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: The new year has brought with it more than a dozen new LEGO space sets and, for the first time, they share common branding across multiple themes. So whether you are a fan of LEGO City or Friends, Creator or Classic, or even DREAMZzz or DUPLO, there are new Mars bases, rockets and rovers for sale beginning Monday (Jan. 1). And for Technic fans, just wait: sets designed with NASA's help are coming March 1.
: The world's first coin to be struck in the new year is also the first new space collectible coin of 2024. The Royal Australian Mint on Monday (Jan. 1) released an uncirculated dollar coin with the theme "Out of this World - Australia in Space," depicting an astronaut and the nation's first satellite launch on its tails or reverse side. The design also pays homage to Australia's role in NASA's Apollo and Artemis moon landing programs.
: The "Go for Stack" process for assembling a 20-story-tall space shuttle exhibit is set to continue at the California Science Center with the scheduled lift of NASA's last built-for-flight external tank on Jan. 11. At the same time, the orbiter Endeavour will be shrink wrapped and a wall will be removed from its pavilion prior to its own multi-day move and lift into the construction site for the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
: United Launch Alliance (ULA) on Monday (Jan. 8) launched its first Vulcan rocket, sending Astrobotic's first Peregrine lunar lander on its way to the moon. Peregrine Mission One is carrying the first scientific instruments under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. ULA developed Vulcan to replace and outperform its Atlas and Delta-class rockets.
: More than 150 mementos are now bound for the surface of the moon via a new delivery service from DHL. Though you cannot (yet) track your shipment to the Bay of Stickiness (Sinus Viscositatis) on the company's website, the DHL MoonBox on the Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One lunar lander is known to be packed with a Mount Everest rock, a "meme" coin, a Belgian time capsule and a private astronaut's homage to his late father.
: Axiom Space and Build-A-Bear have announced that its Ax-2 zero-g indicator, "GiGi," has been given the "go" to fly again with the Ax-3 crew launching to the International Space Station later this month. A means of promoting STEAM education, GiGi's new flight assignment will be celebrated at participating Build-A-Bear Workshops with "out-of-this-world" parties and sales of its doll-size replica of Axiom's next generation lunar spacesuit.
: Sometime soon, NASA is going to receive a package of mayonnaise and what it does with it may be up to you. Sir Kensington's is kicking off a petition to "bring taste back to space" by proposing a "certain space agency" launch its otherworldly condiment flavors to the International Space Station. Sir Kensington's goal is "to help all people... and we can't stop at Earth's atmosphere."
: NASA on Tuesday (Jan. 9) announced one year delays for its first two missions to return astronauts to the moon. Citing engineering issues, including faulty circuitry in the Orion spacecraft's life support system, the Artemis II mission around the moon has been retargeted for September 2025. For Artemis III, the first mission to land astronauts at the lunar south pole, more time was needed to develop its SpaceX lander and Axiom spacesuits, leading to a delay to September 2026.
: Astronaut Peggy Whitson's Axiom flight suit is now on display at Space Center Houston. Whitson wore the suit aboard the International Space Station during AX-2, her first commercial trip to space in May 2023. Having now spent 675 days in orbit on three NASA missions and one private flight, Whitson is hoping that seeing her flight suit helps convey the progress that companies are making to open new paths into space.
: External Tank-94 (ET-94) was never launched into orbit, but in its journey to become part of space shuttle Endeavour's exhibit at the California Science Center it has crossed oceans and traveled city streets. Now it has made its final move, being hoisted high into the night sky and then carefully lowered into the construction site for Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
: Omega's new Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon builds off the design of the brand's previous Apollo 8 tribute by adding details, including perhaps most notably a seconds hand in the shape of a Saturn V rocket. "A small yet inspiring detail that celebrates the success of the Apollo program." The Swiss watchmaker also used lasers and contrasting surfaces to enhance the lunar surface engraved on the darkened dial.
: The Cosmosphere has announced that it is ready to renovate its Hall of Space museum, giving its galleries a new, unified look and feel. Dimly lit displays of early space flight and Apollo-era artifacts, including the Apollo 13 command module Odyssey, will be more brightly lit and set against new azure and white walls. The $4.7 million upgrades will also include new interactive exhibits and improvements to the Cosmosphere's theaters.
: Axiom Space's third private mission to the International Space Station is underway with four crew members all with European citizenships. Commanded by Michael Lopez-Alegria of Spain and the U.S., the Ax-3 crew includes Walter Villadei of Italy, Alper Gezeravci of Türkiye and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden. They will spend up to two weeks conducting science before returning to Earth.
: In the new movie "I.S.S.," the International Space Station serves as both a setting and a plot device. As such, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite knew she had to get the look of the orbiting laboratory correct for the film's story to feel true. The result was film scenes that could pass for NASA archival footage. "It looked like [they] had been building this ISS for decades," she said, referring to the "I.S.S." production team and their attention to detail.
: Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down safely near Shioli crater on Friday (Jan. 19), though an issue with its solar panels has cut short its operational lifetime on the surface. Despite the power problem, the feat has made Japan only the fifth nation to reach the surface, after Russia, the U.S., China and India. SLIM was designed to collect composition data about its landing site and it deployed two small rovers.
: You can now ship your Priority Mail packages using U.S. postage stamps that feature James Webb Space Telescope images. Released on Monday (Jan. 22), the new $9.85 Priority Mail stamp is adorned by Webb's infrared view of the "Pillars of Creation," while the "Cosmic Cliffs" in the Carina Nebula appear on the $30.45 Priority Mail Express stamp. Both are sold in panes of four stamps each, as well as on first day covers postmarked in Greenbelt, Maryland, where the telescope was developed.
: Billed as "an action-packed space adventure," the upcoming Apple TV+ series "Constellation" follows ESA astronaut Jo Ericsson (Noomi Rapace) as she seeks "the truth about the hidden history of space travel and recover all that she has lost." A trailer released on Monday (Jan. 19), provides a first extended look at the eight-part drama series, which debuts globally on Feb. 21.
: A watch based on a chronograph that was secretly flown to the moon has now been updated with a rock that famously fell to Earth. Bulova has released the latest model of its Lunar Pilot, replicating details from a prototype it flew and was used by Apollo 15 commander David Scott, but with a limited edition addition of a dial formed from a slice of the oldest known meteorite.
: How do you 'stuf' space into an Oreo cookie? Well, you could start by adding galactic designs to the cookie halves. Then you could fill them with marshmallow-flavored blue and pink "cosmic creme" mixed with popping candies for "a supernova bursting sensation." But if you really want it to be a "Space Dunk," then you give away a flight into the stratosphere, where the lucky winner can enjoy the Oreos while watching the planet pass below.
: The Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday (Jan. 24) unveiled a painting celebrating "Ohioans in Space." The reveal came 65 years after a similar tribute to the Wright brothers was placed on display in the capitol rotunda (by comparison it took 66 years for the first astronaut to walk on the moon after the first airplane flight). "Ohioans in Space" by Bill Hinsch honors John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, James Lovell, Judy Resnik and Eugene Kranz.
: NASA on Thursday (Jan. 25) paused to remember its astronauts who made the ultimate sacrifice in order to further space flight and exploration. Wreaths and flowers were laid at the space agency's centers, at the Space Mirror Memorial in Florida and at the memorials at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. More than a solemn tribute, the annual Day of Remembrance is also aimed at underscoring NASA's attention to safety as it sends astronauts further out into the solar system.
: NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter mission has come to its end. The historic rotorcraft, which in 2021 became the first vehicle to achieve powered, controlled flight on another world, was damaged on its 72nd flight earlier this month. An image taken of its shadow revealed where one of its rotor blades may have struck the Martian surface, leaving Ingenuity incapable of flying again.
: For the first time in more than a decade and only the second time in California's history, a complete space shuttle stack has been assembled to stand vertical as if ready to launch. NASA's retired orbiter Endeavour was lifted by crane and attached to an external tank and solid rocket boosters within the construction site for the California Science Center's new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour's upright exhibit will be ready for the public in the next several years.
: The Smithsonian plans to complete most of the on going renovations to the National Air and Space Museum by the summer of 2026, in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Washington, DC museum and the 250th birthday of the United States. Four of the new galleries will be devoted to space exploration, including "At Home in Space," which will include NASA's flown-to-the-moon Artemis I Orion capsule.
