Good News on X: Two Astronauts Are Outside Right Now, a New World Showed Up Past Pluto and It's National Cat Day

Somebody is doing home improvement 250 miles up, somebody else found a whole new world in old telescope data, and every cat in America has been informed that today is about them. They were already acting like it, but now it's official.

It's been a long week for Rays fans, so here's what people on X were smiling about since yesterday afternoon.

Two astronauts are outside the space station right now

While you were making coffee, NASA's Anil Menon and the Canadian Space Agency's Joshua Kutryk switched their suits to battery power at 7:57 a.m. EDT and stepped outside the International Space Station, per NASA's space station blog. Their job: unbolt a new roll-out solar array from a storage platform, ride it over on the Canadarm2 robotic arm, install it on the station's port-side truss, and then let mission control unroll it and start making power. NASA planned about six hours and 45 minutes for the whole thing.

.@Astro_Anil and @Astro_Kutryk set their spacesuits to battery power at 7:57 a.m. EDT today officially beginning their spacewalk to install a new roll-out solar array.

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) See it on X

It's Kutryk's first spacewalk, and the Canadian Space Agency is cheering him on like a proud parent at a recital, which is the correct response. Back inside, NASA's Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney are running the robotic arm and keeping cameras on them. If you want to watch, it's streaming on NASA's live page. I'll be over here struggling to hang one picture frame straight.

A new world turned up past Pluto

The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory has its first dwarf planet candidate, and X is still passing it around. It's called 2026 ED138 for now, which sounds like a parking spot, but stay with me. It sits about 46 astronomical units from the Sun (Pluto averages 40), and early estimates put it somewhere between 600 and 1,500 kilometers across.

Meet our Solar System's newest dwarf planet candidate: 2026 ED138! Orbiting past Pluto, scientists found it in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data from earlier in 2026.

— NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory (@VRubinObs) Watch on X

My favorite part is how it was found. On the evening of Oct. 13, Matthew Holman of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian ran Rubin's data through a search code he built with colleague Kevin Napier, spotted something unusually big and bright, and, in his words, felt "excited disbelief." So he checked whether he'd broken something. He hadn't. Rubin's telescope had actually caught it 30 times on 20 nights between March and July, and older Dark Energy Camera images trace it back to 2016. Ten years of hiding in plain sight. Relatable.

Virgin Galactic's new spaceship flew home

Virgin Galactic named its newest spaceship Apeiron (ancient Greek for "boundless," picked by a public vote with people from more than 80 countries) yesterday morning, and by the afternoon it was flying. Tucked under its mothership, Eve, it left Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport at 10:29 a.m. MST and landed at Spaceport America in New Mexico at 12:59 p.m. MDT, per the company's announcement.

Welcome home, Spaceship Apeiron. Our newest spaceship completed its first flight today, from our factory in Mesa to Spaceport America in New Mexico.

— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) See it on X

Next comes flight testing, and the company says it expects to start flying customers early in the second quarter of 2027. It's built to fly twice a week. Named in the morning, moved in by lunch. That's a better first day than most of us get.

The Lightning brought Halloween to Muma Children's Hospital

Before tonight's game, the Lightning sent SuperMac and Captain Heddy to surprise kids at Muma Children's Hospital in Tampa for Halloween. Costumes, candy, big smiles. Good on them.

Trick-or-treat! SuperMac and Captain Heddy spent the afternoon surprising kids at Muma Children's Hospital for Halloween 🎃

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) Watch on X

Then it's back to business: the Bolts host the Winnipeg Jets tonight at 7 p.m. at Benchmark International Arena, on ESPN+ and The Spot, per ESPN. With the Rays' season over, this is your official reminder that Tampa Bay still has a team playing tonight.

The line, per DraftKings via ESPN (pulled about 9:25 a.m. ET Thursday): Tampa Bay is the home favorite, TB -238 / WPG +195. Puck line TB -1.5 (+110), WPG +1.5 (-130). O/U 5.5.

Bucky Irving got slimed

The Bucs' Bucky Irving was named Nickelodeon's NVP for the week, and as tradition demands, he got slimed. Then the Bucs made it a group activity with SLIMETIME with the offensive line. Big men, green goo. I'm told it washes out. I'm not told how long that takes.

Next up, the Falcons visit Raymond James Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Fox, per ESPN.

The line, per DraftKings via ESPN (pulled about 9:25 a.m. ET Thursday): Tampa Bay is favored by 2.5. Atlanta moneyline +120. O/U 44.5.

Odds are information, not advice. 21+ only. If gambling stops being fun, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Manatee County built little houses for little falcons

Out at Duette Preserve, Manatee County is putting up nesting boxes for American kestrels, one of Florida's smallest falcons:

A little help for one of Florida's smallest falcons! 🦅 Manatee County is installing American kestrel nesting boxes at Duette Preserve to support these small but important birds of prey.

— Manatee County Government (@ManateeGov) See it on X

Kestrels nest in tree cavities and other natural openings, and good spots can be hard to find, per the county's post. A box gives them a safe place to lay eggs and raise chicks, and in return they eat bugs and small rodents. Honestly, that's the best rental deal in Florida. Pest control included, no HOA.

Happy National Cat Day

October 29 is National Cat Day, started in 2005 by pet lifestyle expert and animal welfare advocate Colleen Paige, per National Day Calendar, which says it has helped more than a million cats find homes through adoption and awareness. The cozy-cat photos have been rolling across #NationalCatDay all morning. If you've been thinking about adopting, today's a great excuse to visit a local shelter. If you already have a cat, it knows what today is. It's going to sit on your keyboard about it.

That's Thursday. A spacewalk, a new world, a spaceship's first flight and a bunch of happy kestrels. Go Bolts tonight.