Recently, space efforts have shifted from observation to preparing human settlement, and 2026 marks the turning point as missions like Artemis II repairs and Tianwen-2 pave the way for permanent lunar bases

🚀 1. The Artemis II Moon Bound Rollback

The biggest human spaceflight news of the month is centered around Artemis II, the mission that will send four astronauts around the Moon.

• The "Glitch": On February 25, 2026, NASA had to roll the massive SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft back from the launch pad to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
• The Reason: Engineers are troubleshooting a helium flow issue in the rocket’s upper stage and need to replace several batteries.
• The Schedule: The launch has been pushed to no earlier than April 2026. This mission is critical as it will be the first time humans have left Earth's orbit since 1972.

🔴 2. Mars: The Search for Frozen Life

New research published in late February 2026 has fundamentally shifted where we plan to look for life on Mars.

• The Discovery: A NASA-funded study found that biological "building blocks" (amino acids) could survive for over 50 million years if they are trapped in pure Martian ice.
• The Strategy: This has led mission planners to deprioritize drilling into Martian rocks and clay, focusing instead on the ice caps and buried glaciers, where ancient "frozen" life might still be perfectly preserved.

☄️ 3. China's "Tianwen-2" Asteroid Chase

China’s first asteroid sample-return mission, Tianwen-2, is currently on its interplanetary journey.

• The Destination: It is heading for Kamoʻoalewa, a "quasi-satellite" of Earth (an asteroid that follows Earth around the sun).
• The Latest: The spacecraft is healthy and on track for an orbital insertion in June 2026. It plans to "anchor and attach" to the asteroid to grab samples—a maneuver that has never been successfully done with that specific method.

🔭 4. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Updates

JWST has been busy peering at our own neighbor, Uranus, recently.

• Magnetic "Warps": On February 21, 2026, new data revealed three-dimensional maps of Uranus's upper atmosphere. It showed that the planet's wildly tilted magnetic field is creating glowing auroral bands and strange "dark regions" that don't exist on any other planet.
• Cooling Trend: The data confirmed that Uranus's atmosphere has been steadily cooling for 30 years, reaching a chilly -150°C ($426 \text{ K}$) in the upper layers.

🪐 5. The February "Planet Parade"

If you look at the sky right now (late February 2026), you are witnessing a rare six-planet alignment.

• Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Mars, and Jupiter are all clustering in the evening sky.
• Jupiter is currently the brightest "star" in the east, while the others are low on the western horizon just after sunset.