09/23/2026
🚀 NEW WEEK, NEW SPACE NEWS! | MattyAtoms + FreeAstroScience
We've got another packed week of space news! This time we're talking about a brand-new impact crater discovered on the Moon, a bizarre temperature difference deep inside Mars, BepiColombo's long-awaited approach to Mercury, NASA's Roman Space Telescope powering up, a strange problem for relativistic solar sails, and the eventual return of the Swift Observatory.
🌕 A NEW CRATER ON THE MOON?!
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered McGetchin crater, a newly formed impact crater roughly 222 meters (728 feet) across. We'll look at how scientists found it, what the impact did to the surrounding lunar surface, and what it tells us about how frequently large impacts happen on the Moon.
🔴 MARS HAS A HUGE TEMPERATURE DIVIDE
New research using gravity measurements from multiple Mars missions suggests that the interior beneath Mars' southern hemisphere could be 200–400°C hotter than the northern interior and may be partially molten. We'll dig into what this could mean for Mars' geology, ancient magnetic field, seismic behavior, and watery past.
🛰️ BEPICOLOMBO IS FINALLY REACHING MERCURY
After roughly eight years in space and billions of miles of travel, BepiColombo is entering the final phase of its journey to Mercury. We'll talk about the mission, its gravity-assist journey, the propulsion problems that changed its timeline, and what ESA and JAXA hope to learn from Mercury.
🔭 ROMAN SPACE TELESCOPE UPDATE
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has now activated its Wide Field Instrument, a 300-megapixel infrared camera designed to survey huge portions of the sky while retaining incredible detail. We'll also check out the latest mission updates and what Roman could reveal once science operations begin.
☀️ CAN A SOLAR SAIL GO 75% THE SPEED OF LIGHT?
A new study explores a strange relativistic effect that could make scattered photons begin producing drag on an extremely fast laser-driven solar sail at around 75% of light speed. We'll break down what's actually happening — and what this does (and doesn't) mean for future interstellar spacecraft.
🛰️ THE SWIFT TELESCOPE IS COMING HOME
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has spent more than 20 years in orbit, but after an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the spacecraft, it is now expected to undergo an uncontrolled reentry. We'll talk about the mission, why Swift is coming down, and what NASA says about the eventual reentry.
Plus, we'll check out the latest imagery and updates from BepiColombo, explore some of the actual spacecraft imagery coming back from the mission, and of course have plenty of space nerd nonsense along the way. 😎
🔭 RESOURCES & STORIES
🌕 FreeAstroScience — McGetchin Crater
https://freeastroscience.com/new-crater-on-the-moon-mcgetchin/
🔴 ScienceDaily — Massive Heat Anomaly Inside Mars
https://sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260828082336.htm
🛰️ WIRED — BepiColombo Approaches Mercury
https://www.wired.com/story/after-8-years-in-space-bepicolombo-finally-approaching-mercury/
☀️ ScienceDaily — Solar Sails at 75% of Light Speed
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015157.htm
🛰️ ESA — BepiColombo Mission Images
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Missions/BepiColombo/(result_type)/images
🔭 NASA — Roman Space Telescope
https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/ #/sc_roman_space_telescope
🛰️ LADbible — Swift Observatory Reentry
https://www.ladbible.com/news/science/nasa-telescope-earth-failed-mission-space-science-technology-319035-20260828
🚀 NASA — Space Shuttle Impact Images
https://hvit.jsc.nasa.gov/impact-images/space-shuttle.cfm
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