NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has identified the impact site left on the moon by a SpaceX rocket stage that struck the lunar surface on Aug. 5. Images from the spacecraft show a newly formed crater measuring about 60 feet (18 meters) across, giving scientists a clear view of the result of the unplanned collision. The spent rocket hardware hit the moon after its trajectory carried it into the lunar environment. Because the moon has no substantial atmosphere, an incoming object cannot burn up before reaching the ground. The fresh scar will provide researchers with another opportunity to study how impacts alter the lunar surface, while the observation underscores the growing need to track spacecraft and rocket stages after missions end. NASA’s orbiter continues to document these changes from lunar orbit.

Space

A SpaceX rocket slammed into the moon this month — and a NASA spacecraft has spotted its lunar grave (photos)

The newly formed crater is about 60 feet (18 meters) wide.

Europe is preparing to complete its Meteosat Third Generation weather satellite constellation with the launch of MTG-I2 on an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, scheduled for Aug. 27. The satellite is the third MTG spacecraft and will expand the system’s ability to observe rapidly changing weather across Europe and surrounding regions. MTG-I2 carries a Lightning Imager that can continuously monitor lightning, alongside a Flexible Combined Imager that maps evolving weather systems. From geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres above the equator, the instrument can scan the full visible Earth in 10 minutes and revisit Europe and North Africa every 2.5 minutes. The data are designed to improve severe-weather nowcasting and help meteorological services issue earlier, more precise warnings.

Replay: MTG-I2 pre-launch media briefing

On Aug. 19, 1997, the Philippines reached a major milestone in spaceflight when its first satellite was launched into orbit. The event marked the country’s entry into satellite operations and gave it a new tool for communications across its thousands of islands. The spacecraft, known as Mabuhay-1 and also called Agila-1, was a communications satellite acquired for Philippine use. Its arrival in orbit represented more than a national first: it showed how satellite technology could expand connectivity and support a growing telecommunications market in Southeast Asia. Nearly three decades later, the launch remains a landmark in the Philippines’ space history, preceding the country’s later efforts to develop and operate additional spacecraft.

Space

On this day in space! Aug. 19, 1997: 1st Filipino satellite launches into orbit

On Aug. 19, 1997, the Philippines

The U.S. space sector is moving from bespoke projects toward industrial-scale production, but its supplier base is struggling to keep pace. More than 3,700 objects were launched from the United States in 2025, nearly ten times the 2019 figure. Demand is rising across commercial constellations, national-security systems and civil missions while suppliers face longer lead times and limited access to qualified testing and certification facilities. The most exposed components include optical intersatellite links, propellant tanks and radiation-tolerant connectors, with some categories relying on as few as three major domestic suppliers. Competition with AI infrastructure, defense and energy projects is also tightening access to semiconductors and advanced electronics. Industry and government leaders are being urged to provide clearer demand signals, expand shared qualification capacity, diversify suppliers and modernize compliance processes. The ability to manufacture critical hardware at scale could become as important to space leadership as technological innovation.

SpaceNews

The space industry’s next challenge: supply chain resilience

The space industry’s next challenge: supply chain resilience

Firefly Aerospace plans to fly Zeno Power’s radioisotope heating unit on a Blue Ghost lunar lander mission targeted for 2028. The self-contained “Survive-the-Night” package will test whether a small nuclear heat source can keep communications, power and other systems warm after sunset, when lunar temperatures can fall to minus 170 degrees Celsius. The americium-241 unit is designed to produce 5 watts of thermal energy and send a signal after five days of lunar night, demonstrating that it is still operating. NASA included survive-the-night technology as an incentive in a Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order awarded to Firefly and two other companies. The demonstration would be Zeno’s first space mission and could help establish both a commercial radioisotope supply chain and the regulatory procedures needed for future lunar infrastructure. Intuitive Machines is also planning an americium-241 demonstration on a lander mission scheduled for 2028.

SpaceNews

Firefly Aerospace to fly Zeno Power radioisotope heating unit on lunar lander mission

Firefly Aerospace will fly a payload from Zeno Power on an upcoming lunar lander mission to test a radioisotope heat source to survive the lunar ni...

Flock Safety has developed an artificial-intelligence system that can identify drivers and map vehicle relationships from movement patterns across its camera network, according to an examination of the company’s code. Called OS Investigate, the tool can search more than 6,000 communities and combine license-plate scans with police case files, 911 dispatch logs, arrest records and commercial identity databases. The interface includes 69 prewritten prompts for finding potential witnesses from vehicles frequently seen in a neighborhood, identifying cars visiting several banks or retail sites, and tracing repeated trips between cities. Other functions can turn plates into names, addresses, relatives and associates. Flock says the product is being tested with a small group of law-enforcement partners and remains in development. Privacy experts warn that it broadens surveillance from locating wanted vehicles to identifying people through ordinary travel patterns, often without a warrant.

WIRED

Flock Has a Powerful New AI Tool for Police. We Got Its Code

Flock’s surveillance cameras have already sparked outrage. WIRED reconstructed its next-generation AI system, already in use by some police, to c...

Bitcoin may be approaching the end of its 11-month correction, according to VanEck’s mid-August Bitcoin ChainCheck report. The asset manager said eight of 12 on-chain and market-based capitulation indicators were flashing on Aug. 18. Bitcoin was trading near $64,500 after spending roughly two months between $58,000 and $66,500, about 48% below its October 2025 record of $126,300. Long-term holders sold 356,000 BTC over 30 days, reducing their share of circulating supply below 60%, although they still held about 11.84 million BTC. VanEck said the pattern resembles late-stage selling in previous drawdowns and projected that an accumulation phase could emerge between September and November if historical cycles remain a useful guide. The firm cautioned that capitulation readings are not reliable short-term timing signals: earlier instances produced weaker-than-usual 90- and 180-day returns, while longer-term results were stronger but based on a small sample. https://news.bitcoin.com/crypto-news/vaneck-bitcoin-capitulation-signals-august-2026/

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has signed an executive order imposing new conditions on AI data-center development, placing the state among the most restrictive markets for large computing projects. The GRID framework removes data centers from the state’s permit fast-track program and requires local approvals before environmental reviews can begin. Developers must also sign legally binding agreements with the Department of Environmental Protection. The rules require operators to pay the full cost of new generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, preventing those expenses from shifting to households and businesses. Data centers may be placed first in line for service reductions during grid stress, and operators must report annual energy consumption, peak demand and water use. Pennsylvania has identified more than 100 proposals, while power prices in PJM territory rose 76% year over year in the first quarter. The order takes effect immediately.

TNW | Government-policy

Pennsylvania just made itself one of the hardest US states to build a data centre in

Governor Josh Shapiro’s executive order strips AI data centres from Pennsylvania’s permit fast track and makes developers pay their own power c...

CareCloud says a network intrusion at its cloud-based healthcare platform exposed personal and medical information belonging to 3,756,469 people. The company detected the intrusion in mid-March after a disruption involving an electronic health record environment. Investigators determined that attackers accessed an AWS environment from March 10 to March 16 and claimed to have extracted data from databases there. The exposed information includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver’s-license numbers, dates of birth, health-insurance details, and medical information. A limited number of people also had full payment-card data exposed. Earlier state attorney-general notices put the impact at about 350,000 people, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that its updated breach tracker reflects the larger figure based on CareCloud’s latest submission. The company has not identified the attackers or said whether a ransom was paid.

SecurityWeek

CareCloud Data Breach Impact Grows to 3.7 Million Individuals

The recently disclosed CareCloud data breach affects more than 3.3 million individuals, far more than initially believed.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center is highlighting the photographers who document the people, hardware and operations behind U.S. human-spaceflight programs. Their assignments range from astronaut training and engineering tests to mission control, milestone events and field work, creating a visual record of exploration in Houston. The profile features six photographers whose careers span the space shuttle era, the International Space Station and Artemis II. Robert Markowitz has worked at Johnson for more than three decades and photographed zero-gravity flights connected with the film “Apollo 13.” James Blair documents astronaut training and lunar exploration hardware, while Luna Posadas Nava captured scientists conducting real-time lunar observations during Artemis II’s flyby. The team says its work combines technical problem-solving with journalism, preserving both major events and the people shaping NASA’s next phase.

NASA

Behind the Lens: Meet NASA Johnson’s Photographers - NASA

Photographers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston have documented some of the most defining moments in human spaceflight.

Bitcoin has fallen more than 50% from its October 2025 record, reaching below $60,000 in June, but BlackRock said the decline has not changed its long-term investment case. In an August 2026 report, the asset manager attributed the correction to excessive leverage, weaker institutional flows and slower buying by digital-asset treasury companies. Futures open interest had exceeded $90 billion near the peak, with about 80% tied to offshore perpetual contracts. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products recorded roughly $5 billion in outflows after attracting about $60 billion through October 2025. BlackRock’s historical modeling found that 1% and 2% Bitcoin allocations improved hypothetical risk-adjusted returns in a traditional 60/40 portfolio, though the firm stressed that the results were not a forecast and Bitcoin remains highly volatile. Bitcoin traded near $64,300 on August 19.

Bitcoin falls 50%, but BlackRock keeps long term view

Wayfair is promoting broad discounts for August 2026 as shoppers look for lower prices on furniture and home goods. The retailer’s rotating offers include daily sales, limited-time promotions and Deals of the Day, with selected products advertised at discounts of up to 80 percent. Closeout items, including discontinued or overstocked products, can be marked down by as much as 70 percent. The retailer says first-time customers can receive 10 percent off an initial order after signing up for email or text alerts, although the offer is delivered through personalized promotions rather than a universal public code. Wayfair also highlights app-only savings of up to 20 percent and a professional program offering discounted pricing for eligible business customers. The company sells about 14 million products supplied by more than 11,000 global vendors, while its quality program identifies a small share of items that pass a 10-point review covering materials, assembly and functionality.

WIRED

Top Wayfair Coupons for August 2026

Get 10% off with Wayfair promo code, up to 80% off furniture, and more top coupons.

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for August 19, 2026, examines “The Case of the Mysterious Maybe Meteor,” placing an uncertain atmospheric visitor at the center of its daily look at the cosmos. APOD publishes a different space image or photograph each day with an explanation prepared by professional astronomers. The entry credits the image to Juan Pablo Castañeda and lists Keighley Rockcliffe, Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell and Cecilia Chirenti as authors and editors. NASA also acknowledges William Cooke, David Lee, Peter Brown, Denis Vida and Peter Jenniskens for contributions. Their expertise includes meteoroid environments and meteor science. The title preserves the uncertainty instead of presenting every bright streak as definitively identified: this may be a meteor, but the evidence remains part of the story. APOD is provided by NASA’s Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Science Activation and Michigan Technological University.

NASA Science

APOD: 2026 August 19 - The Case of the Mysterious Maybe Meteor - NASA Science

Researchers have developed tinyDSM, a framework that helps centimetre-scale millirobots learn movement skills despite severe computing limits. It combines reinforcement learning with intrinsic motivation, encouraging exploration while using fitness assessments to measure progress. The system starts with general knowledge, then learns dependencies specific to the robot and its environment. A hierarchical knowledge graph and kinematic reasoning tools represent skills, linking basic actions to more complex behaviours. The design keeps hard-wired abilities minimal while supporting development across applications. In a physical test, a 36-cubic-centimetre robot running on a Raspberry Pi Pico used 9 kilobytes for the framework’s core functions, excluding its camera. Beginning with linear and angular movements, it learned complex geometric patterns within 15 minutes. Simulations compared learning algorithms. The work was submitted to IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems.

arXiv.org

tinyDSM: A Framework for Skill Modeling and Development for Resource-Constrained Millirobots

In this study, we investigate developmental mechanisms that enable small, resource-constrained systems such as cm-sized millirobots to autonomously...

LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 has completed its second flight, marking another step in the Chinese company’s development of a reusable methalox launch vehicle. The rocket lifted off on August 19 and successfully returned its first stage for landing, according to the reported mission results. The achievement gives LandSpace a second demonstrated recovery and strengthens the flight record of a launcher designed around methane and liquid oxygen propulsion. Repeated first-stage recovery is central to lowering launch costs and increasing flight frequency. Zhuque-3’s second successful landing indicates that LandSpace is moving beyond a single demonstration toward an operational reuse approach. Further flights will show how reliably the vehicle can support routine launches, how quickly recovered hardware can be prepared again, and whether the company can scale the system for commercial missions. The result adds momentum to the international push for partially reusable rockets.

NASASpaceFlight.com

Zhuque-3 Completes Second Flight with Successful First-Stage Landing - NASASpaceFlight.com

Zhuque-3’s second flight marked a major milestone for LandSpace as the methalox rocket lifted off…

Riot Platforms sold 4,300 bitcoin during the second quarter of 2026, bringing its sales for the first half of the year to 9,665 BTC. The Texas-based miner ended June with 11,380 BTC, down from about 15,680 at the start of the quarter. More than half of the remaining holdings, or 5,821 BTC, are pledged as loan collateral. The sales are helping fund Riot’s expansion into artificial-intelligence and high-performance-computing infrastructure. The company produced 1,587 BTC in the second quarter at an average cash cost of $49,912 per coin and reported $174.2 million in quarterly revenue, up 14% from a year earlier. Riot has also signed a 20-year, 191-megawatt lease with Anthropic that it projects will generate about $9.1 billion through 2048. The strategy reflects a broader shift among publicly traded miners toward data-center income and away from continuously accumulating bitcoin. https://news.bitcoin.com/mining/riot-platforms-sold-8078-bitcoin-h1-2026-ai-pivot/

Unitree Robotics surged more than 600% in its Shanghai stock-market debut on Wednesday, opening at 1,100 yuan after shares were offered at 150.8 yuan. The Star Market listing gives investors a rare public-market entry into humanoid robotics and a test of appetite for the sector. Founded in Hangzhou in 2016, Unitree sells robotic arms, robot dogs and humanoid machines. Its G1 humanoid, launched in 2024, costs about $13,500, while robot dogs start at $2,700—well below comparable Western products. Government support has helped as Beijing treats robotics as a strategic industry and seeks to address an ageing workforce. The debut comes amid intensifying US-China competition. Tesla, Amazon and Boston Dynamics are developing humanoid machines, but experts say home use remains years away because of battery, privacy and reliability challenges. Factories, warehouses and hospitals are expected to be the first major markets, with other Chinese makers preparing listings.

BBC News

Chinese robotics giant Unitree soars in stock market debut

Shares in the world's biggest humanoid robot maker started trading on Shanghai's Star market on Wednesday.

Bitcoin is confronting a closely watched resistance zone around $65,000 after trading within a broad $58,000–$65,000 range since early July. The cryptocurrency remains nearly 50% below its 2026 peak, while repeated rallies into the mid-$60,000s have stalled. Technical analysts say the 50-day and 200-day moving averages are adding pressure overhead, and that reclaiming the 20-day average would strengthen the case for a durable bottom. Gold-focused economist Peter Schiff argues that bitcoin remains vulnerable to another major selloff and has urged investors to sell bitcoin and Strategy shares. His view contrasts with the market’s resilience: despite renewed volatility, bitcoin has not broken below the range’s lower boundary. A decisive close above $65,000 could open a path toward levels last seen earlier this year, while institutional ETF flows and corporate treasury buying may help determine whether the range resolves higher or lower. https://news.bitcoin.com/crypto-news/peter-schiff-bitcoin-65000-resistance/

Industrial equipment designers are facing a practical challenge as factories demand higher voltages: increasing electrical capacity without making systems needlessly difficult to build, operate, or maintain. Kollmorgen says the answer is to match the voltage architecture closely to the application, while using existing infrastructure as efficiently as possible. The approach treats voltage selection as a system-level decision rather than a simple race toward higher ratings. Engineers must weigh the needs of the machine against the capabilities of the surrounding power network, equipment, controls, and service procedures. A closer fit can help avoid over-engineering, preserve compatibility with installed infrastructure, and keep high-voltage systems manageable for industrial users. Kollmorgen's guidance highlights the trade-off at the center of industrial electrification: more voltage can support demanding applications, but the benefits depend on integrating it with the full system instead of adding complexity in isolation.

The Robot Report

How to achieve high voltage in industrial systems without high complexity - The Robot Report

Kollmorgen discusses the importance of fitting voltage systems closely to the application while still making the best use of infrastructure.

Bitcoin climbed above $64,600 on Tuesday as traders weighed tensions around the Strait of Hormuz. BTC reached $64,926 intraday before easing to about $64,611, up roughly 0.6% from the previous close. Brent crude rose 0.7% to $91.46 a barrel, keeping energy prices and inflation risks in focus. U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington was not holding talks with Iran, while Tehran disputed his claim that the strategic waterway was open. Shipping traffic remains far below its pre-conflict average, adding uncertainty for oil markets. Bitcoin remains below $65,000, a near-term resistance level. Strategy reported no Bitcoin purchases or sales from Aug. 10 to Aug. 16 after two weeks of BTC disposals, leaving its holdings at 840,447 coins. Investors are watching whether the pause and a planned White House crypto meeting can support Bitcoin while high yields and geopolitical risk pressure markets.

Bitcoin holds $64,600 as Trump rules out Iran talks