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The only missing detail from the new Lego NASA Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle is the makeshift fender extension that Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt made by taping together four lunar maps. The Technic set, which went on sale Thursday (Aug. 1), does, however, include a map showing the real-life path the Apollo 17 astronauts drove on the moon. And that's just one of many details that the rover set faithfully reproduces.
: Northrop Grumman's 21st Cygnus cargo spacecraft launched for the International Space Station on Sunday (Aug. 4), carrying among its supplies a rare penny payload. The two one-cent coins are part of student science demo that the astronauts will record for NASA's Office of STEM Engagement. The pennies join only a handful of other cents that have left Earth, including coins that made it to the moon and touched down on Mars.
: The 13th person to fly as the pilot on a space shuttle mission, Jon McBride found the experience "pretty easy" after a "few thousand hours of practice in it and [the] simulators." McBride died on Wednesday (Aug. 7) at the age of 80. A naval aviator and member of NASA's first class of shuttle astronauts chosen in 1978, McBride flew on STS-41G, the sixth flight of space shuttle Challenger and first flight with seven crewmembers.
: A new documentary about "NASA's finest hour" is coming Sep. 5 to Netflix. "Apollo 13: Survival" from director Peter Middleton and Insight Film, re-tells the story of the ill-fated 1970 moon mission by using archival footage and original audio recordings along with interviews conducted with the crew, their families and those who worked in ground control. Netflix has released a trailer previewing the look and tone of the 96-minute film.
: Christie's is holding three auctions to offer the artwork and scientific objects from the late Paul G. Allen's collection. More than 50 lots included in the Gen One: Innovations sales are space related, including a spacesuit layer worn by astronaut Ed White and Chesley Bonestell's copy of his iconic painting 'Saturn as Seen from Titan." Bidding will either close online or be held live at Christie's New York on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
: Doritos will launch to space for the first time on the private Polaris Dawn mission. Prepared and packaged so the chips are safe for flight, Cool Ranch Zero Gravity Doritos are also now available to the public in limited edition glow-in-the-dark canisters in return for pledges to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Fans can also donate for the chance to win swag, including pins, patches and apparel, as well as flown-in-space Doritos tins.
: NASA has decided to land Boeing's Starliner spacecraft without its crew, returning astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard a SpaceX Dragon instead. Agency officials agreed there was too much risk completing the Crew Flight Test on Starliner due to issues encountered with the spacecraft's thrusters. Wilmore and Williams will stay on the International Space Station before coming home with Crew-9 in February 2025.
: Three and a half years after it was lowered to the ground, Pathfinder has been returned to its full stack at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama. Cranes lifted the restored mock space shuttle orbiter atop its external tank and solid rocket boosters after it was outfitted with 516 new 3D-printed panels. Originally built in 1977, NASA used Pathfinder to ensure its ground support equipment was ready for use with the flight-worthy orbiters.
: The Space Studies department at the University of North Dakota has acquired NASA's Orion capsule used to demonstrate the Max Launch Abort System (MLAS) in 2009. The mock capsule traveled about a mile high and splashed down in under a minute. In addition to being placed on display, the school plans to use the crew module as a teaching tool, as it connects NASA's history with the agency's future Artemis flights to the moon.
