Category Archives: Artemis Program

Thursday / 8 June 2023

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Planetary Scientist to Delve into Expected Artemis 3 Moon South Pole Conditions

Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) Principal Scientist David Kring presenting What Might Artemis Astronauts Encounter at the Lunar South Pole?, an installment of LPI Cosmic Explorations Speaker Series, in hybrid online / in-person format today from Houston TX at 19:30 CDT; Low sun angle and jagged landscape may present unique challenges (visibility, traverse) and opportunities (PSRs, possibility of collecting 4.3 billion+ year old pre-Nectarian material) for 2-member Artemis 3 crew, now likely launching to MSP NET 2026 per NASA Exploration Systems Administrator Jim Free; Event will be live-streamed

Credits: LPI, NASA, KARI

Friday / 26 May 2023

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Artemis Lunar Scientists and Operations Experts Brainstorm While Clive Neal Advances Lunar Resource Utilization

How best to meet goals outlined in Artemis 3 Science Definition Report within operational constraints (e.g., 8 hours of aggregate EVA time, up to 2 hours in PSR) being considered in series of collaborative USRA / LPI Lunar Surface Science Workshops; Niki Werkheiser, Anne Garber, Cindy Evans, Sarah Noble among NASA team members engaging in science operation architecture development with 180+ participants in latest LSSW 19 on Integrating Science into Artemis; Next LSSW on lunar mapping to be held Aug 16-17; May AIAA Space Resources Webinar hosted by Clive Neal on Immediate Next Steps Towards Using Lunar Resources to Sustain Human Exploration & Drive the Cislunar Economy to be available on YouTube

Credits: ESA

Tuesday / 23 May 2023

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New NASA-funded Research Center to Characterize Lunar Environment and Volatile Elements / Compounds

Biochemistry Professor Thomas Orlando of Georgia Tech to lead interdisciplinary Center for Lunar Environment and Volatile Exploration Research (CLEVER) under NASA SSERVI award (US$1.5M/yr over 5 years, $7.5M total) to investigate space weather interactions with volatiles (H2O, OH, O2, CH4, H), invaluable substances for sustained human life support and energy needs of crewed Moon surface missions during Artemis and beyond; Additional CLEVER contributors are affiliated with Johns Hopkins University APL, UCF, University of Hawaiʻi, NASA AMES and KSC; 4 other lunar science teams to receive similar grants

Credits: GT, NASA

Tuesday / 16 May 2023

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Closer NASA / SpaceX Collaboration May Mitigate Environmental Controversy Around Starship Testing

Ongoing litigation pursued by Surfrider Foundation, American Bird Conservancy & others over amended 2015 environmental impact assessment under which FAA allows SpaceX to operate 20-acre Starbase facility near Boca Chica TX (25.6° N, 97.1° W) raising concerns over possible impact to NET Dec 2025 Artemis 3 human Moon landings; Environmental policy expert Eric Roesch argues Starbase is fundamentally incompatible with launch testing due to nature reserve proximity, urges NASA involvement; Kathy Lueders to join SpaceX, overseeing Starship safety

Credits: NASA, SpaceX

Friday / 12 May 2023

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Space Professionals Express Optimism for Moon Exploration, Growing Public Support Reflected in Poll

Artemis 2 Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen links earthbound challenges (food security, healthcare, climate) to human exploration of the Moon, enabling “eight billion people to row in the same direction and work on these problems”; National Air and Space Museum curator Jennifer Levasseur tells Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she sees “palpable” increase in engagement of young people with space installations; Economist / YouGov survey confirms these sentiments, with 64% of USA adults supporting human Moon landings, with 23% favoring national leadership, 11% preferring commercial entities taking charge while 48% want a dual approach

Credits: NASA, SpaceX

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 April 2023

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JAXA Now Targeting SLIM Moon Lander Launch NET August Amid H3 Upper Stage Failure Investigation

While Japan eagerly awaits first commercial Moon landing with ispace (T-12 days),  SLIM timeline pushed back to at least August pending results of inquiry into unsuccessful inaugural launch of JAXA / Mitsubishi H3 during which the hydrogen-fueled upper stage, similar to H-2A second stage which is to carry SLIM to TLI and XRISM space observatory to GEO, failed to ignite; SLIM is to demonstrate precision landing within ~100 m of Marius Hills Hole and is first in a series of planned landings in support of Artemis, per statements given by JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science Deputy Director Masaki Fujimoto

Credits: JAXA

Friday / 7 April 2023

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Artemis 2 Crew Set to Be First Astronauts to Reach Moon in Modern Era, Travel Further from Earth than Any Previous Mission

Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Hammock Koch & Jeremy Hansen are training intensively for 10-day lunar flyby Artemis 2 mission launching to multiple-burn trans lunar injection NET Nov 2024; Luna flyby will take crew 7,400 km past Moon, setting record for distance currently held by Apollo 13 (1970), which flew 254 km from lunar far side; Koch, Glover and Hansen to be first woman, person of color and non-USA citizen (respectively) to fly past LEO, cross Van Allen Belts and flyby Moon

Credits: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 31 March – 3 April 2023

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Artemis 2 Crew, First to Moon in 21st Century, to Be Announced Monday; Artemis 3 Moon Landing NLT 4 July 2026 Advances

NASA and CSA-ASC livestream 11:00 EDT on 3 April to announce official selection of 4 Astronauts to fly 7,402 km beyond the far side of the Moon NET Nov 2024; NASA will choose 3 crew from its 41 Astronauts (16 being women); Canada will select 1 Astronaut from its 3 men / 1 woman team; Looking forward to Artemis 3 / First Woman on the Moon (cast your vote on Space Age Pub / LED Poll), raises significant question of which international / non-USA person will be first to touch Moon surface

Credits: NASA, CSA-ASC
SPC Editorial Comment: In respects to Artemis 2 crew selection, our team hopes the mission will include 2 Women and 1st Person of Color to fly to the Moon
 

Friday / 31 March 2023

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Artemis Management Comes Under New Moon to Mars Program Office at NASA HQ

Amit Kshatriya, a 16+ year NASA veteran with background in ISS operations, to oversee hardware / mission development and risk management for major Artemis components – SLS, Orion, HLS, Gateway, xEMU spacesuits, and Exploration Ground Systems – as Deputy Associate Administrator of Moon to Mars Program Office; Kshatriya (L-R) reports to Associate Administrator Jim Free of Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (representing ~30% of NASA total FY2024 budget of US$27.2B) and Deputy Associate Administrator Catherine Koerner, who also serves as Director of Strategy and Architecture Office, which interfaces with SMD / STMD

Credits: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 24-27 March 2023

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NASA Office of Small Business Programs Recognizes Artemis Exploration Ground Systems Contributions

163 companies out of 800+ small-to-medium sized enterprises who worked to make Artemis 1 a reality and continue to support the ongoing effort to return humans to the Moon named in OSBP publication A Case for Small Business: Artemis I: Exploration Ground Systems; While EGS is based at KSC FL, businesses in 43 states assist operations; Report highlights Avatar Technologies (MD), Cimarron Software (TX), Craig Technologies (FL), Insight Global (CA), ProXopS (TX), Summit Technologies (FL) and Axiom Space (TX, recipient of US$228.5M Artemis spacesuit contract)

Credits: NASA / OSBP