SpaceWeek Edition
Mon-Sun / 15-21 July 2019

US President, VP, Step Up For Artemis Moon Success
First Women Soon To South Pole Moon

Political And Financial Support For America Moon Return Imperative 2024 Has Broadest And Strongest Opportunity With Apollo@50 Lunar Highest Tide This July Space Month 2019: If Not Now, When? $20-40B Required For Artemis: NASA 1% Of US Govt FY Budget, New PPPs, International Cooperation For Moon, Mars, 21st Century Solar System Complete; Note Zhongguo / China Chang’e-4 Moon Far Side Jan 2019, India Chandrayaan-2 Moon South Pole Region Sep 2019

Credits: White House, Smithsonian, NASA, CNSA, ISRO

Friday / 12 July 2019

Chandrayaan-2 Counts Down To First Lunar South Polar Region Landing

Chandrayaan-2 In Countdown To Launch 15 July From Satish Dhawan Space Center Atop Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III; First South Pole Region Landing And First India Soft-Landing Planned 6 Sep Between Manzinus C and Simpellius N Craters At 70° S Latitude; 2,380-kg Orbiter, 1,470-kg Lander And 27-kg Rover Carry 14 Science Payloads; Orbiter Is Expected To Operate One Year While Vikram Lander And Pragyan Rover Have Design Lifetime Of 15 Days On Surface; US$143M Budget Is Less Than Summer Movie

Credits: ISRO

Tuesday / 9 July 2019

Zhongguo / China Chang’e-5 To Test Artificial Intelligence And Technologies For Lunar Base 

Chang’e-5 Planned For Launch By End Of 2019, Will Be Aided By Artificial Intelligence In The Complicated Rendezvous And Docking Required For Lunar Sample Return; First Chief Scientist Ouyang Ziyuan Claims Technological Breakthroughs In 12 Phases Of Mission; Payload Of 8.2 Tons Planned For Launch By Long March 5 From Wenchang Space Launch Center On Hainan Island, To Include Shovel-Type Sampler And Drilling Sampler; Chang’e-5 Will Test Technologies For Lunar Base

Credits: CNSA, CAS, NAOC

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 5-8 July 2019

Colorado Experiments To Be Sent To Lunar Surface

Payloads For Commercial Lunar Services Providers Include Surface Electromagnetics Experiment, Which Could Be First Radio Telescope On Moon Surface; Co-Investigator Jack Burns Of University Of Colorado Is Also Principal Investigator Of Dark Ages Polarimetry Pathfinder Planned To Orbit Lunar Far Side By 2023; Colorado-Built Experiments For NASA CLPS Include Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System To Explore Moon’s Composition And Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder, Which Will Study Moon’s Crust

Credits: Orbit Beyond, University of Colorado Boulder

Tuesday / 2 July 2019

Buzz Aldrin Pivots Support Toward Moon Before Mars 

Buzz Aldrin, On Eve Of July Apollo 11 Observations, Says Stephen Hawking Convinced Him That Humans Should Return To Moon First; At Starmus V Festival In Zurich With Theme ‘A Giant Leap’ Aldrin Receives Stephen Hawking Medal For Lifetime Achievement, Recalls Visit To Cambridge UK And Late Physicist Tapping Out ‘Moon First’ On Computer; Aldrin Will Land In Luxembourg For USA Independence Day, Hopes That Costs Of Lunar Return Will Be Shared By International Partners

Credits: Starmus Festival, NASA

 

Monday / 1 July 2019

ILOA Request For Information: To Land ILO-2, As Backup For ILO-1, On Malapert Mt Or Shackleton Rim, Asap

International Lunar Observatory Association Requesting Information From Potential Lunar Lander Payload Providers To Deliver ILO-1 Instrument And / Or ILO-2 Backup To Malapert Mountain Near Moon South Pole As Early As 2021; ILO-1 Instruments Are Being Developed With Canadensys Aerospace Corporation To Perform Astronomy From The Moon, Observations And Communications; Flight-Ready ~1 Kg Instrument May Be Delivered As Primary Or Co-Payload; Entities With Active Interest In South Pole Include Canada, India, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, Japan, Korea, South America, Africa, Crescent Moon Countries, USA And Many Independent Enterprises

Credits: NASA, ILOA

Friday / 28 June 2019

Air And Space Museum Destination Moon Exhibit Opening 2022

Smithsonian National Air And Space Museum, Holding ‘First Moon Landing’ Celebration 16-20 July, Will Open ‘Destination Moon’ Exhibit In 2022 Midst Of Artemis Era; Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit On Display For First Time In 13 Years Thanks To Crowdfunded Restoration; Destination Moon, Product Of US$1B Museum Renovation, Will Include Armstrong Spacesuit And Columbia Spacecraft; Travelling Smithsonian Destination Moon Exhibit At Seattle Museum Of Flight Until 2 Sep, Will Reopen At Cincinnati Museum Center 28 Sep

Credits: National Air and Space Museum, NASA

Tuesday / 25 June 2019

Three Apollo Astronauts Say They Support Artemis Return To The Moon

At Cradle Of Aviation Museum In Long Island, 3 Apollo Astronauts Endorse Artemis Plan For Returning Humans To Moon; Rusty Schweickart Of Apollo 9 Supports Real And Resurgent Moon Program; Charlie Duke (R) Of Apollo 16 Is “All For It” And Excited For Artemis; Harrison Schmitt (L) Of Apollo 17 Expressed Concerns About Funding, Says That Engineering Lunar Hardware Is Full Of Surprises, Wants An “Apollo Management” Environment, Says Young People Are Essential, And Wishes NASA Good Luck

Credits: NASA, Cradle of Aviation Museum

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 21-24 June 2019

NASA Center Women Directors For The Artemis Generation

Washington DC Street Near NASA HQ Named ‘Hidden Figures Way’ In Honor Of NASA Women;  Janet Kavendi (top) Is Director Of Glenn Research Center; Jody Singer (R) Director Of Marshall Space Flight Center, Says ‘We Get Closer To The Moon Again, We Go Back, We Set Up Civilization, We Make A Sustainable Presence’ While Ellen Ochoa Is Former Director Of Johnson Space Center; Three Of Four NASA Science Divisions Are Headed By Women; Administrator Jim Bridenstine Tells CNN That Sending Women To The Moon Will Be Transformational

Credits: NASA

Friday / 21 June 2019

JFK Space Summit Looks To Future Lunar Missions And Why “We Choose To Go To The Moon”

Summit At John F. Kennedy Library In Boston MA Features Caroline Kennedy, Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins, Astronauts Ellen Ochoa, Chris Cassidy, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Koichi Wakata, Paolo Nespoli, Oleg Kotov, And Jeff Bezos Of Blue Origin; USA Celebrating Apollo@50 Hopes To Land 1st Women At Moon South Pole 2024; Lunar Base Will Advance Science, Secure Resources & Support Long-Term Survival Of Species; Bezos States ‘We Need To Go To Space, It’s Not Optional’, Has Vision Of Trillions Living & Working In Space And Moving Heavy Industry Off Earth

Credits: J.F.K. Library, NASA