The rover will be delivered to the lunar surface by Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander.

On Tuesday, NASA provided an update on the development of crewed and robotic lunar rovers to support its planned Moon Base initiative, highlighting efforts to develop the surface mobility capabilities needed for future exploration and sustained human operations on the Moon.

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NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover is scheduled to embark on a mission to the lunar South Pole region in 2027 to explore permanently shadowed craters in search of water and other potentially valuable resources that could support sustainable lunar exploration.

The rover will be delivered to the lunar surface by Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander and is expected to travel more than 30 kilometers, collecting data on local temperatures, lighting conditions and terrain.

NASA said the data could help scientists better understand the origin and distribution of water on the Moon and assess how lunar resources might be used to support future exploration.

Meanwhile, NASA has awarded task orders to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to build the first phase of Moon Base rovers capable of carrying crew, called lunar terrain vehicles (LTVs), which are intended to reach the Moon ahead of crewed Artemis missions.

NASA is advancing work on robotic rovers and lunar terrain vehicles that will help explore the South Pole and support the early stages of a permanent human outpost.
The VIPER rover, assembled at Johnson Space Center, is scheduled to fly in late 2027 on Blue Origin’s Blue Moon… pic.twitter.com/U4hS3Sl6hQ

— Light Science 🇦🇷 (@LightSciencXXII) October 21, 2026

Blue Origin has been tasked with delivering the rovers to the lunar South Pole region by 2028 through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.

The LTVs will allow astronauts to explore geologically diverse areas near the lunar South Pole, collect samples and transport equipment. They will also be remotely operated from Earth to map the lunar surface before astronauts arrive.

According to NASA, the LTVs are designed to travel up to 10 kilometers on a single battery charge, support up to three moonwalks per Artemis mission, and carry up to 80 kilograms of lunar samples and tools.

“Lunar rovers are central to our surface mobility strategy,” said Robert Pickle, director of NASA’s Surface Mobility Office within the Moon Base Program. Their performance will help lay the groundwork for the mobility systems needed to build, operate and expand infrastructure for long-duration lunar exploration, he explained.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

Moscow has released retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard after more than four years in detention, following President Donald Trump’s personal intervention with Vladimir Putin and amid renewed US-Russian negotiations over Ukraine.

Russia has released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American citizen imprisoned since 2022, as US special envoy Steve Witkoff holds talks with President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday, 21 October.

Putin announced the release during his meeting with Witkoff, saying Hubbard had already been transferred to Pulkovo Airport in St Petersburg in preparation for his return to the United States. Witkoff thanked the Russian president for securing the American’s freedom.

The development follows direct intervention by President Donald Trump, who confirmed on Tuesday that he had personally raised Hubbard’s detention with Putin and requested his release.

Hubbard, a retired English teacher from Michigan, had spent decades living abroad before moving to Izium, in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, in 2014. Russian forces detained him in April 2022, during their occupation of the city following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In October 2024, a Moscow court sentenced him to six years and ten months in prison after finding him guilty of serving as a mercenary for Ukrainian forces.

Russian prosecutors alleged that Hubbard had joined a Ukrainian military unit and received approximately $1,000 a month for his activities, including guarding military checkpoints.

His family rejected the accusations. His sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, maintained that he had never participated in military operations, while his American lawyer, Martin De Luca, said the charges were fabricated.

The US State Department subsequently designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained, making his release a priority in Washington’s negotiations with Moscow.

Release coincides with renewed Ukraine diplomacy

Hubbard’s release comes during another round of intensive diplomatic contacts involving Washington, Kyiv and Moscow.

Witkoff arrived in St Petersburg following talks in Oslo on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Jared Kushner, another representative of Trump’s administration, participated remotely.

The discussions addressed security arrangements, energy and economic questions connected with Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Witkoff travelled directly from Norway to Russia, where he was received by Kremlin representative Kirill Dmitriev before his meeting with Putin.

The release provides a concrete outcome from the latest US-Russian contacts, although no indication has emerged that it forms part of a broader agreement concerning Ukraine.

It also follows several previous cases in which American citizens detained in Russia have been released through negotiations between Washington and Moscow.

In August, former US Marine Robert Gilman was released on humanitarian grounds amid serious concerns about his deteriorating health.

Hubbard was the only American prisoner in Russian custody officially classified by Washington as wrongfully detained at the time of his release.

Neither side has announced whether Moscow received any concessions in exchange for his freedom, while the outcome of Witkoff’s wider negotiations with Putin remains unclear.

In late September, China and Laos opened a Beijing-funded training and support center and an aviation academy at Ban Keun airport, about 50 kilometers north of Vientiane. China’s Ministry of National Defense says the facility will train Lao Air Force pilots and is “not directed against any third party.” Even so, much of the commentary […]

The post Cambodia and Laos are not pawns in a Chinese encirclement appeared first on Asia Times.

Un regolamento europeo in attesa di approvazione permetterà di limitare gli affitti brevi. Darà un sollievo temporaneo alla questione abitativa. Per affrontarla in modo strutturale servono però interventi e politiche per le famiglie meno abbienti.

L'articolo Regolare gli affitti brevi non basta a risolvere la questione della casa proviene da Lavoce.info.

By sticking to in-store menu prices and a flat 5 percent fee, Olo wants to take the sting out of ordering dinner.

Two Romanian F-16s shot down two jet-powered Russian Geran attack drones over Romania’s territorial waters near Sulina on the evening of 17 October, Romania’s Defense Ministry said. The ministry released cockpit images of the mission the next day, as NATO allies prepare to discuss Black Sea security at a special session Romania requested.

This comes as Moscow continues its air attacks on Ukraine, while the US is trying to make deals with Russia over its diesel and lift sanctions. Russia keeps striking Ukraine’s energy system and cities, while its drones and suspected saboteurs keep turning up inside NATO, from tankers hit off Romania to a foiled arson attempt at a Starlink site in Lithuania.

Down within minutes

The F-16s took off from the 86th Air Base at Borcea at 17:43 after radar detected a group of air targets about 120 km east of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, flying southwest, Ukrainian military outlet Militarnyi reported, citing the ministry. The first drone entered Romanian airspace at 17:59 and was shot down at 18:01 southeast of Sulina. The second entered at 18:01 and was downed at 18:05 east of Sulina.

Both were jet-powered attack drones of the Geran family, the ministry said. The Geran is Russia’s version of the Iranian-designed Shahed. When first detected, the drones were about 65 km from the coast of Russian-occupied Crimea and 140 km from the Ukrainian-held shore, and their southwest course may point to Russian origin, Militarnyi calculated.

The ministry posted the cockpit images on 18 October, showing a missile launch and a fireball over the sea. “Targets spotted, identified, engaged and neutralized!” it wrote.

Allies to meet on the Black Sea

A special session of the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s top decision-making body, will discuss defense and deterrence in the Black Sea on 20 October at Romania’s request. Romanian President Nicușor Dan has confirmed that the two tankers that caught fire near Sulina last week were hit by drones, and a NATO military source told Reuters they were Russian.

Romanian radar has logged 54 drone intrusions into the country’s air and sea space since Russia’s full-scale invasion, 35 of them this year, and the military has shot down six such targets in 2026, Defense Ministry data show.

Searches in Poland and Lithuania

Within hours, Poland’s Operational Command said it was checking a possible airspace violation by an unknown object overnight into 18 October. Troops, police, and military police searched for a possible crash site south of Lublin after residents reported the loud sound of a flying object around 02:00, Militarnyi reported.

On the morning of 18 October, an unknown drone entered Lithuania’s airspace and triggered air raid alerts, the country’s crisis management center said. NATO jets accompanied it but could not shoot it down because of bad weather, Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said. Debris preliminarily identified as drone parts was later found in the village of Juodžioniai in Pasvalys district, and the army said the drone may have entered from the direction of Poland.

Romania moved from escorting Russia’s stray drones to firing on them in July, when its F-16s downed three in 72 hours.

JPMorganChase has appointed two senior leaders to help expand its support for U.S. shipbuilding and the maritime industry under its $1.5 trillion Security and Resiliency Initiative (SRI), a 10-year effort...

La crisi della casa ha fatto cadere il governo spagnolo e portato il paese al voto. Ma il problema nasce a monte: la popolazione cresce più rapidamente dello stock abitativo. La risposta non è nei tetti agli affitti, ma in un aumento dell’offerta.

L'articolo Dove nasce la crisi della casa in Spagna proviene da Lavoce.info.

On October 4, the US pulled its 12 B-1 strategic bombers out of Fairford, UK and returned them to the United States. Reports say the planes returned to Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota. The bombers were pulled out when intelligence reported that an attack by armed drones against Fairford was imminent. […]

The post Moving B-1 bombers from UK to US is no drone warfare solution appeared first on Asia Times.

In February 2026, weeks after Cambodia’s National Assembly approved a draft law to ratify the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a convention Phnom Penh signed in 1983 but never ratified, Japan unveiled plans to extend Official Security Assistance (OSA) to Cambodia. The announcement did not come out of nowhere and […]

The post Cambodia’s Japan security aid is a hedge, not a pivot from China appeared first on Asia Times.

On September 30, the last American and coalition troops flew out of Erbil Air Base, and the Pentagon declared an “orderly departure.” The White House called it a victory. President Trump, never one for understatement, described the whole enterprise as “a very expensive excursion into Hell.” For once, the hyperbole is closer to the truth […]

The post Leaving Iraq while bombing Iran appeared first on Asia Times.

I dati Pisa mostrano un calo diffuso nelle competenze di base dei giovani. Tra divari socioeconomici, ritardi nel pensiero computazionale e uso dell’IA, emerge l’urgenza di ripensare la scuola per dar loro gli strumenti necessari nel mondo di oggi. Ne parliamo in otto grafici.

L'articolo Otto grafici dal Report Pisa proviene da Lavoce.info.

Former MP of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, Ilias Kasidiaris was released from Domokos Prison at noon on Tuesday after serving the lengthy sentence imposed on him for his actions as the ‘first lieutenant’ within the criminal organisation Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi group that had entered Parliament at the height of the Greek crisis. Kasidiaris supporters […]

The post Ex high-ranking member of neo-Nazi “Golden Dawn” released from prison appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.

Scientists find evidence that microscopic metal debris can reach the brain, while its long-term effects remain unclear.

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The database also supports Saudi Vision 2030, particularly its Health Sector Transformation Program.

The post Saudi Arabia launches first ‘National Food Composition Database’ to promote health appeared first on BOL News.

Carleton Gajdusek won the Nobel Prize for his work on a disease in Papua New Guinea. But his biggest experiment was on the children he took from the field to the US—many of whom he sexually molested, with the knowledge and, in some cases, approval of his professional peers and colleagues:

In his journals and in letters to colleagues, Gajdusek was self-righteous, arguing that what he’d done was “no more serious than lying on the grass or picking a dandelion,” and he cited the Anga initiation rites as justification. These ceremonies had brought boys into their communities, as part of a shared passage into manhood, but Gajdusek treated them as a timeless license for the acts that he’d committed privately, one boy at a time. George Klein, a professor at the Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm, who was part of the Nobel Assembly for thirty-six years, validated Gajdusek’s opinions, telling him that he wondered if “the Western world can ‘catch up with you.’” He wrote, “I share your indignation about the typically Jewish-Christian-Moslem hypocrisy on sexual matters.” Gajdusek was troubled, though, by how many colleagues wrote letters saying that they knew the charges must be untrue. “I thought better of my friends,” he said. “They are dissimulating and lying.”

The number of West Nile virus infections in Greece continues to rise, according to an announcement of the National Public Health Organization (EODY), which on Wednesday reported 23 additional locally acquired cases over the past week. Since the start of the surveillance period and up to 5 August, 2026, a total of 65 locally acquired […]

The post West Nile virus infections increasing in Greece, summer 2026 appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.

A 26-year-old foreign national has been arrested for the murder of the 38-year-old British woman whose body was found in a suitcase in Kypseli district of Athens last month. The man has reportedly confesses to the murder and a case file was filed against him for manslaughter, robbery and violation of weapons laws. The woman’s […]

The post Man arrested for murder of British woman whose body was found in a suitcase appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.