Friday / 27 March 2020

Artemis Program Continues As Long-Term Stimulus In Current Crisis

Orion Spacecraft For Artemis 1 Arrives At KSC Despite Lockdown At NASA Centers; Virus Crisis Seen As Reason To Accelerate Not Delay Human Moon Landings; Economic Downturn Means USA Needs Lunar Return Now More Than Ever; Turning Back Would Add Thousands Of Moonworkers To Unemployment Rolls; Studies Show That Spaceflight Investment Has Positive Multiplier Effects On Economy; Sustained Lunar Program Would Be Long-Term Stimulus For Earth

Credits: NASA, ILOA, SPC, Lockheed Martin;

Weekend Equinox Edition
Fri-Mon / 20-23 Mar 2020

Artemis Goal Of Human Lunar Landings May Be Aided By SpaceX

Orion Spacecraft For Artemis 1 Completes Testing At NASA Plum Brook Station And Moves To KSC; Orion And Space Launch System Production And Testing Temporarily Pause Due To Virus Cautions; SpaceX Prepares for Historic American Commercial Crew Launch In May; Moon Landings In 2024-25 Are Seen As Imperative For Future Human Survival; Though SpaceX CEO Musk Expresses Doubts About Reaching Mars, Opportunity Exists For SpaceX To Capitalize The Moon


Credits: SpaceX, NASA

Tuesday / 17 March 2020

NASA Artemis Human Lunar Landing In 2024 To Bypass Gateway 

New NASA Associate Administrator For Human Exploration And Operations Mission Directorate Doug Loverro Commits To Artemis Bypassing Lunar Orbital Gateway; Human Landing Goal In 2024 Will Be Critical Path; Canada, Japan And European Space Agencies, Maxar Technologies And Northrop Grumman Contributing To Gateway; NASA Selects Space Weather Instrument Suite And ESA-Built Radiation Instrument Package As First Science Experiments On Future Gateway Space Station; Lunar Orbit Seen As Important For Long-Term Sustainable Presence On Moon Surface

Credits: NASA

Friday / 13 March 2020

University Teams Building SmallSat Demonstrations For Artemis 

NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program Selects Nine University Teams For Small (<180 Kg) Satellite Demonstrations Supporting Artemis; Universities Will Receive Up To US$200K For Lunar Projects; Arizona State University Tempe Will Test Deployable Optical Receiver Aperture; University Of Colorado Boulder Will Build SmallSat Lunar Communications System In Collaboration With JPL; University Of California Irvine And University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Will Both Test Electrospray Thrusters; Future SmallSats Could Provide Communications And Navigation For The Moon

Credits: NASA

Tuesday / 10 March 2020

Artemis Student Challenge Awards University Teams For Cosmic Crops And Lunar Communication Laser Development

NASA Awards Nearly US$1M To Eight University Teams; University Of Arizona Colleges Of Engineering, Agriculture And Life Sciences, Team Led By Murat Kacira, Receives $84,333 To Develop Improved Water And Nutrient System For Growing Cosmic Crops In Microgravity (L); Colorado School Of Mines, In Cooperation With University Of Arizona, Receives $114K To Test Laser For Communicating With Tiny ‘FemtoSat’ Spacecraft, Shown By Jekan Thanga (R), Launched Across Moon; Laser Communication System May Be Used For Exploring Permanently Shadowed Regions Of Lunar South Pole

Credits: University of Arizona

Friday / 28 February 2020

CubeSats To Orbit Moon In 2021 To Prepare For Artemis 

NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program Funds CubeSats For Moon; Lunar Flashlight Will Fly As Secondary Payload On Artemis-1; With Principal Investigator Barbara Cohen, Flashlight Will Examine Permanently Shadowed Regions Near South Pole For Water Ice Deposits; Rocket Lab Has Contract To Launch Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations And Navigation Experiment In 2021; 25-Kg CAPSTONE, Built By Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Will Reach Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit As Precursor To Lunar Gateway

Credits: NASA, Rocket Lab

Friday / 21 February 2020

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

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 7-10 Feb 2020

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

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

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

New Year 2020 Edition
Fri-Tues / 20 Dec 2019 – 7 Jan 2020

Artemis Moon Generation:
Multi-Partisan, International, Entrepreneurial

NASA Gains Funding In Bipartisan Budget For Space Launch System, Exploration Upper Stage, And Artemis Lunar Lander For First Women On The Moon In 2024; Private Companies Are Participating In Commercial Crew, Cargo, And Lunar Landers; Canada Supplying Robotic Arm For Lunar Orbit; JAXA Contributing Habitation Modules And Lunar Rover; ESA Partners Agree To Greatly Increased Budget And Providing Orion Service Modules For Artemis 1-4; Cooperation Possible From India, Russia, Crescent Moon Countries And Zhongguo (China)

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA / CAS