Upcoming Conference: Space Settlement Summit

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If you are interested in seeing humanity spread into space, you might want to attend the upcoming Space Settlement Summit hosted by the National Space Society (NSS) and scheduled for November 3 and 4 in Orlando, Florida.

The federal government may be backing out of conferences, and science in general, but that need not stop you from learning more. Do you want to know more about the difficulties of settling on Mars, the role of robotics and AI in space travel, or some of the approaches being pursued by the big space industry players?

Some of the sessions already posted on the schedule for the first day are shown below:

You should also check out the range of presenters from industry, academia, and the non-profit center. It will take superior hardware, software, and brain power to eventually settle on Mars and elsewhere. You can be part of the discussion now.

The Early Bird prices end this coming Friday, so you need to make up your mind soon.

Credit: NSS

Space Quote: It’s Raining Satellites

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Credit: Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay.

“Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US, recorded an average of between one to two Starlink satellites deorbiting each day in 2025. That figure is expected to rise to around five per day as SpaceX continues to grow its space internet constellation.”

-Statement in the UK’s Independent newspaper regarding SpaceX’s Starlink satellites burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Given that the satellites are only expected to last 5 years and there are already 8,500 in orbit, this should come as no surprise. Fortunately, the satellites are designed to burn up after their useful life space. Of course, that does not necessarily mean that burning debris and the related pollutants are welcome. It will only get worse once Amazon and China start pumping even more satellites into orbit.

Is Jared Isaacman Back?

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Image (Credit): Jared Isaacman. (PolarisProgram.com)

It has been a few months since the blowup between President Trump and Elon Musk, which also led to the removal of billionaire Jared Isaacman as the nominee to be NASA administrator. In the meantime, Sean Duffy has been in the role of acting administrator while also trying to run the Department of Transportation.

Well, that may be ending soon as it appears Mr. Isaacman may have another chance at the NASA job, as reported by CNBC. President Trump is said to have met with Mr. Isaacman last month to discuss his return as a nominee.

It is not clear if this means Mr. Isaacman is forgiven for donating to democratic causes or the White House is very short on capable people to run NASA, or both. Whatever the case, it is quite a turn of events, possibly helped along by Musk’s hat-in-hand approach after the scuffle.

Mr. Isaacman is being offered a much diminished agency from the one offered earlier this year, with the White House planning severe cuts in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget. Talks of more layoffs and firings during the current shutdown also threatens to make the situation worse.

These are fickle times with the White House flipping its positions on issues almost daily, so the news could change. For now, it’s a matter of wait and see.

Pic of the Week: Tropical Cyclones Imelda and Humberto

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Image (Credit): Tropical Storm Imelda (left) and Hurricane Humberto off the eastern coast of the United States on September 28, 2025. The image also shows the outlines of the areas covered by clouds in North America and Caribbean. (NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership)

This week’s image comes from NASA’s Earth Observatory. It caught two tropical cyclones stirring up the Atlantic Ocean in late September. Both Tropical Storm Imelda and Hurricane Humberto caused plenty of problems off of the east coast of the United States without ever making landfall.

Here is more on the two storms from NASA:

Imelda had already brought tropical storm conditions to portions of the central and northwestern Bahamas. Prior to becoming a named storm, the system also lashed Puerto Rico and eastern Cuba with heavy rain. In the coming days, Imelda could intensify and cause flash and urban flooding along the coast of the Carolinas, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Although Humberto lurked farther from land, its effects still reached coastlines due to its massive size. Dangerous surf conditions affected beaches in the northern Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Bermuda, as well as much of the U.S. East Coast. Mid-Atlantic and even some Northeast states could see large swells and rip currents stemming from the storm, forecasters warned.

Video: Plans for the First Commercial Space Station

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If you are eager to understand what comes after the International Space Station (ISS), you might enjoy Vast’s video showing plans for the Haven-1 and Haven-2 missions as well as other future projects.

Vast’s Haven-1 is a single-module station expected to be launched in May 2026. Once Haven-1 is in orbit, four crew members will be launched to the Haven-1 station via a SpaceX Dragon for a two-week mission. This will be the first real test of the new commercial space station module, which is expected to stay in orbit for three years so three additional crews can visit and conduct research and even manufacture in space.

Haven-2 will follow with a larger module. The plan is to link a series of modules to create an expanded station (see image below). The construction of Haven-2 is expected to be underway while the ISS goes out of service in 2030.

Vast is one of numerous companies hoping to fill the gap left by the departing ISS. Whether it is selling seats to NASA scientists, commercial entities, or space tourists, this American company based in California sees a future in space stations.