NASA's moon base, beloved Big Boy, the doping games: Week in review
NASA's moon base, beloved Big Boy, the doping games: Week in review
Robert Abitbol, USA TODAYSat, May 30, 2026 at 9:02 AM UTC
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NASA's moon base, beloved Big Boy, the doping games: Week in reviewNASA’s next giant leap: A moon base
NASA has big plans for the moon. The space agency outlined an ambitious three-phase launch program of landers, drones, rovers and infrastructure to construct a $20 billion lunar base by 2032 where astronauts can live and work. (It has been only two months since the historic Artemis II mission sent four astronauts to our close neighbor.) “The Moon Base will be America’s and humanity’s first outpost on another celestial world,” NASA chief Jared Isaacman said. Another goal of this ultimate construction project: laying the groundwork for sending humans to Mars.
Beloved ‘Big Boy’ chugs toward history
Union Pacific’s “Big Boy,” the world's largest working steam locomotive and a thundering piece of Americana, was rolling east from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Philadelphia to join the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations in July. The 133-foot-long locomotive is the last of the mammoth engines built to haul heavy metal during World War II. More than 1 million people are expected to greet it at stops in Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and New York. “They’re going to hear that whistle,” said Union Pacific’s Ed Dickens. “You’ll feel the ground rumbling, feel the heat. ... This locomotive, it does not disappoint.”
USA 250: Catch up on the big plans for the nation’s 250th birthday
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Calling all coin collectors
American consumers can soon get their hands on something shiny and new, along with a nod to the warm and familiar. The semiquincentennial quarter honoring the Declaration of Independence, featuring Thomas Jefferson on the front and the Liberty Bell on the back, ships out June 1, the U.S. Mint announced, the third of five new quarters for 2026 to mark America’s 250th anniversary. And coming to a post office near you: the return of the popular Mister Rogers stamp, winner of the USPS Stamp Encore contest, also to honor the nation’s birthday. It was last seen in 2018, when it sold out in weeks.
Don’t cross Russell Crowe in his own arena
Russell Crowe has been known to have a temper, and he has been known to show it. In a video shared by TMZ, the Oscar winner, 62, can be seen signing autographs outside his hotel in Paris. “Stay where you are,” he tells fans. “Don’t … push in on me. … You got me? Clear?” (Expletives are deleted.) When a fan asks him to add his “Gladiator” character’s name, Maximus, he replies “No." The actor responded he would have none of that “clickbait,” however, posting on X: “Everybody got their autograph and selfie. One man, no security. Handled. What’s your problem?”
Doping competition is not so dope after all
For good or bad, the inaugural Enhanced Games are in the books. The sprinting, swimming and weightlifting event that allows athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs held its inaugural event in Las Vegas, where organizers had hyped the competition as a PED-friendly Olympics with high drama, big purses and shattered records. Only one world record fell, however – in the 50-meter freestyle, by just a hair (and the new record will remain unofficial.) Also: Of the 10 events, according to The Guardian, “clean” athletes won three. − Compiled and written by Robert Abitbol
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA's moon base, beloved Big Boy, the doping games: Week in review
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
