This Week in Space (Audio) TWiS 200: Our 200th Episode Listener Special! - We're Talking to You!
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Mar 6, 2026 A lively listener special full of jokes, limericks, and playful banter woven with audience messages. Brief news rundowns touch on Artemis program shifts, a safe asteroid flyby of the Moon, NASA’s new hiring push, and a troubling MAVEN anomaly. Conversation ranges from lunar eclipses and Apollo proof to debates on Mars cooperation and funny space anecdotes.
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Artemis Will Use ICPS For First Three Flights
- NASA will fly the first three Artemis missions using the current SLS Block 1 and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS).
- Artemis 2 will do a lunar flyby and Artemis 3 will reach lunar orbit while a commercially competed new upper stage is planned for Artemis 4 and 5, likely from Vulcan or a similar provider.
SLS Block Two Is Dead And Hardware Consequences Follow
- NASA canceled development of the SLS Block 2 Exploration Upper Stage and will instead pursue a commercially competed upper stage for later Artemis missions.
- That decision impacts infrastructure like Mobile Launch Platform 2 and may lead to halted or repurposed hardware despite large prior expenditures.
Asteroid 2024 YR4 Will Miss The Moon In 2032
- Asteroid 2024 YR4 posed early uncertainty but NASA's latest trajectory work shows it will miss the Moon in 2032.
- Future lunar bases needn't plan around this object—no insurance hustle required.
