Author Archives: LED Editor

Friday / 21 May 2021

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Half-Dozen Enterprises To Receive New Lunar Technology Maturation Grants

NASA SBIR / SBTT Awards $750K/EA To 6 Businesses With Moon Focus: Paragon Space Development Corporation Of Tucson AZ (ISRU Collector Of Ice); Lunar Resources Of Houston TX (Molten Regolith Electrolysis Oxygen Capturing, Filtering & Storage System); Advanced Cooling Technologies Of Lancaster PA (Thermal Management System For Lunar Ice Miners); CesiumAstro Of Austin TX (Commercial Communications & Sensing System); Flight Works Of Irvine CA (High Performance Pump-fed Lunar Transfer Stage For Small Launchers); Blueshift Of Broomfield CO (Modeling Rover Interactions With Lunar Regolith In PSRs)

Credits: Paragon, Lunar Resources, ACT, CesiumAstro, Flight Works, Blueshift, NASA

Tuesday / 18 May 2021

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Lunar / Deep Space Exploration, Commercialization Are Top Priorities For New NASA Leadership

Administrator Bill Nelson Outlines Vision For Future Of USA Space Activity, Telling Florida Today A “Dual Track” Approach Will Emphasize “Commercial Activity” In Support Of Artemis Moon Mission Sequence And Related Technologies, While NASA Exploration Extends “Out Of Low-Earth Orbit”; Nelson Also Expresses Hope That International Cooperation May Be Furthered As “Space Is The Unique Environment Where Enemies Can Come Together” And Reflects On NASA’s Positive Image Around The World And Diplomatic Significance

Credits: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 May 2021

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NASA To Launch 21st Century Deep Space Laser Communications System

Laser Communications Relay Demonstrations (LCRD) To Launch To 35,405km Geosynchronous Orbit On Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) From Cape Canaveral Space Force Station 23 June, Powered By ULA Atlas V In 551 Configuration; Building On LADEE Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration Of 622 Mbps Downlink / 40 Mbps Uplink From Moon Orbit, LCRD Is Expected To Show Infrared Laser-Based Speed To / From Optical Ground Station 1 (California) & 2 (Hawaii) ‘10 To 100x’ Faster Than Existing Radio Frequency Comms

Credits: NASA

Friday / 14 May 2021

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Permanent Moon Settlement Advanced By International Research Stations In Antarctica

Neumayer III Station, Located On Ekström Ice Shelf In Antarctica (70°38′S 8°15′W) Is Site Of EDEN ISS (UL) Greenhouse, A Prototype Closed-Loop Sustenance System Helping To Feed Onsite Researchers And Develop Technology / Agronomic Knowledge Base Necessary To Sustain Human Life Outside Earth Ecosystem With Collaboration, From Germany Primarily And Austria, Italy, Canada, The Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, USA; China Is Pursuing Similar Goals At China Great Wall Research Station (BR) On King George Island Of Antarctica (62°13′S 58°57′W) With Plexiglass Greenhouse Covering 602m2; Efforts Have Focused On Brassica Cultivation

Credits: ESA, ACRYLITE, DLR, Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration

Tuesday / 11 May 2021

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DOGE-1 Mission To Moon May Revolutionize Space Enterprise Funding

“To The Moon” Rallying Call Of Investors, Enthusiasts And Idealists Who Believe A Reformation Of International Monetary Policy Towards Decentralized, Distributed Ledger Cryptocurrency In Lieu Of Government-backed Fiat Money Will Democratize Transactional Commerce, Is Set To Become Reality With Q1 2022 40kg CubeSat, Launching To Lunar Orbit Via SpaceX Falcon 9; DOGE-1 Being Constructed By Geometric Energy Corporation Of Calgary, Canada With Collaboration Of Mimir Solutions And Iteration Syndicate

Credits: SpaceX, Reddit, Youtube

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 7-10 May 2021

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10 Living Apollo Moon Workers Maintain Human MultiWorld Status As Artemis Era Dawns

As Artemis Generation Women And Men Train For 2024-2026 Lunar Missions, It Is Appropriate To Reflect Upon The Surviving Astronauts Who Explored On And Around The Moon, Earth Nearest Celestial Neighbor / Key Launch Point To Galaxy – They Are, In Order Of Seniority: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, Buzz Aldrin, Tom Stafford, David Scott, Bill Anders, Fred Haise, Harrison Schmitt, Charles Duke And Ken Mattingly; Artemis Astronauts Will Hopefully Reach Moon In Time For Apollo Era To Pass Exploration Torch

Credits: NASA, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia Commons

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 30 Apr – 3 May 2021

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Ad Astra Michael Collins, 10 Apollo Moonwalkers / Orbiters Remain As Multi-World Generational Bridge For Artemis Continuity

Apollo 11 & Gemini 10 Astronaut, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum Director, Author Michael Collins Has Passed At Age 90; Eulogized By President Joseph Biden As “Equal Partner” In First Human Moon Landing, Exemplifying “Importance Of Collaboration”; A Prolific Thinker, Collins Wrote In 1974 Autobiography Carrying the Fire, “Future Flight Should Include A Poet, A Priest And A Philosopher”; Buzz Aldrin, David Scott, Charles Duke And Harrison Schmitt Are Last Crewmembers To Land On Moon, With Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, Bill Anders, Tom Stafford, Fred Haise And Ken Mattingly Reaching Lunar Orbit

Credits: NASA

Tuesday / 27 Apr 2021

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Suit For Moon South Pole, Lunar Gateway, ISS To Be Developed For NASA By Industry

Commercial Crew-Style “Service-Based Model” To “Accelerate Industry And Our Artemis Exploration Plans” Per Deputy Associate Administrator For Advanced Exploration Systems Mark Kirasich; Design Cycle, Maintenance And Training To Be Managed By One Or More Partners With NASA Oversight; xEVA And Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) Programs To Continue Within NASA, Concurrent With Commercial Program – Providing Redundancy; Responses To Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services RFI 80JSC21XEVAS Due 29 April

Credits: NASA, Boeing, SpaceX, HI-SEAS

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 Apr 2021

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NASA Administrator Nominee Reaffirms USA Commitment To Artemis Human Lunar Landings, Competitive Contract Practices

In Testimony To Senate Commerce Committee Nominee Bill Nelson Pledges “Moon Should Be A Place That Is Not Militarized” Under Artemis Accords, Urges Cooperation Between Nations Participating In Lunar Activity; Committee Chair Maria Cantwell Advocates For “Dissimilar Redundancy” In Human Lander Program, Opening Possibility Of Future Additional Contracts; Nelson Insists “Timetable For 2024 Is Still There”, Implying That SpaceX Confidence In Keeping Schedule Deciding Factor In Award; Confirmation In Full Senate Expected 28 April

Credits: NASA, US Senate

Friday / 23 Apr 2021

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German Aerospace Center (DLR) Sensor To Test Lunar Radiation Levels From Astrobotic Peregrine

Long Term Lunar Human Survivability Investigation To Be Advanced With M-42 Radiation Detector “Providing Valuable Knowledge About Galactic Cosmic Radiation” Per Thomas Berger, Biophysics Team Leader At DLR Institute Of Aerospace Medicine; 250-g Instrument Is Set To Fly To Lacus Mortis On Astrobotic Peregrine Mission 1, Launching NET Nov 2021; Similar Sensors To Evaluate Radiation Conditions From Within Orion Spacecraft During Artemis 1 (MARE – Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment); DLR Joins International Payloads From UK, Hungary, Japan, Canada And Mexico On Mission 1

Credits: Astrobotic, DLR, NASA