Jets' Garrett Wilson in concussion protocol, Breece Hall trending toward return  ESPN

Jerry Jones on Cowboys' defense: 'I like the way we're trending'  Dallas Cowboys | Official Site of the Dallas Cowboys

These purple WA districts are trending blue. What changed?  Washington State Standard

Revolut Cuts A.I. Coding Costs 90% With a Chinese Open-Weight Model  www.trendingtopics.eu

Jerry Jones explains his faith in Cowboys' defense: 'I like the way we're trending'  Dallas News

1. ‘The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time’ Remake Metacritic Review Score Is Historic  Forbes
2. Why Nintendo is betting on a nearly 30-year-old game remake to win the holiday  CNN
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time review – a dream come true  The Guardian
4. Ask the Developer Vol. 24: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time — Part 4  Nintendo
5. Review | A worthy Zelda remake proves ‘Ocarina of Time’ is still a masterpiece  The Washington Post

1. God of War Laufey delayed three months to May 2027, as Sony Santa Monica escapes a packed February  Eurogamer.net
2. God of War Laufey delayed until May  The Verge
3. God Of War Laufey Delayed To May  Game Informer
4. God of War Laufey Slips From February 16 to May 20, 2027, Leaving a Q1 Window Crowded by the GTA VI Fallout  Wccftech
5. God of War Laufey Delayed to May 2027  IGN

1. Anker’s new window-mounted camera monitors the outside of your home from within it  The Verge
2. eufy Window Camera E10 Launch: Indoor Mount, Outdoor View | IIC  iPhone in Canada
3. Can’t Mount a Camera Outside? Eufy’s $80 Window Camera Offers Another Option  The Gadgeteer
4. Anker's eufy Window Camera E10 sticks to the window from inside and surveils the outdoors through the glass  Digital Trends
5. Anker's $79.99 Eufy Window Camera E10 Watches Your Yard Without Going Outdoors  BigGo Finance

1. People say they want small smartphones—the Enough Phone will put that to the test  Ars Technica
2. Small Phones Have Vanished. Enough Phone Wants to Bring Them Back  WIRED
3. ‘Enough Phone’ is an Android phone roughly the size of iPhone 13 Mini, launching in 2027  9to5Google
4. This tiny Android phone promises Android 17 and five years of OS updates  Android Authority
5. Had enough of huge phones? A new 5.3-inch handset is here to help  T3

1. Google’s Stadia Controller dream lives on in the $50 Xbox Nano Controller  9to5Google
2. Preview Two New Ways to Play with XBOX Cloud Gaming  XBOX Wire
3. Xbox’s smallest-ever controller is surprisingly comfortable  The Verge
4. Xbox Nano Controller Review: This Cute, Portable Controller Presses Most of the Right Buttons  CNET
5. Xbox Nano Controller launches for $49.99 with a hidden Wi-Fi cloud gaming feature  TweakTown

NASA selected three companies on Wednesday to perform work to develop Ka-band space relay capability concepts that are compatible with current missions in space, ensuring service continuity for existing spacecraft without requiring modifications to their onboard systems.

Through this work, NASA will aim to acquire end-to-end solutions that include space, ground, launch, operations, and integration elements, as one of many customers in the commercial marketplace.

The awards, under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-3 Broad Agency Announcement Appendix E, are firm-fixed-price contracts that give NASA the option to provide additional funding up to the award limit to advance from initial concept development and risk reduction to an in-orbit flight demonstration. The initial period of performance runs from Nov. 4 through May 3, 2027, with additional priced options to continue work through 2029.

The contract awardees with maximum potential value inclusive of all future options are:

• Astranis Space Technologies Corp. for $264.3 million.
• Global Enterprise Solutions Inc. for $340.4 million.
• Viasat Inc. for $460.9 million.

Facilitated through the agency’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program’s Communications Services Project, this work supports NASA’s decision to gradually retire the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite fleet and adopt commercial services for future missions. In addition to the commercial capabilities currently under development by the program’s industry partners, Ka-band services are needed to support select in-orbit missions that cannot feasibly modify flight hardware or transition to non-compatible commercial services.

To learn more about NASA’s Network Extension for User Continuity and Sustainability Ka-band service acquisition, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/4iVfeVB

-end-

Jennifer Dooren / Jessica Taveau
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
jennifer.m.dooren@nasa.gov / jessica.c.taveau@nasa.gov

NASA successfully demonstrated technology designed to help spacecraft autonomously navigate to safe landing sites on the Moon and on other planets.

An Alta-X drone equipped with the agency’s Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) guidance, navigation, and control payload completed simulated lunar descent and landing maneuvers Aug. 27. The flight took place at Rogers Dry Lake near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

During the tests, the SPLICE payload used an advanced guidance system to map the terrain and assess potential landing areas. If the system determines the targeted landing area is unsafe, the system diverts the drone to a safer location. The system generates high-resolution digital elevation maps from light-detection and sensor data.

Researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston developed the SPLICE payload and partnered with specialists at NASA Armstrong to integrate, test, and fly it aboard the Alta-X drone in June and July. Those tests verified communications, data handling, telemetry, and command- control performance between the SPLICE payload and the drone to prepare for a full-scale test at Voyager Technologies in Mojave, California, later this month.

“This flight test is the culmination of almost a decade of work, for the SPLICE project,” said Davis Adams, NASA project manager. “This flight raised the technology readiness level, priming it for integration into future robotic and crewed lunar flights. Validation of the guidance and navigation systems are applicable to terrestrial, lunar, and Martian descent and landing missions.”

NASA has worked with a number of commercial lunar lander providers to implement iterations of SPLICE into their platforms. A number of the landers slated for upcoming Moon Base missions leverage data collected by NASA through the development of systems like SPLICE to execute soft touchdowns on the lunar surface.

“We are coordinating with industry regarding the usage of the guidance system once the system is available in the NASA software catalog, currently planned for this fall,” Adams said. “Some of the companies also are  evaluating the system’s navigation capabilities for precision landing applications, as well as potential extensions for autonomous surface mobility.”

NASA’s Flight Opportunities project, based at NASA Armstrong, enabled flight testing of the SPLICE project early in its development that laid a foundation for it to continue advancing its technology readiness level to what it is today. Flight testing included both a descent altitude and a landing trajectory in 2019 similar to what is expected on a lunar mission and the demonstration of two NASA-developed precision landing sensor systems in 2020.

NASA’s Inspiration Tour spread the excitement of space exploration and aeronautical innovation by connecting the public, industry, and academia with the people, technologies, and organizations that drive American leadership in space. At nearly every stop across the country, NASA Space Grant has brought students into the heart of the action.

In Iowa, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman toured the Make to Innovate program lab at Iowa State University. Students from the Iowa Space Grant Consortium’s Mission Moon program, along with consortium-funded student organizations including Cardinal Space Mining, CySat, and CyLaunch, shared research findings and demonstrated the institution’s strong connection to NASA via agency-funded projects. During a well-attended town hall event NASA experts briefed students on the agency’s Moon Base efforts and how their work can contribute to future exploration.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to welcome NASA leadership to Iowa State,” said Sara Nelson Iowa Space Grant director. “The excitement among students was incredible, and the visit highlighted how the research and innovation happening in Iowa can help advance Artemis and NASA’s future exploration efforts.”

At the University of Arizona, the NASA administrator saw firsthand the space research and engineering capabilities that are enabled by the Arizona Space Grant Consortium. From satellite communications testing to complex optics for peering into deep space to student-built high-altitude balloon payloads and even small satellites, students at the University of Arizona have a long history of contributing to NASA missions and making aerospace career connections. This tour stop also included a Q&A session where the NASA administrator answered questions from local high school and college students.

“It was incredible to present the high-altitude ballooning research we do in SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) to Jared Isaacman and those at NASA,” said Ella Miller, a junior studying mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona. “Arizona Space Grant has allowed me to get hands-on experience through an entire mission design process every semester, helping me pursue a career in space research and secure internships in this field.”

At the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, the Administrator toured two Geophysical Institute facilities: Poker Flat Research Range, the university’s scientific rocket launching facility, and the Alaska Satellite Facility. During an Alaska Space Grant science fair, students shared research in hibernation biology and showcased CubeSat technology advancements. Students were also able to learn about the agency’s Moon Base program and ask questions about opportunities available to the next generation of innovators and explorers.

In North Dakota, the Inspiration Tour focused on future exploration capabilities. Space Grant-funded research at the University of North Dakota is helping to shape the future of exploration across STEM fields. Student fellows and NASA interns shared their projects on supercell mergers using satellite imagery, geomagnetic conditions of aurora borealis, and in-situ resource utilization, to name a few. North Dakota Space Grant STEM ambassador students also shared robotics and drone activities as part of “Mission Moon”, which centers Artemis initiatives in statewide collaborations with educators and other North Dakota colleges and universities.

“Getting to speak with the NASA Administrator was an amazing opportunity!” said research fellow and STEM ambassador Malissa Reinhardt. “He genuinely cared about what we students had to say and the research we’re working on, which makes all the hard work we put into our research and North Dakota Space Grant Consortium so rewarding.”

NASA’s Inspiration Tour will culminate in MAX POWER, a public showcase of air and space innovation on Nov. 7 and 8, highlighting the agency’s commitment to preparing the next generation of innovators and explorers for humanity’s next giant leap. As NASA enters a Golden Age of innovation and exploration, the national network of Space Grant consortia is expanding opportunities for students to lead the way in an aerospace workforce that is evolving and growing. At learning institutions from coast to coast, today’s Space Grant students are launching America’s future in space.

To find ways to engage with NASA’s exciting missions, broad range of careers, and unique learning opportunities, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources

This photo released on Nov. 2, 2026, showcases NGC  4449, a dwarf irregular. Researchers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope studied 37 nearby dwarf galaxies — small galaxies containing a few thousand to hundreds of millions of stars — including NGC 4449 and found that much of the oxygen they expected to see is missing.

Read more about this mystery.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage–ESA/Hubble Collaboration, Alessandra Aloisi (STScI, ESA)

Open source models are becoming more mainstream as enterprises, governments and startups alike rely on the promise of lower costs, more control, and more flexibility. But as increasingly capable models become more freely available, how do companies capture value? And with Chinese open models gaining ground, can American players keep up?  On this episode of […]

DuckDuckGo is courting schools frustrated by Google's AI restrictions, pointing educators to its search engine and options to disable AI features.

The change will set up direct competition in those markets, as Uber has many other autonomous vehicle partners on its network.

It is easier to watch the Elizabeth Holmes documentary "You Can See Everything" in low Earth orbit than in London.

Sequoia is consolidating into a smaller, Bay Area–centered firm, shutting down the programs and offices it built during a 20-year expansion while announcing roughly $10 billion in new funds.