NASA’s 2026 Student Launch Challenge is Underway

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Credit: NASA

If you are a student looking for an opportunity to be part of the space program, you have until September 22nd to provide NASA with plans to design, build, and launch high-powered rockets containing a scientific or engineering payload. This is part of the 2026 Student Launch challenge. The challenge is open to students from middle school, high school, and college. The final launches of these rockets are scheduled for April 25, to be held at Bragg Farms in Toney, Alabama.

First started in 2000, the competition in 2025 brought together almost 1,000 students. The winning team came from James Madison University (pictured below), closely followed by North Carolina State University and The University of Alabama in Huntsville.

This is a great opportunity for those with a love of space rockets. All of the details for entry can be found on NASA’s competition website.

Image (Credit): 2025 winning team participants from James Madison University with their high-powered rocket prior to launch. (NASA/Krisdon Manecke)

Sci-Fi Quote: Shaking the Foundation

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Apple TV+.

“Audiences are sophisticated these days, and you have to tell a good story — you don’t do this merely to surprise the audience — but one of the reasons why “Breaking Bad” or “Game of Thrones” is so exciting is they broke some of the conventions of storytelling by killing off lead characters. So I said, “What would be the most exciting thing?” And the most exciting thing would be if we end the season at a place where you think, “How can the show even survive after this? How can the Foundation prevail?”

-Statement by David S. Goyer, the executive producer of Apple TV+’s Foundation in an interview with The Wrap. Mr. Goyer discusses the third season final episode (with plenty of spoilers) while also noting that he will be leaving the show. The episode is mind-blowing as it destroys worlds (with a black hole Death Star) and key characters. It is a must see episode that turns the series upside down. I doubt even Hari Seldon could predict all of this mayhem.

Russian Progress 93 Mission Underway to Resupply the ISS

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Image (Credit): Russia’sProgress 93 cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (NASA+)

Even with the recent Russian drones invading Polish airspace, things are on schedule at the International Space Station (ISS). A Russian Soyuz rocket successfully launched the Progress 93 cargo spaceship into orbit yesterday to resupply the ISS on Saturday.

A similar NASA resupply mission will take place on Sunday to resupply the Expedition 73 crew. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft will be launched from Florida aboard a SpaceX rocket.

Things may still be a bit crazy here on Earth, but the ISS mission continues.

Update: The Grumman Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft safely launched on Sunday, September 14. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Wednesday, September 17.

Pic of the Week: The Martian Turtle

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Image (Credit): Turtle-like Martian rock formation in Jezero Crater photographed by the Preservation rover. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

While the Preservation rover on Mars has been busy looking for signs of life in Jezero Crater, it still had time to take a few fun photos as well, including the turtle image above (see the outline of the turtle below if you cannot find it). The rover captured the picture on August 31.

Image (Credit): Outline of turtle-like Martian rock formation in Jezero Crater photographed by the Preservation rover. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Space Quote: Potential Biosignature Found on Mars

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Image (Credit): The Martian rock nicknamed “Cheyava Falls” found in Jezero Crater last year. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

““The discovery of a potential biosignature, or a feature or signature that could be consistent with biological processes, but that requires further work and study to confirm a biological origin is something that we’re sharing with you all today that grows from years of hard work, dedication and collaboration between over 1,000 scientists and engineers here at the (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory and our partner institutions around the country and internationally.”

–Statement by Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), at a news conference earlier on Wednesday. The rock in question, found in an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater, was sampled by the Perseverance rover last year. For more on the findings you can visit the NASA site here.