Tuesday / 6 Nov 2018

Moon Village Symposium Reveals International Plans

2nd International Moon Village Workshop & Symposium Is 5 November At University Of Southern California; Scott Pace Of US National Space Council Delivers Presentation; NASA Plans Lunar Orbital Platform And Demonstration Of Human Lunar Lander Around 2024; Former NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green Talks About Radio Astronomy On Lunar Farside; Consul General From Luxembourg, Which Has Space Agency Since Sep 2018, Encourages Companies With Space Fund; SpaceBit Capital, Leading Space Venture Capital Crypto Fund, Reveals Partnership With Moon Village Association; Apollo Astronaut Will Be SpaceBit Board Member

Credits: Moon Village Association, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 2-5 Nov 2018

Space Vision, Settlement And Moon Village Meetings In Southern California

 Space Settlement Summit Convenes 2-3 November At University Of Southern California, Adjacent To California Science Center And Shuttle Endeavour; Summit Hosted By National Space Society Discusses Lunar Settlements; SpaceVision 2018 Opening 1 Nov In San Diego, California, Features Danielle Richey Of Lockheed Martin; The 2nd International Moon Village Workshop & Symposium Follows At USC 4-5 Nov; Keynote Presenters Include Scott Pace Of USA National Space Council, ESA Director-General Jan Worner, Giuseppe Reibaldi And John Mankins Of Moon Village Association

Credits: NASA, Lockheed Martin, ESA, Moon Village Association

Friday / 2 Nov 2018

Moon Rocks Valued At >US$700K Highlights Significance, Worth Of Lunar Resources

Sotheby’s Auction Of 3 Lunar Pebbles Brought Back From Soviet Luna 16 Mission In 1970 Opening 25 November, Expected To Be Sold For $700K – $1M; Approximately 382 kg Collected From Apollo And 326 grams From Luna Missions Are Considered Priceless For Their Rarity, Contributions To Scientific Discoveries, Research Value And General Commercial Appeal; More Than 35 Lunar Simulants Created / Being Studied By International Space Agencies, Universities and Enterprises; Next Lunar Sample Return Mission Chang’e-5 Launching NET 2019 Could Return 2 kg

Credits: Sotheby’s, NAOC, Ilhan Chang, Bembmv

Tuesday / 30 Oct 2018

Apollo 8 EarthRISE Dinners Look To Future Moon Orbits

 

EarthRISE50 Organization Will Remember Apollo 8 With Worldwide Earthrise Dinners Week Of December 24; Jersey City USA Kickoff Event Nov 8 Will Feature Entrepreneur Joy Mangano; 50th Remembrance Of Apollo 8 Carrying Mission Commander Frank Borman And Pilot Jim Lovell To Moon Orbit And Iconic Earthrise Photo By Astronaut Bill Anders; Replicating Apollo 8 Lunar Orbit Will Be Goal Of Uncrewed Orion EM-1 Mission In 2020 And Crewed EM-2 Mission Funded For 2023; Ongoing Discussion of Lunar Orbital Platform To Be Serviced By Orion In Moon Orbit

Credits: NASA, Virgin Galactic, Joymangano.com

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 26-29 Oct 2018

Space Academic Conference In China Announces Lunar Crew Spacecraft

Biennial 5th Manned Space (International) Academic Conference Opens In Xi’an; Senior Designer Yang Lei Announces New Spacecraft For Lunar Missions; Will Have Command And Service Modules Plus Crew Of 4-6; Equivalent Capability To USA Orion; Uncrewed Model To Be Launched On First Flight Of Long March 5B Booster Scheduled For June 2019;  Conference Invites International Participation From France, Germany And Ukraine; Taikonauts Yang Liwei, Wang Yaping, And Germany Astronaut Ulrich Walter Featured

Credits: Xinhua, CASC, Space Inventor

 

Tuesday / 23 Oct 2018

Transformers: Space And von Braun Symposium Highlight Return To Moon

National Space Council Meeting 23 October In Washington, DC Will Be Followed By Transformers: Space; Symposium Sponsored By AIAA Will Feature NSC Member Mike Pence And Jim Bridenstine; Former Astronauts Sandra Magnus And Nicole Stott Also Will Be Featured; Subjects Include The New Space Age And Future Of Human Spaceflight; Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium 23-25 Oct In Huntsville, Alabama Will Discuss Lunar Surface Operations; Woman Astronauts At Space Events Foreshadowing First Woman On The Moon

Credits: ESA, NASA, MSFC

Tuesday / 16 Oct 2018

Canada Space Industry Days Feature Major Lunar Initiatives

Canadian Space Agency Hosting Space Industry Days 15-17 October In Saint-Hubert, Quebec; Blue Origin Featured Monday, Plans To Send Tourists To Space In 2019, New Glenn Booster Is One Of Three Selected By USAF For Next-Generation Launch System; Moon Express Delivers Presentation Tuesday 16 Oct, Signs Memorandum Of Understanding With CSA-ASC For Moon Missions; Airbus Featured Wednesday 17 Oct, Sponsoring Moon Race With Blue Origin And Developing Key Components Of Lunar Orbital Platform; Soyuz Flight Of Canada Astronaut David Saint-Jacques Expected To Be Delayed

Credits: Moon Express, Blue Origin, CSA-ASC

 

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 12-15 Oct 2018

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Patrols Ahead Of Future Missions

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Returns Data And Images 9 Years After Entering Moon Orbit; Diviner Instrument Aboard LRO Along With NASA Moon Mineralogy Mapper On Chandrayaan-2 Find Widespread Water On Moon; CRaTER Cosmic Ray Telescope Characterizes Lunar Radiation Environment For Future Missions; LRO Finds And Photographs Crash Site Of Europe SMART-1 Probe Deliberately Impacted Into Moon; Produces 5-Minute Virtual Tour Of Moon In 4K; LRO Engaged To Photograph Israel SpaceIL Landing In 2019

Credits: NASA, ESA, NASA/GSFC

Friday / 12 Oct 2018

ispace Joins Draper And 2 Other Companies To Pursue NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services Contract

One Of Many Teams Competing On CLPS Contracts Releases Details On Moon Mission Planning: ispace Of Japan For Artemis-7 Lander Design, Draper Lab For Guidance & Nav System, General Atomics For Manufacturing & Testing, Spaceflight Industries To Broker USA Rocket Rideshare; Teams To Be Notified By End Of 2018 If Initial Proposals Qualify Them As Finalists; CLPS Contract Value Could Reach US$2.6B Total Over 10 Years For Multiple Providers; Public List Of CLPS ‘Interested Parties‘ Includes 29 Companies

Pictured: CLPS Interested Parties Point of Contacts for ispace, Draper, Spaceflight Industries; Credits: ispace, SEC, AIAA / UTU, KARI

Wednesday / 10 Oct 2018

Enterprises Working On Moon Race Competition, Lunar Regolith, Lunar Library Mission

“Moon Race” Sponsored By Airbus, Blue Origin And Partners Challenges Private Enterprise With Four Goals: Extract Water From Lunar Regolith, Manufacture Useful Objects From Lunar Resources, Use Lunar Regolith Plus Water To Grow Plants, And Generate Energy On Moon; Startup Company “Off Planet Research” Producing Simulated Lunar Regolith, Offering Samples To Backers Of Indiegogo Project; Lunar Library Project Sponsored By Microsoft Will Use Synthetic DNA To Archive Human Knowledge; Public To Contribute Images Via MemoriesInDNA Project; Library To Land With Astrobotic-Built Peregrine Lander In 2020 

Credits: Moon Race, Off Planet Research