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: Chosen by more than 85 astronauts to wear on the space shuttle, Seiko's A829 Sports 100 digital watch is set for a comeback. Nicknamed the "Rotocall" for its unique bezel control or "Astronaut" for its NASA-approved status, the Sports 100 is returning with the same three colorways as first sold in 1982. The £480 ($640 USD) re-release replicates the look and functions of the watch worn on 55 shuttle missions, from 1982 to 2002.
: McDonald's Monopoly game is back and this time around it features NASA's new ride to the moon. The fast food chain's brown bags have been updated to promote some of the available prizes and there, next to an off-road vehicle, is the Space Launch System (SLS). Those you play and collect the proper combination of game pieces can win a trip to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, possibly in time to see the Artemis II SLS launch.
: What if something went wrong during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and what if the Americans and Soviets were not the only countries with space programs that could respond. That is just the beginning of the alternate space history that Chris Hadfield weaves into "Final Orbit," his third novel in "The Apollo Murders" series, out on Tuesday (Oct. 7). Hadfield crafts his thriller by using the actual, lesser-known events of the 1970s space race.
: As an astronaut, he commanded space shuttle Discovery. Now, as a senator, Mark Kelly is leading a call for his former ride into orbit to stay on display in the Smithsonian. Kelly (D-AZ), together with Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) are urging appropriators to block funding from being used to relocate Discovery to Space Center Houston, a transfer put forth and pushed forward by Texas' senators.
: The Orion spacecraft that will fly NASA's Artemis II astronauts to the moon now has a name: "Integrity." The crew on Wednesday (Sept. 24) revealed the name, which they said was inspired by how they came together and how the workforce assembled the capsule. "Integrity" will carry Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day flight out beyond the moon in preparation for later landing missions.
: The Science Museum in London has opened "Space," its new gallery devoted to the Space Age and the future of space exploration. The exhibit is the first place where the public can see side by side a spacecraft that carried astronauts to the moon (NASA's Apollo 10 command module) alongside a modern capsule that returned crews from orbit (Soyuz TMA-19M), the latter with Tim Peake, the first British career astronaut.
: Omega introduced seven new Speedmaster watches on Tuesday (Oct 14), expanding on its Dark Side of the Moon collection. Designed with four distinct dials, the new timepieces include two based on the words NASA astronaut James Lovell used to describe the moon while in lunar orbit aboard Apollo 8. The Grey Side of the Moon models include those brief remarks, "the moon is essentially grey," on their lunar "far side" surface caseback.
: Hayley Arceneaux helped dedicate her own spacesuit on Tuesday (Oct. 7), as it went on display at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. Exhibited together with the Inspiration4 zero-g indicator and imagery from the 2021 privately-funded all-civilian orbital mission, Arceneaux's suit was put on exhibit to encourage patients and their families that there is life after cancer and always reach for the stars.
: Future government and private astronauts will keep track of their two weeks on board Vast's Haven space stations by using IWC Schaffhausen timepieces. The Swiss luxury watchmaker has been named the "Official Timekeeper" by the space habitation company. IWC also plans to use Vast's orbiting platforms to advance the performance and durability of mechanical wristwatches while also pushing the boundaries of timekeeping in space.
: After five years of work, the Hall of Space at the Cosmosphere in Kansas has a unified look. The galleries, which tell the story of the space race, have now all been renovated to share a common, brighter and more open layout. The hall also now features new interactive displays and returns several space artifacts to display after decades being held in storage. The entire Hall of Space is now open to visitors at the Cosmosphere.
: NASA has chosen its 24th class of astronaut candidates since the Mercury 7 were selected in 1959. The ten women and men, who will report for two years of training, were named at a ceremony held at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday (Sept. 22). The new 'ascans,' who were chosen from a pool of 8,000 applicants, were recruited for NASA's Artemis program, with its goals of setting up a presence on the moon and, ultimately, Mars.
: The first two non-astronaut "NASA legends" to join Space Hipsters' Signature Edition patch series kept the spacecraft and space explorers healthy. John Aaron, a "steely-eyed missile man" out of Mission Control, and Dee O'Hara, nurse to the original 7 Mercury astronauts, now each have their own embroidered emblem that includes their signature in thread. Sales of the limited patches send Native American girls to Space Camp.
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