Depiction of Confucius by Wu Daozi, 8th century CE
~ Confucius
Confucius, born Kong Qiu, was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the philosophy and teachings of Confucius. Wikipedia
By Mike Wall published 2 days ago (Space.com)
The base’s perimeter may be marked by hopping “MoonFall” drones, and new moon rovers built by AstroLab and Lunar Outpost will carry astronauts around the site.
NASA is definitely thinking big on the moon.
The U.S. space agency plans to build a crewed lunar base over the next decade or so via its Artemis program — and we just got a sense of that project’s impressive scope.
“We envision the moon base to be hundreds of square miles, with different assets all building up to the objective of permanent lunar presence on the moon,” Carlos García-Galán, the manager of NASA’s Moon Base program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., said during a press conference Tuesday (May 26).You may like
The base will be constructed over the next decade or so near the lunar south pole, which is thought to harbor large amounts of water ice. This precious resource has been accumulating for billions of years on the permanently shadowed floors of craters in the region, scientists say.
NASA didn’t go into the moon base-planning process with a big footprint as a priority. Rather, it emerged naturally, as all of the envisioned elements started coming together in planners’ heads.
“There’s no one spot that covers all the science, all the technology, all the habitation needs of the surface, and even within the local area, you have to consider the terrain,” NASA’s Nujoud Merancy, chief architect of the Moon Base program, said during today’s briefing.
“So, you’ll have the habitats on the tops of the hills where they get sunlight,” she added. “Power systems — nuclear systems — need to be a kilometer or more away for the radiation protection, so all of these things, when you start putting them together, end up sprawling a little bit more like a city as you start building it out.”
And scientists and mission planners still don’t know a lot about the lunar south pole, which is another reason for a settlement there to cover a lot of ground, according to García-Galán.
“We’re going to want to explore different sites to really maximize the mix of scientific objectives and viability of a permanent presence,” he said.
NASA plans to reduce the uncertainty via the use of MoonFall drones — small, hopping robots that will scout out the south polar region ahead of moon base construction. The first MoonFall batch, a set of three or four spacecraft, will launch to the moon in 2028 aboard a lander built by Firefly Aerospace, NASA announced today. (Firefly nabbed a $75 million contract for the mission, the company said.)What to read next
Those drones, or others like it, could also help mark the moon base’s borders, said García-Galán.
“We’re going to be able to basically put them at the corners of the areas where we think we have either key scientific objectives or we want to build up the moon base,” he said.
China plans to build a base on the moon in the coming years as well (its first astronaut landing is aimed for 2030), and U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed the importance of getting the American one up and running first. The U.S. wants to be the one establishing norms of responsible behavior on Earth’s nearest neighbor, the argument goes.
So, during today’s press conference, Ars Technica’s Eric Berger asked García-Galán and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who also participated in the event, if the MoonFall drones could help delineate a keep-out zone of sorts.
“I think it’s important for us to get there first,” Isaacman said. “I think the idea that there are areas of great interest on the lunar surface — we do want to get there and explore them, and we also obviously want to be very mindful of the Outer Space Treaty, so that we are respectful of other nations that are putting assets on the on the lunar surface. We would expect that to be reciprocal.”
The moon base’s envisioned size was just a sidelight of today’s event. The main purpose was to announce contracts that the agency just awarded to get the ball rolling on the outpost’s construction.
Firefly wasn’t the only compay to win a NASA Moon Base program contract. NASA is giving California-based Astrolab $219 million and Colorado’s Lunar Outpost $220 million for production of their lunar terrain vehicles (LTVs).
LTVs are large rovers that Artemis astronauts will use to explore the lunar surface. These vehicles will also be capable of autonomous operation, meaning they can land before crewed missions, be remotely controlled from Earth, and meet up with astronauts at their touchdown sites. And that is indeed the goal: NASA wants to have at least one LTV on the lunar surface before Artemis 4 touches down near the lunar south pole in late 2028.
Both LTVs will be delivered to the lunar surface by Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander, NASA announced today. Those two contracts are worth $234 million apiece, agency officials said during the briefing.
Blue Origin is also building a crewed variant of Blue Moon, which is in the running to fly the Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 astronaut missions, as well as future flights.
Artemis 3 is a docking test in Earth orbit between NASA’s Orion capsule and one or both of the program’s privately developed crewed lunar landers — Blue Moon and SpaceX’s Starship. NASA aims to launch Artemis 3 in mid-2027, Isaacman said today.
NASA plans to build the moon base in three phases. Phase One, which runs from now through 2029, will gather detailed information and “secure reliable access” to the lunar surface, according to the agency.
Phase Two runs from 2029 to 2032 and will set up the base’s “initial operating capability.” Phase Three, which runs from 2032 far into the future, will “achieve semi-permanent crew presence” on the moon.
“The Moon Base will be America’s and humanity’s first outpost on another celestial world,” Isaacman said in a NASA statement today. “Every mission, crewed and uncrewed, will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay, and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable.”
NASA has launched two Artemis missions to date. Artemis 1 sent an uncrewed Orion capsule to lunar orbit and back in late 2022, and Artemis 2 took four astronauts around the moon in Orion last month. Both missions were successful.
by Rob Brezsny | May 26, 2026 (newcity.com)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the weeks ahead, simply being right won’t necessarily lead to success. Having strength, intelligence, wealth or connections might help, though not as much as usual. But a different approach will work well as you strive to overcome challenges: a blend of cleverness and integrity. I invite you to be cunning while remaining honorable. Practice subtle strategy in service of higher aims. And here’s one more secret to ensure victory: Let go of any need to receive full recognition for your efforts.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Dear Horoscope Guy: Two astrologers have assured me that as a Taurus, I’m a natural-born money magnet. So why am I broke? I keep begging the Divine for cash miracles, and I buy lottery tickets twice a week. Still nothing! Please tell me when I’ll finally hit the jackpot. Better yet, give me the winning numbers. –Taurus Desperate for Dollars.” Dear Desperate: The “luck” you crave will arrive as you diligently pour yourself into building your sweetest dreams, spurning shortcuts and enjoying yourself as much as possible. The Divine prefers to fund eager co-creators, not wishful thinkers. I predict that a slow-motion jackpot will ultimately arrive through your devoted attention to doing what excites you.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Among the Dogon of Mali, Sigui so is a secret language. It’s used in a sacred ritual when people gather to retell their beginnings and patch up strains in tribal harmony. I’m borrowing Sigui so here as a symbol for a way of talking that I hope you will specialize in during the coming weeks: language that eases tensions, soothes friction and fosters unity. Start like this: Unleash your trademark wit but spike it with sly blessings and tactful probes. Wield your fluency to burn away confusion and uncover unspoken feelings. If you’re in an extra-bold mood, give everyone tacit permission to be their idiosyncratic selves instead of their polished personas.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): What’s the holiest, most healing trouble you could rustle up right now? I mean trouble that freshens what’s stale but doesn’t scorch the earth. Maybe it’s a buoyant disruption, like telling wild truths you usually tend to soften. Or maybe it’s asking for what your future self pines for instead of what your past self regards as polite and reasonable. As a Cancerian soul myself, I dare both you and me to give ourselves permission to rumble. Let’s be brazen as we instigate creative upheavals in service to our cheerful vigor. Let’s instigate at least one concrete action that will rattle the stagnant pattern just enough to make life more interesting.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Sea otters are a keystone species. Their presence is essential to the health of their entire ecosystem. As they eat sea urchins, the kelp forests flourish. Without otters, the urchins overgraze, and kelp forests may collapse, which in turn affects hundreds of other species. One creature’s appetite helps regulate an entire undersea neighborhood. I suspect you’re serving a similar function, Leo. You’re having more impact and wielding more influence than you realize. No pressure! But please act accordingly: with maximum integrity and robust responsibility.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A Dutch woman who died left her grand-nephew an inheritance of 220,000 euros. The only problem is that he’s homeless and constantly on the move, so the executors haven’t been able to find him. This echoes a recurring pattern in your life. Even now, sources of blessings are searching for ways to reach you, but you are slow to notice their approach or to magnetize yourself to their arrival. My prayer: May you figure out what needs to be done to make yourself fully available for these gifts—and then ingrain that capacity in your habit mind.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Visualize your fears. Consider how few of them rest on a genuine likelihood that the scary events could ever take place. Then ask yourself how much of your uneasiness springs from vivid fantasies or from a practiced tendency to fret. You might also ruminate on how you absorb the background worry that’s amplified by mass culture. After reflecting on all that, I invite you to take one concrete action to lower the level of tension you have come to treat as normal. Take another action to weaken the grip of your deepest dread. The current planetary patterns suggest you now have the bold, creative power necessary to shrink your baseline anxiety.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Even more than usual, you have a sacred duty to celebrate your poignant sweetness and dark intelligence. For the sake of your emotional health, you should pay wild reverence to your deepest, most mysterious yearnings. To be the person we all need you to be, you must tenderly nurture the parts of your inner world that resemble the aurora borealis. I want to support you in these sublime sacraments, which is why I suggest you memorize the following prayer by Rainer Maria Rilke: “Be attentive to what is arising within you, and place that above everything you perceive around you. What is happening in your innermost self is worthy of your entire love.”
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Linguists use the term “false friends.” These are words in different languages that seem similar but don’t have the same meaning. For example, the Spanish word embarazada resembles “embarrassed” to English speakers but actually means “pregnant.” I suspect you’re dealing with another type of false friend, Sagittarius: people or situations that turned out to be at variance with what you initially imagined. But rather than feeling unsettled by these revelations, I suggest you treat them as a prod to see with fresh eyes. Your disorientation could be the beginning of more interesting understandings.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a code assigned to a book for commercial and cataloging purposes. It contains key information and includes a built-in error-detection notation. If you transpose two numbers when entering an ISBN, the last digit will tell you something’s wrong. In this spirit, Capricorn, I heartily recommend that you build more mistake detection into your life. Invest in extra safeguards. Add verification steps. Build in double-checks. The goal is to create systems robust enough to survive oversights and gaffes. I very much want you to give yourself the gift of safety nets that will empower you to take smart risks and intriguing gambles.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You may not yet grasp how richly creative you are right now, nor how much more abundant your generative powers could become. So it’s auspicious that you are reading this horoscope now. Consider this your advance notice: Your capacity to originate ideas, projects and connections is surging, and it’s crucial to choose with care which possibilities you nurture and which you decline. If you are selective and intentional about what you sow, then about six months from now, you will be far more likely to gather lush, beautiful harvests instead of wrestling with overgrown, unruly tangles.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Ethnobotanist Wade Davis documented how different cultures perceive entirely different realities despite inhabiting the same physical world. It means that two people can stand in the same forest and see different forests through their cultural lens and personal mythology. This is simultaneously the problem and the opportunity you face, Pisces. You and others in your orbit are inhabiting divergent realities that superficially seem the same. If you hope to reconcile the differences, you must first acknowledge them as real. You’re dealing with fundamentally different ways of constructing meaning, not just small misunderstandings.
Homework: If you knew you would live to one hundred, what would you do differently in the next five years? tinyurl.com/aaa22aaa
New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove May 27, 2026 James Tunney, LLM, is an Irish Barrister who has lectured on legal matters throughout the world. He is a poet, a visual artist, and author of The Mystery of the Trapped Light: Mystical Thoughts in the Dark Age of Scientism plus The Mystical Accord: Sutras to Suit Our Times, Lines for Spiritual Evolution. His website is http://www.jamestunney.com. In this video, rebooted from 2020, he focuses on the role of light in mystical traditions, enunciating his own insights regarding five stages of illumination. He distinguishes between authentic illumination and artificial pretensions of scientistic rationality. He emphasizes the role of heart-centered compassion on the mystical path. New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. He is Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science. (Recorded on December 7, 2020)
YouTube Movies & TV Frank Lloyd Wright is an American icon – it’s most famous modern architect, and probably it’s most prolific – over 400 buildings in a 60-year career. But his most revealing constructions are his houses, revolutionary in their open plan design, and conceived as an expression of Wright’s philosophy of a perfect harmony between man and nature – ‘organic architecture’ as he called it. Wright’s houses also embody an ideal for living based on calmness and order, but his own life was characterized by public scandal, financial chaos and personal tragedy. The story begins with the most dramatic and terrible event in Wright’s life – the brutal murder in 1914 of his mistress and her two children and a terrible fire that destroyed the house, known as ‘Taliesin’, which Wright had built as a private sanctuary. Wright had invested so much of himself in Taliesin that, despite the tragedy, he could not bear to abandon it. He immediately set about rebuilding and over the next forty years the house became a piece of living architecture – continually extended and remodeled. Taliesin was, in effect, Wright’s alter ego – order born out of chaos. We then go back in time to examine the history of Wright’s early life and career leading up to that incident. It will show not only how Wright developed his unique style, but how he constructed his own myth and cultivated his reputation in his relationships with his wealthy clients. They, in turn, indulged his ‘genius’. This film reveals the extremes and eccentricities of the man through interviews with individuals whose lives he touched – acolytes who knew and lived with him at Taliesin and those who encountered him during the construction of some of his most famous buildings. Frank Lloyd Wright is a dramatic, surprising and entertaining portrait of a master builder whose most enduring edifice is his own legend.
Krishnamurti in the 1920s
~ Krishnamurti.
Jiddu Krishnamurti was an Indian spiritual figure, speaker, and writer. Adopted by members of the Theosophical Society as a child, Krishnamurti was raised to fill the mantle of the prophesied World Teacher, a role tasked with aiding humankind’s spiritual evolution. Wikipedia
Born May 11, 1895, Madanapalle, India
Died February 17, 1986 (age 90 years), Ojai, CA
USA TODAY
What is a micromoon?
How often does a blue moon occur?
What are the other names for the Flower Moon?
AI Overview
Full Summary
May 2026 will feature a rare blue moon that is also a micromoon, peaking early on May 31 and visible worldwide under clear skies.
This only happens once in a blue moon, literally. May’s second full moon is almost here, and not only is it a rare blue moon, but it will also be a micromoon.
The blue moon will take place soon, giving us two full moons in the month. Usually, the full moon only occurs once a month. May’s the Flower Moon has already occurred on the first day of the month, and the blue moon will occur on the last day of the month.
Here’s what else to know about May’s blue moon, and what to expect.
The moon is set to peak on Sunday, May 31, at 4:45 a.m. ET, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
While the moon will peak early Sunday morning, it will still look full a few days before and after it peaks.More news: Astronauts to begin training in replica of Blue Origin’s lunar lander
The blue moon will be visible around the globe, but cloudy skies might obscure backyard astronomers’ views, so be sure to check the weather in your area before going out to check the night sky.
The blue moon occurs when there are two full moons in one month, but the moon won’t actually look blue.
The term originated in the 16th century, when people said “the moon is blue” to mean something that seemed impossible, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
It isn’t a common occurrence, hence the expression “once in a blue moon,” and only occurs every 2.5 years, according to NASA.
The last blue moon occurred on Aug. 19, 2024, when the moon was a super blue moon, meaning, unlike the micromoon, it was closest it had been to Earth that month and appeared brighter and larger.
A micromoon is a phenomenon that occurs when the moon is at its farthest point from Earth during that month, according to NASA. The moon could be around 251,000 miles away from our planet.
Because of the distance, the moon might appear smaller than usual.
Download USA TODAY’s app to get to the heart of newsHubble revisits a familiar cosmic wonder 30 years later. See new photoScientists may have just found 10,000 planets beyond our solar systemDid Apollo 17 astronauts witness UFO on moon? What’s in disclosure files3 years since 1st Starship launch, SpaceX eyes new chapter for rocketPortion of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on a collision course with the moonNASA astronaut spots fiery debris from ISS. ‘Quite a light show!’
The phenomenon happens because, unlike a calendar month, which is around 30 to 31 days, except for February, the moon’s lunar cycle is around 29.5 days, according to NASA.
So, once every two to three years, a full lunar cycle will occur within a month, giving us a full moon at the beginning of the month and another at the end of the month, which is what we know as the blue moon.
Get the Daily Briefing newsletter in your inbox.
The day’s top stories, from sports to movies to politics to world events.
Delivery: DailyYour Email
The next time two full moons will take place in the same month will be in December 2028, according to Time and Date.
The moon will be full on the following dates, according to the Farmer’s Almanac:
Julia Gomez is a Trending reporter for USA TODAY and covers popular toys, space phenomena, scientific studies, natural disasters, holidays, and trending news. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com.
By Mike Wall last updated yesterday (Space.com)
“Leadership will discuss program progress, including new industry partners and mission plans.”
Update for 5:45 p.m. EDT: NASA’s moon base update today unveiled a series of new contract awards by NASA for two commercial lunar rovers, built by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost, as well as awards to Blue Origin to land the rovers on the moon with its Blue Moon lander, and an award to Firefly Aerospace to deliver up to four hopping MoonFall drones to the lunar surface in the next few years. Read our full story. See a full replay below.
NASA will give an update this afternoon (May 26) about its plans to build a moon base, and you can watch it live.
The U.S. space agency will host a press conference Tuesday at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. “to share Moon Base plans and highlight progress toward a sustained presence on the lunar surface,” NASA officials wrote in a media advisory on May 20.You may like
You can watch the event here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA.
During the event, NASA leaders “will discuss program progress, including new industry partners and mission plans,” agency officials added in the advisory.
Those leaders are:
The moon base is a core part of NASA’s Artemis program of crewed lunar exploration. Artemis aims to establish a permanent human presence on and around the moon over the next decade or so, developing knowledge and skills that can help get astronauts to Mars in the not-too-distant future.
Two Artemis missions have launched to date: the uncrewed Artemis 1 flight to lunar orbit in late 2022 and Artemis 2, which sent four astronauts around the moon and back to Earth last month.
We got a big update about NASA’s moon strategy in late March, just a week before Artemis 2 lifted off. In that news drop, the agency revealed that it’s pausing work on Gateway, a small space station planned for lunar orbit that was long a key piece of Artemis’ architecture, to focus on the surface base.
And there was another big change in late February: Isaacman announced that the Artemis 3 mission, which is slated to launch in mid to late 2027, will no longer land astronauts on the moon. Instead, it will test docking operations between the Orion crew capsule and one or both of Artemis’ privately developed lunar landers (SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon) in Earth orbit.
The first crewed lunar landing since the Apollo days will now take place on Artemis 4, which NASA wants to launch in late 2028. That will help lay the foundation for the moon base, which will be built near the south pole between 2032 and 2036, if all goes to plan.
Spaceflight and Tech Editor
Michael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, “Out There,” was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
