The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has arrived at Kennedy Space Center. NASA’s next-generation observatory will undergo final testing before its planned August 30 launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. Once deployed to the Sun-Earth L2 point, Roman will investigate dark energy, survey billions of galaxies, and search for thousands of exoplanets. Image credit: L3Harris.

Some NASA centers’ infrastructure is in bad shape. NASA’s Office of the Inspector General has warned that billions of dollars in upgrades are needed for aging launch infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center and Wallops Flight Facility to support the rapidly increasing launch activity. This includes launch pads, roads, bridges, water and power supply lines, and more.

JWST is helping identify an interstellar comet’s origins. Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope imply that the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS contains chemicals that suggest it formed in a very cold system, much earlier than our Solar System did, as much as 10–12 billion years ago.

China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft has successfully arrived at Kamoʻoalewa. Tianwen-2 will attempt to hover and snatch samples from the tiny, enigmatic "quasi-satellite" that follows Earth on its journey around the Sun. Space journalist Andrew Jones joins this week’s Planetary Radio to take us inside the mission, what samples of Kamoʻoalewa could teach us about our Solar System's history, and where China’s planetary ambitions are targeting next. Pictured: An artist’s illustration of Kamoʻoalewa. Image credit: Addy Graham/University of Arizona.

Tune into some great upcoming space chats. On Tuesday, June 30, Planetary Radio host Sarah Al-Ahmed will join Twitch streamer Moohoodles for a celebration of Asteroid Day, chatting about the science of asteroids and what we need to do to defend Earth from impacts. Later that evening, The Planetary Society’s members-only virtual book club will meet for a live Q&A with author Scott Solomon about his book “Becoming Martian,” which explores the challenges facing human settlement of the red planet. And if you want to check out an in-person space event, registration is now open for the 2026 Humans to the Moon and Mars Summit, taking place on July 21, 2026, at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Planetary Society members can use the code TPS for a discount on registration.

You can speak up for science in the United States. The White House's Office of Management and Budget recently proposed a rule change that would fundamentally alter how the U.S. federal government manages grants, replacing merit-based peer review with partisan political review. If you live in the United States, we urge you to share your personal perspective on why this change will harm science. The public has until July 13, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET to submit their comments.

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