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4 Fantasy Football Players Trending Up & Down: Week 7 (2026)  FantasyPros

Another Kpeenu trending up in Bison backfield  InForum

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4. Apple's foldable iPhone hits stores with $2,000 price tag and scarce supply  Reuters
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1. Four advantages MacBook Pro redesign will have over current model  9to5Mac
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4. What To Expect At Apple's 'Pro And Tell' Event On October 28  Engadget
5. Apple Announces Oct. 28 Event for Touch-Screen MacBook Pro  Bloomberg.com

1. Apple revives the original iPod as an Apple Music easter egg  The Verge
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As NASA returns humans to the lunar surface and establishes a long-term presence on our closest celestial neighbor, the agency and commercial human landing system providers Blue Origin and SpaceX have streamlined the designs and changed both concepts of operations for its future crewed landers.

Since NASA established initial contracts with Blue Origin and SpaceX for crewed missions to the Moon, the agency has redefined Artemis III to demonstrate rendezvous and docking capabilities between test versions of landers from each provider and the agency’s Orion spacecraft in low Earth orbit next year. In parallel, the companies are also developing crew and cargo versions of their landers for near-term Artemis missions.

“We are executing President Trump’s National Space Policy to complete the long-awaited return of American astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 and establish a Moon Base,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “We have a proven foundation in SLS and Orion, along with two lunar landers in development with Blue Origin and SpaceX. But NASA has no intention of sitting idly by as all the pieces come together. That is not how Apollo succeeded, and it is not how the near-impossible is achieved. NASA is energized, our core capabilities are being rebuilt, our machine shops are running 24/7, and our experts are in the field attacking the critical path. We are building a Super Bowl-caliber team to safely achieve these objectives and everything that comes next.”

For the initial crewed missions to the Moon, Artemis astronauts will launch in the agency’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During each Artemis mission, a commercial human landings system will link up with Orion before taking two crew members to the lunar surface while two remain aboard Orion. To accelerate development toward a 2028 landing, the Artemis landers and Orion will no longer rendezvous in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon and instead meet up in an orbit that differs for each partner, informed by their systems.

Both companies are required to perform an uncrewed demonstration mission with their crewed landers prior to the near-term Artemis crewed missions to the Moon. NASA will certify lander systems prior to the crewed missions to ensure safety and mission success.

Starship lander concept of operations

SpaceX continues to plan for an in-space propellant aggregation approach to transfer super cold, or cryogenic, liquid propellant in space. The company will launch multiple versions of Starship to low Earth orbit prior to the launch of the Starship Human Landing System (HLS) from Florida. Similar to a gas station on Earth, the series of propellant “tanker” Starships in low Earth orbit will transfer propellant to the waiting “depot” Starship. The depot Starship will ultimately fuel the Starship lander for its journey to the Moon.

Under the revised operations, Starship HLS will await Orion and its crew in Earth orbit. The lander and Orion will rendezvous and dock in Earth orbit, then the Starship lander will perform a trans-lunar injection burn to send the combined lander and Orion stack to low lunar orbit. NASA is working to modify Orion to enable Starship to push it to the Moon. The lander will bring two crew members to the lunar surface for several days before delivering them back to Orion for the ride back to Earth.

Propellant aggregation in low Earth orbit allows for flexibility in the crew launch timing on SLS, while a trans-lunar injection burn performed by the Starship lander will enable direct access to low lunar orbit. This new concept of operations using low lunar orbit will significantly lower the amount of propellant Starship needs to aggregate in space while reducing the amount of time it can take for astronauts leaving the Moon’s surface in Starship to link back up with Orion. SpaceX will demonstrate the propellant aggregation approach during the uncrewed demonstration mission.

Blue Moon lander concept of operations

For its accelerated 2028 crewed lunar landing mission, Blue Origin will defer propellant transfer and use three transfer stages to send the Blue Moon Mark 2 Alpha Lander to the Moon. Based on existing Mark 1 and Mark 2 hardware, the stages operate like a multistage rocket. They launch into low Earth orbit, followed by the Mark 2 lander. Once docked, the stack departs for an elliptical polar orbit around the Moon, with each transfer stage separating as its propellant depletes. Compared with the previously planned near-rectilinear halo orbit, the elliptical polar orbit offers faster returns from the lunar surface to Orion, reduces Blue Moon lander propellant requirements, and maximizes the performance available by SLS.

This architecture provides multiple opportunities for SLS and Orion to launch the crew to elliptical polar orbit and dock with the Blue Moon Mark 2 lander. Two crew members then transfer to the lander and descend to the Moon’s South Pole. After surface operations, the lander returns to Orion, where the crew transfers for their journey back to Earth.

Blue Origin will incorporate lessons from earlier robotic Mark 1 missions supporting the agency’s Moon Base Program and demonstrate the full mission profile in an uncrewed lander transfer stage demonstration mission.

Returning American astronauts to the Moon

Ultimately, based on lander readiness, NASA will determine which company will be first selected to safely deliver astronauts to the Moon’s surface and back to lunar orbit in 2028. A second crewed landing opportunity will follow.

NASA is targeting two, approximately two-hour long lunar surface Moonwalks during initial surface missions. Astronauts will use the Moonwalks to collection lunar samples and test capabilities of the spacesuit provided by Axiom Space.

Earlier this year, NASA updated its contracts with Blue Origin and SpaceX for human landing systems and large cargo deliveries to the Moon. The updates align the agency’s human landing system requirements with acceleration efforts announced earlier this year to streamline Artemis mission architecture, expedite a lunar return, and support an increased mission cadence to the Moon.

Under the original HLS contracts, SpaceX’s Starship human landing system was assigned to the Artemis III and IV missions, while Blue Origin would use its Blue Moon Mark 2 human landing system for Artemis V. Under the contract realignments, both providers are participating in the Artemis III mission in low Earth orbit and neither lander provider has been assigned to a specific Artemis lunar landing mission.

“NASA and our lunar lander providers Blue Origin and SpaceX have been working hand in hand to ensure we can return American astronauts to the Moon by 2028,” said Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s Artemis program manager.“While work to realign with our partners in support of architecture updates announced at Ignition Day in March has been underway since then, updating the contracts ensures NASA and its partners are on the same page with requirements and other milestones to ensure continued insight into lander development to support mission success and the safety of our Moon crews.”

Both Blue Origin and SpaceX have added development milestones to provide NASA with more insight into lander development efforts, reducing risk and enhancing astronaut safety in preparation for crewed Moon landings. SpaceX is adding two demonstrations of its crew cabin, called Cabin 1, for its Starship lander. Blue Origin is adding new human-in-the-loop testing and hardware readiness milestones to streamline training development as well as ground and flight operations.

As part of a Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA will send Artemis astronauts on increasingly difficult missions near the lunar South Pole to explore more of the Moon than ever before. In addition to providing economic benefits and advancing scientific discovery though its Moon missions, NASA will establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface and build on the agency’s foundation for the first crewed mission to Mars. 

Before astronauts return to the lunar surface, NASA will first conduct one of the most ambitious and complex test missions in the agency’s history. 

Launching in 2027, Artemis III will send NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, Andre Douglas, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano aboard the Orion spacecraft into low Earth orbit to perform a series of demonstrations with test versions, or test articles, of human landing systems being developed by industry partners Blue Origin and SpaceX. During the planned 14-day mission, crews and flight controllers will practice the rendezvous, docking, habitation, and operational procedures that will be essential when Artemis astronauts begin landing near the Moon’s South Pole in 2028. The mission is designed to reduce risk, validate hardware, and gain operational experience before NASA attempts a crewed lunar landing.  

“Every piece of this mission in Earth orbit is designed to reduce risk before we put astronauts back on the Moon,” said Jeremy Parsons, NASA’s Artemis program manager. “We’re launching three spacecraft on three different rockets and testing how they operate together — something NASA has never attempted. Every lesson we learn here gets us closer to landing on the Moon in 2028.” 

First stop: Blue Origin’s lunar lander test article 

Earlier Artemis missions used only NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft. Artemis III will involve three separate spacecraft launched on three different heavy-lift rockets within a relatively short period of time. 

The mission begins with Blue Origin launching a test version of its Blue Moon Mark 2 lander into a circular low Earth orbit approximately 273 miles (237 nautical miles) above Earth. The spacecraft can remain on orbit for up to 30 days providing schedule flexibility. Artemis III is designed as a tightly choreographed campaign, with NASA planning to launch Orion on top of SLS from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida only days after the Blue Moon test article launch and confirmation the vehicle is healthy and ready for joint operations. 

Following launch, Orion will initially enter an elliptical Earth orbit of 18 x 1122 miles (16 x 975 nautical miles). It will use its service module to perform a series of maneuvers to transition to a circular orbit at about 345 miles (300 nautical miles) for thermal stabilization before then gradually setting up its rendezvous with the waiting Blue Moon lander test article. Because each spacecraft operates in slightly different orbital regimes optimized for its mission requirements, Artemis III requires a carefully choreographed sequence of orbital maneuvers and rendezvous operations throughout the flight. 

During the first two days of flight, the crew will check out Orion’s systems, prepare for proximity operations, and gradually position themselves for the mission’s first major objective: rendezvous and docking with the Blue Moon test vehicle. 

The operation represents NASA’s first opportunity to evaluate how Orion and a commercial lunar lander work together in space. Engineers will assess how software aboard both spacecraft, guidance systems, communications systems, and operational procedures perform in real-world conditions, while flight controllers gain experience coordinating activities across multiple teams and organizations. 

Once docked, astronauts will spend approximately two days conducting evaluations aboard the Blue Moon test article. Crew members will open the hatch and enter the spacecraft, allowing them to assess the cabin environment, controls, and life-support systems firsthand. Teams will verify the spacecraft’s ability to maintain the proper atmosphere and pressure. 

The Blue Moon test article incorporates many of the avionics, software, flight-control systems, crew-cabin technologies, and life-support functions planned for future lunar missions. Testing those systems in orbit will provide the first opportunity to evaluate how many of the lander’s flight systems perform in space as an integrated vehicle. 

By the time Orion undocks, NASA will have completed its first evaluation of a commercial lunar lander with crew, gathering data on spacecraft systems, crew operations, and spacecraft interoperability not possible on the ground. 

Starship docking demonstration  

After completing operations with Blue Origin’s lander, Orion will undock and reposition to support the next phase of the mission: a second rendezvous operation. 

SpaceX will launch a Starship Version 3 test article from Florida. Because Starship is designed for a much shorter on-orbit lifetime than Blue Origin’s lander, launch occurs later in the mission, allowing NASA to efficiently sequence the two docking demonstrations. Starship will enter a lower orbit at 206 nautical miles, optimized for communications coverage, and will carry an added docking system mounted at the forward end. 

Orion will rendezvous and dock with the spacecraft during a test expected to last up to two hours. Crew will not enter Starship during this test. The demonstration is focused on validating how Orion and Starship interact as a docked system in space. NASA and SpaceX plan to evaluate spacecraft controllability, communications, integrated software performance, and the dynamics associated with docking and undocking operations. 

The docking itself also presents a unique test, using different docking geometries. Orion will connect to a port beside Blue Moon’s crew cabin, then later align its forward docking system with the one at Starship’s nose. Testing both approaches during a single mission gives NASA an opportunity to assess different operational concepts while gathering valuable engineering data.  

Together, the two docking campaigns will demonstrate how Orion interfaces with two very different commercial lander architectures during a single mission. 

Testing Orion for future exploration 

Even after docking activities are complete, Artemis III will continue generating data that supports future missions. 

Once the Starship demonstration is complete, Orion and its crew will have up to five additional days available in orbit before beginning preparations for the journey home. NASA plans to use this time to complete a variety of test objectives that support future Artemis missions, including additional evaluations of the Orion Crew Survival System suits, docking sensor tests, acoustic and thermal measurements, human-factors assessments, and a range of science and technology demonstrations. 

Several investigations led by NASA will build on studies conducted during Artemis II, collecting additional data that will help inform future deep-space missions. The crew also will conduct a proof-of-concept study examining how astronauts could perform health-related assessments when they are unable to communicate directly with mission control, an important capability for future lunar surface expeditions and other missions farther from Earth. 

NASA also plans to fly a cellular biology experiment during the mission while researchers use the flight to test concepts for returning lunar samples to Earth. Teams will evaluate how future samples could be transported, received, and moved into curation facilities after landing, while also conducting assessments of Orion’s environment to better understand potential contamination considerations for future lunar missions. 

The mission also will include Earth and solar observations that help astronauts continue developing critical observation skills while taking advantage of the spacecraft’s unique orbital vantage point. Plant seeds will fly aboard Orion as well, providing opportunities for scientific study and educational engagement following the mission. 

Mission planners have also built flexibility into the flight timeline, providing additional opportunities to complete test objectives depending on how operations unfold in real time. 

When ready, Orion will begin phasing for return, and the crew will configure the cabin for reentry and splashdown, which will occur in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. Orion and its crew will be recovered by NASA personnel and the United States Navy. 

Practicing for Moon missions 

Every activity performed during Artemis III supports a larger goal: reducing risk before astronauts return to the lunar surface. 

The mission will provide NASA with experience operating alongside multiple commercial partners while managing complex rendezvous and docking operations involving three different spacecraft. Engineers will gain insight into spacecraft interoperability, mission-control coordination, communications architecture, crew operations, and hardware performance. 

By the time Artemis III concludes with Orion’s splashdown on Earth, NASA will have demonstrated technologies and operational concepts that future lunar crews will rely on as they travel to and from the Moon.  

Most importantly, Artemis III will provide the operational experience needed to transform plans for future lunar landings into proven flight procedures. The lessons learned throughout the mission will help refine future exploration plans, strengthen partnerships with industry, and ensure astronauts are prepared for humanity’s next giant leap at the Moon. 

As part of a Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA will send Artemis astronauts on increasingly difficult missions near the lunar South Pole to explore more of the Moon than ever before. In addition to providing economic benefits and advancing scientific discovery through its Moon missions, NASA will establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface and build on the agency’s foundation for the first crewed mission to Mars. 

To learn more about Artemis, visit: 

www.nasa.gov/artemis 

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has ended its science mission now that the spacecraft is orbiting less than 171 miles (275 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. The greater atmospheric drag at this height prevents the satellite’s telescopes from steadily gazing at their astronomical targets.

Swift conducted its final observation on Oct. 20. It is expected to re-enter the atmosphere in the next few weeks.

“Swift delivered an incredible, lasting return on investment for the nation, designed for a two-year primary mission but productive for more than 10 times as long,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director, Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “In that time, Swift played a major role in advancing our understanding of the changing universe and was part of a revolution in astrophysics that showed how critical rapid-response observations are to the entire community. To support rapid response to cosmic events in a post-Swift world, we’re exploring our ability to use and augment NASA’s fleet of existing space telescopes, from fast-to-orbit commercial capabilities to efficient, innovative new missions. And Swift leaves us with an extraordinary archive of multiwavelength observations that will fuel new discoveries for decades more.”

In its storied career, Swift has observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. It has studied more than 1,400 supernova explosions, witnessed stars shredded by black holes, monitored active galaxies, conducted an all-sky X-ray survey, studied asteroids and comets, and more. Swift data has contributed to about 7,000 published scientific papers.

“Swift was designed as a satellite dedicated to studying gamma-ray bursts, outbursts that came and went so quickly that no one could target them with large telescopes to learn more,” said S. Bradley Cenko, the mission’s principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Swift needed to detect and locate gamma-ray bursts, communicate their position to other observatories, and then swing its telescopes around to image the burst locations before their afterglows faded out. This typically took Swift about a minute to do.”

Led by its first principal investigator, Neil Gehrels, Swift was born as a multiwavelength observatory, with co-aligned Optical/Ultraviolet and X-ray telescopes that could quickly image and refine a burst’s position. The mission launched into orbit on Nov. 20, 2004, and went to work the following month. In 2018, NASA renamed the mission to honor Gehrels following his death.

Speed was especially important for an elusive population called short gamma-ray bursts, which reach peak brightness in less than two seconds. Until Swift, it had been impossible to locate these bursts rapidly and precisely enough to observe their afterglows. In May 2005, Swift achieved this milestone with GRB 050509B, which lasted just 0.03 seconds. Swift turned to the burst fast enough to detect 11 X-ray photons, making this the first short burst with a detected afterglow. These observations validated long-standing theoretical models, showing that short gamma-ray bursts likely come from mergers of two neutron stars — objects with the mass of the Sun that have been crushed to the size of a city.

Another factor led to Swift’s success as a kind of astronomical multitool. Its flexible planning system enabled astronomers to request “target-of-opportunity” observations that could be commanded from the ground in as little as a few minutes, or to set up monitoring programs for observing specific sources lasting from as little as a few minutes to months. The system could schedule up to 75 independent targets a day.

“The unique speed of response of the Swift hardware, the extraordinary success of the rapid mission operations, and the closely knit teamwork of the Swift Flight and Science Operations teams placed Swift at the crossroads of burgeoning areas of research,” said John Nousek, the mission’s operations director and professor of astronomy and astrophysics in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania.

The Swift archive contains nearly 22 years of brightness measurements of all kinds of cosmic outbursts, multiwavelength spectra, more than 1.5 million images from its Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope, and much more. The full dataset, publicly available as part of NASA’s commitment to open, gold standard science, spans approximately 12 terabytes, the storage equivalent of about 600 high-definition movies.  

As part of the agency’s previous planning for Swift’s end of mission, NASA will continue to prioritize finding new options to react rapidly to cosmic events, using current missions to help fill the gap in the meantime.

To learn more about the Swift mission, visit:

https://nasa.gov/swift

Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi tested RS-25 engine No. 10001 on Oct. 21, 2026. The hot fire test lasted for almost eight-and-a-half minutes (500 seconds), the same amount of time RS-25 engines fire during launch of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, with a 111% power level. For each Artemis mission, four RS-25 engines produce up to 2 million pounds of combined thrust to help launch the SLS rocket.

Prior to use, all RS-25 engines are proven flightworthy at NASA Stennis. While this developmental engine will not be used in flight, the hot fire test provides NASA and NASA’s prime engine contractor L3Harris Technologies with the capability to capture critical data to improve engine performance and reliability.

Image credit: NASA/Danny Nowlin

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