Artemis Human Moon Landing Program Endorsed By White House, Legislators, NASA Acting Administrator
Political Consensus For NASA-led Return To Moon Emerging As White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki (C) Assures Press That Biden / Harris Administration Is Committed To Partnering With “Industry And International Partners To Send… Another Man And A Woman To The Moon” And That Congressional Support For Artemis Is “Broad And Bicameral”; Comments Come As 11 Senators Sign Letter Urging Executive Backing For Human Landing Systems – Key To Boots On Lunar Ground; NASA Leader Steve Jurczyk (R) Indicates Artemis 1 To Launch Q4; CLPS On Track To Support Human Missions
Credits: NASA, White House, Wikipedia
3 USA Companies Competing To Build Human Landers To Carry Artemis Team To Moon Surface Have 10-Month Base Period Extended NLT 30 April, 1 Year After NASA Announcement Of Fixed Price Contracts To Blue Origin (With Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Draper), Dynetics (With Sierra Nevada Corporation, Paragon) And SpaceX Via Next Space Technologies For Exploration Partnerships Totaling US$967M; Funding Needed To Build 2 Winning Designs Projected $3.2B, Current Funding Appropriations Remain Around $850M; Space Advocates Urge Biden / Harris Administration To Prioritize First Woman On Moon / Lunar Exploration
Washington-Based Blue Origin Progresses “Opening Space To All” Goal With New Shepard Suborbital Spacecraft, “Getting Really Close To Flying Humans” On 11-Minute Suborbital Tourism Flights, Declares Director Of Astronaut And Orbital Sales Ariane Cornell After Mission NS-14 Lofting Mannequin Skywalker Test Dummy 105,938 Meters Via BE-3 Liquid Oxygen / Hydrogen Engines, Also Intended For Use On Lunar Lander Blue Moon, Should It Be Selected By NASA For Artemis Program; BE-4 Liquefied Natural Gas Engines Are To Power 7-m Diameter New Glenn Launch System With Flight Expected This Year, Both Being Manufactured In Huntsville Facility
New USA Leaders Signal Awareness Of Transcendent / Unifying Nature Of Lunar Exploration, In
Space Manufacturing Forays Largely Focusing On Thin Layer Additive Processes, Taking Advantage Of Vacuum In LEO And In-Situ 
Priorities And Advantageous Conditions For Science During NASA Human Landing Officially Planned For 2024 Include Moon As Stable / Quiet Platform For Farside Long Wavelength Radio Observation, With Special Attention On 21-cm “Dark Ages” Spectrum From Dawn Of Universe; Position Just Outside Earth Magnetosphere Conducive To Heliophysical Investigations On Electrodynamic Interactions With Surrounding Plasma Fields; Low Seismicity Ideal For Interferometer-Based Study Of Relatively / Gravitational Waves And Calibration; 60 Earth-Radii Distance 4x Shorter Than L1 Point Used For Long-Term Climate Observation; Lunar Cataclysm Hypothesis May Be Validated Via South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return If Dated 4.1Ga / Younger
SLS Rocket, Central To Achieving USA Space Policy Directive 1 / Human Moon Landings, To Conduct Fueled Rehearsal Test Of Core Stage NET 7 Dec, Hot Fire NET 21 Dec; NASA Expanding CLPS Program, Releasing RFP For Payloads And Research Investigations On The Surface Of The Moon (PRISM), Lunar Science Slated For Late 2023 / Early 2024 Delivery; Zhongguo / China To Attempt First Lunar Sample Return In 44+ Years On 23 Nov (21:00 UTC); ESA Ground Stations Providing Support For Chang’e-5 Month-Long Mission Also To Assist In Artemis Series
USA Newspace Company Intuitive Machines Set For
Administrator Jim Bridenstine Signals Term Will Not Extend Into Biden/Harris Government, Reported By Aerospace Daily; Current NASA Head Ranks “Continuity Of Purpose” As Vital Aspect Of Program Success, Which Has Seen Lunar Progress Stymied By Inter-Administration Reprioritization In Past; “Bipartisan, Apolitical… Strong Support For Artemis” Found On “Both Sides Of The Aisle”, Bridenstine Assures; With Appointment 23 April 2018, The 13th NASA Administration May Be Shorter In Duration Than Historically Typical, However Achievements (Building Artemis Coalition, Human Lander Contracts) Have Significantly Advanced Space / Lunar Exploration Momentum