happened

   • Researchers at Ohio State University built an AI tool to choose safe Moon landing sites. [8]
   • It is called LUMINA, and it was presented at a meeting of planetary scientists. [8]
   • LUMINA weighs slopes, hazards, rock types and science value. [8]
   • It also looks for water ice, which astronauts could use for drinking, oxygen and fuel. [8]
   • LUMINA then compares the possible sites with each other to rank them. [8]
   • It builds on an earlier tool by the same group that describes Moon photos. [8]

   Who is involved

   Gokce Inal, a PhD student at Ohio State, led the study. [8]

   • Gokce Inal PhD student, Ohio State

   How it unfolded

   Water ice on the Moon sits in craters that never see sunlight. [2]

   NASA plans to land astronauts on the Moon in 2028, for the first time since 1972. [8]

   1. 1972 last crewed landing
   2. 2028 NASA's planned return

   Why it matters

   Inal says AI will help people sort the millions of images future missions will bring. [8]

   How it works

   The water ice LUMINA looks for sits in Moon craters that never see sunlight, the coldest ground there, which is where a cold trap collects it.

   The idea, in story 03: Why ice on a cold world gathers in the coldest spots and leaves its salt behind →

   The truth

   • It is still a research tool, and the team hopes to use it for Mars too. [8]
   • Who gains Planners of future Moon bases — LUMINA ranks landing sites by hazards, science value and water ice in one tool. [8]
5. 08

   Asteroids named for two Armagh staff

   What happened

   • Two staff at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, in Northern Ireland, now have asteroids named after them. [9]
   • His asteroid, (20560) Nezic, is 10.9 km across and was found in New Mexico in 1999. [9]
   • His asteroid, (7050) Shanekelly, is 15.6 km across and was found in Chile in 1982. [9]
   • The number in an asteroid's name shows the order in which it was found. [9]
   • Two people nominated Nezic for the honour. [9]
   • Armagh now counts 29 asteroids with some link to the observatory. [9]

   Who is involved

   Rok Nezic, who grew up in Slovenia, works there as a tours and outreach officer. [9]

   Shane Kelly has written down the observatory's weather readings by hand since 1999. [9]

   • Rok Nezic outreach officer
   • Shane Kelly weather observer

   Why it matters

   The biggest asteroids were found first, so the ones found now keep getting smaller, Nezic says. [9]

   Surveys that find asteroids also show which ones will not hit Earth, he says. [9]

   How it works

   The International Astronomical Union decides names; discoverers can propose one once an orbit is known well. [9]

   Good news

   • Kelly has entered more lines of weather data by hand than any of his 17 predecessors. [9]

   What comes next

   Armagh plans a new dome that will show the two asteroids and their orbits. [9]