Author Archives: LED Editor

Tuesday / 25 February 2020

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  Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program To Encourage Canada Companies In Artemis Supply Chain

Canada Space Agency (CSA / ASC) Releases Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program Announcement Of Opportunity; LEAP AO Is Intended To Position Canada Companies In Lunar Mission Supply Chain For The 2024 Artemis Human Landing Date; LEAP Program Is Funded At US$150M With AO Funded At $13M And Individual Companies Receiving Up To $2M; Interested Commercial Enterprises Include ABB Canada, Canadensys Aerospace, Mission Control Space Services And Moon Express Canada; Letters Of Intent Are Due 20 March, With AO Due 31 Mar

Credits: CSA / ASC, Canadensys, Mission Control Space, Moon Express

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 21-24 Feb 2020

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USA, PRC Lunar Probes Break Records Operating From Orbit And On Surface

Chang’e-4 Yutu-2 Operates During 15th Lunar Day In South Pole-Aitken Basin, Longest Duration Of Any Rover In Moon History; Completes Over 367 Meters Travel And Discovers Younger Rocks In 3.6-Billion Year Old Von Karman Crater On Far Side; Netherlands-China Low Frequency Explorer Operates Aboard Queqiao Orbiter, Gathering Astronomy Data In 21 Cm Range; Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, In Orbit Since September 2009, Scouting Landing Sites For Artemis Human Lunar Landings

Credits: NASA, CLEP, CNSA

Friday / 21 February 2020

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Artemis Moon Enterprises Underway At Langley Research Center To Support 2024 Human Landings 

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, Continues Lunar Programs Following Visit By VP Pence Reaffirming Commitment To Artemis; Navigation Doppler LIDAR Being Developed At Langley Will Aid In Determining Exact Spacecraft Position During Landing; Langley Researches On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly And Manufacturing For Lunar Orbit Applications; Clayton Turner Is New Center Director And Jill Marlowe Is New Associate Center Director For Technical At Langley

Credits: NASA, Blue Origin

Tuesday / 18 February 2020

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  Permanently Shadowed South Polar Region Operations To Be Studied By Universities Under BIG Idea NASA Awards

NASA 2020 Breakthrough, Innovative And Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge To Award Nearly USD$1M To Eight University Teams For Demonstrating Ways To Work In Moon’s Darkest Regions; MIT AeroAstro Team, Supervised By Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, Will Build 100-Kg Multifunctional Expandable Lunar Lite Tall Tower (MELLTT) To Extend 100 Feet From Lander; Northeastern University Will Build SCOUT Rover And DOGHOUSE Support Module; Concepts Will Be Designed To Operate In Permanently Shadowed Regions Near Lunar South Pole

Credits: NASA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 Feb 2020

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New Race To Moon South Pole – Malapert Mountain

Multiple Nations And Commercial Enterprises Aiming For Lunar South Polar Region; Following CNSA Chang’e-5 Sample Return In 2020, Chang’e-6 And Chang’e-7 Will Explore South Pole; ISRO Chandrayaan-3, -4 and -5 Will Continue Polar Landing Goal Of Chandrayaan-2; SpaceX Promises Lunar Landings By 2022; NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services May Carry Payloads Such As The International Lunar Observatory ILO-1 For Galaxy Imaging And Broadcasting From Malapert Mountain, One Of The Most Important And Valuable Sites In Solar System

Credits: NASA, CNSA, ISRO, SpaceX, ILOA

Tuesday / 11 February 2020

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Lunar Dust Grains Are Analyzed Atom-By-Atom To Find Water And Helium

Precious Lunar Samples May Be Analyzed From A Single Grain Of Dust; University Of Chicago Graduate Student Jennika Greer And Colleagues At Field Museum Use Atom Probe Tomography, Which Allows Grains To Be Measured Atom-By-Atom For 3-Dimensional Data From Sample; APT Is Used On Small Grain From Apollo 17 Sample 71501, Separated For Particles 150-200 μm In Diameter; Technique Sees Effects Of Space Weathering And Identifies Water And Helium, Valuable Resources For Future Lunar Settlements

Credits: NASA, University of Chicago

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 7-10 Feb 2020

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Aldrin Urges Timely Return To Moon While State Of Union Reaffirms Commitment To Artemis

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin Urges America To “Dare Greatly” In Returning To Moon As Step Toward Mars, Emphasizes That “Time Does Matter” In Space; Following State Of Union Call To Fully Fund Artemis Program “To Ensure That The Next Man And First Woman On The Moon Will Be American” White House Will Request NASA Budget Boost, Perhaps US$3B; Administrator Bridenstine Will Focus On Moon To Mars Plans Monday 10 February At State Of NASA Events

Credits: NASA

Friday / 7 February 2020

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SSTL Lunar Pathfinder Data Relay To Provide Communication With South Polar Region By 2022

UK Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) Building Lunar Pathfinder Data-Relay; 280-Kg Spacecraft Is Intended To Provide Affordable Communications With S-Band And UHF Links To Missions On Surface, And X-Band Link To Earth; Will Enable Lunar Polar And Farside Missions With An Alternative To Earth-Based Deep Space Networks; Planned For Launch In 2022, Lunar Pathfinder Will Operate In Elliptical Orbit For Long-Duration Line-Of-Sight Visibility Of South Polar Region And Aitken Basin; Sue Horne Of UK Space Agency Talks Of Communicating From Lunar Orbit To Surface

Credits: NASA, SSTL

Tuesday / 4 February 2020

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Blue Origin To Test BE-7 Lunar Lander Engine At Edwards AFB

Blue Origin Partners With Air Force Research Laboratory To Develop Test Facility For BE-7 Lunar Lander Engine, Signs 15-Year Cooperation Agreement; Facility Will Test BE-7 In Simulated Space Environments; New 10,000 Pound Thrust Engine Is Designed For In-Space Applications Including The Blue Moon Lunar Lander; Blue Origin “O’Neill Building” Headquarters In Kent, Washington, Features Blue Moon Mockup Along With Science Fiction Spaceships; Blue Origin Hiring Engineers To Compete For NASA Lunar Contracts

Credits: Blue Origin, Air Force Research Lab

Weekend Edition
Fri – Mon / 31 Jan – 3 Feb 2020

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Multipartisan Support Needed To Keep Artemis 2024 Lunar Landing Date

US House Subcommittee On Space And Aeronautics, Chaired By Kendra Horn, Proposes Bill H.R. 5666 Calling For Lunar Landing By 2028 Instead Of 2024; Bill Directs Creation Of Moon-Mars Program Office To Plan For Mars Landing In 2033; Space Community Expresses Alarm That Mars ‘Fantasy’ Could Indefinitely Delay Moon And Cislunar Development; Draft Bill Must Pass Full House Of Representatives And Negotiations With Senate, Which Has Already Approved Of Artemis First Women On the Moon

Credits: NASA, Lockheed Martin