Category Archives: Human Moon Missions

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 15-18 Feb 2019

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USA And Partners Hope For 2019 Lunar Landing, Will Announce New Payloads And Commercial Contracts

Next Week NASA Will Announce 12 Science Payloads, Already Developed, For Commercial Lunar Service Providers; Commercial Partners Have 25 Mar Due Date To Submit Proposals For Transfer, Descent, And Ascent Vehicles Of Human Lunar Landing System With Selection In May; Award Of Up To US $9M In Contracts Expected By July Observation Of Apollo 11; Thomas Zurbuchen Of Science Directorate Hopes For USA Lunar Landing In 2019, Potentially Joining China Spacecraft Active On Surface 

Credits: NASA

Wednesday / 13 Feb 2019

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USA Human Lunar Landings Advancing Via Industry Forum And NASA RFP

On 14 February NASA Hosts Media And Industry Forum Revealing Human Lunar Exploration Plans; Speakers Include Administrator Jim Bridenstine And Thomas Zurbuchen (L) Of Science Directorate; NASA RFP For Human Landers Due 25 Mar; William Gerstenmaier (R) Of Exploration Systems Directorate Will Describe Human Lunar Landing Architecture: Descent Element, Ascent Module And Transfer Vehicle Would Be Launched By Commercial Partners; During 2028 A Four-Person Crew Would Land On Surface, Perhaps With China, Other Cooperation, Potentially Beginning Human Landings No. 7-11 And The First Women On The Moon

Credits: NASA

Tuesday / 5 Feb 2019

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USA Space Launch System Assembles For EM-1 And EM-2 Moon Missions

Construction Of US$10B Space Launch System Continues Since January Throughout Government Shutdown; Top Half Of First Core Stage Is Assembled In Vertical Stacking Cell At NASA Michoud Assembly Facility In New Orleans; Manufacture And Checkout Of 10 Solid Rocket Booster Segments Is Completed At Northrop Grumman In Utah; SLS Will Produce 8.8 Million Pounds Of Thrust, More Than Saturn V; Uncrewed Orion Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) Scheduled To Orbit Moon In 2020; Second Core Stage Beginning Construction At MAF; EM-2 Projected For 2022 Will Carry Crew Of 4, Potentially Including First Woman To Orbit Moon

Credits: NASA

Friday / 25 Jan 2019

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Europe Funds Studies On Lunar Mining, Astronaut EVAs, Lunar Gravity Effects

ESA Signs 1-Year Lunar Regolith Feasibility Study Contract With Arianespace To Launch “Ariane 64” Vehicle With PTScientists Lunar Lander By 2025 To Search For Oxygen, Water, Helium-3 To Produce Fuel; Pangaea-X Test Campaign In Lanzarote Spain Advancing Lunar EVA Simulations, Communications, Tools, Science Protocols; ESA-DLR-NASA Collaborate On Moon 1/6th Gravity Study To Understand Physiological Impact Of Living, Working On Moon

Credits: ESA, PTScientists, Ariane Group

Friday / 18 Jan 2019

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2019 Could Accelerate First Women On The Moon Initiative

Among Planned International Moon Landings, Cislunar R&D And Space Agency Lunar Priorities In 2019, Advocacy And Focus On Landing The First Women On The Moon Could Be A Strategic Game-Changer For Returning Humans To The Moon Fast; Organizations Which Would Do Well To Network This Initiative Include The UN, IAF, Moon Village Association, World Space Week, LEAG, American Astronautical Society, AIAA, National Space Society & Space Frontier Foundation; The 63rd Woman Scheduled To Reach LEO, Christina Hammock Koch, Prepares For Her March Mission, While Hopefuls Wish To Become The First Woman On The Moon – Expanding Women’s Sphere Of Activity And Influence In Space By A Billion, And Inspiring Next Generations

Credits: NASA, CSA-ASC, CNSA, KARI, ESA

Tuesday / 18 Dec 2018

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HI-SEAS In Hawai’i Prepares For Human Moon Mission Simulations

Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog & Simulation (HI-SEAS) Site On Mauna Loa To Be Repurposed For Moon; Receives US$1 Million NASA Grant For Mars Data Collection; Owner Henk Rogers Refurbishing Habitat With New Equipment And Lunar Spacesuits; New Facility Built Especially For Moon Simulation Planned For Pohakuloa Section Of Mauna Loa, Joins Parallel Lunar Analog Sites Built In China, Japan, And Europe; Women On Moon Part Of Simulations; Rogers Compares Moon Before Mars To Visiting Nearby Island Of Lanai In Preparation For Crossing Ocean

Credits: NASA, HI-SEAS, SOEST

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 Dec 2018

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Moon First Proposal From Robert Zubrin

Robert Zubrin Of Mars Society Proposes Early Lunar Landing, Leveraging Falcon Heavy 60-Ton Payload; First Launch Would Carry Solar Power Equipment, Communications Gear, Two Crew Rovers And Squad Of Robot Rovers; Second Launch Would Carry 12-Ton Crew Habitat To Lunar Pole; Third Launch Would Orbit Lunar Excursion Vehicle (LEV) For Crew Launched On Falcon 9; LEV Would Carry Crew From LEO To Lunar Surface; Assuming That Hardware Cost Will Equal Launch Cost, Zubrin Claims That Early Lunar Landing Can Be Accomplished At Minimal Cost

Credits: NASA, Robert Zubrin, NPR

Thursday / 13 Dec 2018

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NASA Advancing Small, Mid-Size, And Human-Size Lunar Landers

NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program Funding Small Lunar Landers, Seeking Larger Lander For Payloads Of 300-500 Kg To Fly By 2022; Jason Crusan (L), Head Of NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Division, Studying Three-Piece Human Landers With 15-Ton Components Designed To Use Commercial Launchers; Lockheed Martin Promotes Plan For Reusable Lunar Lander With Empty Mass Of 22 Tons And Fueled Mass Of 62 Tons; NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (R) Hopes To Test Elements Of Human Lunar Lander By 2024 And Land People On Moon By End Of 2020s, Though China May Go Earlier

Credits: NASA, Lockheed Martin, Moon Express

Friday / 30 Nov 2018

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First USA Private-Public Lunar Contracts Worth Up To US$2.6B To Enable ‘More Moon Missions, More Science’

NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services Contracts Max Value US$2.6B Awarded To Astrobotic, Deep Space Systems, Draper, FireFly, Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin, Masten Space Systems, Moon Express, Orbit Beyond; “To Provide All Activities Necessary To Safely Integrate, Accommodate, Transport, And Operate NASA [Lunar] Payloads”; Hopes To Get To Lunar Surface “Fast” – As Early As Next Year, Launch 2 Payloads Per Year For Next 10, Starting With 10+ kg Cargo; Payloads Could Include Instruments From Lunar Resource Prospector, And Lunar Surface Instrument & Technology Payloads Proposed 19 Nov Advancing To Next Step 17 Jan 2019

Pictured: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (L) and Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen; Credits: NASA

Friday / 26 Oct 2018

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Stanford On The Moon (SOM) Alumni Conference Opens 1st Lunar Exhibit, Introduction By Astronaut Tammy Jernigan

Stanford Alumni Club SOM Hosts Its First Lunar Exhibit Honoring 9 Women Astronauts From Stanford – Including & Introduced By Tammy Jernigan On 26 October During Stanford Homecoming Weekend 2018 In Varian Physics Building; SOM Conference Will Also Feature SOM Advisory Committee Discussions, SOM Endowment Fund Awards To Stanford Student Observatory & Stanford Student Space Initiative; SOM Advocating For A Stanford Presence On The Moon And For First Women Landing On The Moon

Credits: SOM, NASA, Stanford University