Category Archives: Human Moon Missions

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 21-24 April 2023

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China Celebrates Space Day as Nation Works Towards Human Moon Landings Before 2030

400+ China Space Day events will be held throughout China, commemorating the launch of Dongfanghong-1 on 24 April 1970 and sharing the excitement of space exploration, especially the prospect of human Moon missions before the end of the decade lifted by Long March 10 (previously known as ‘921’ and ‘LM-5DY’) 3-core stage rocket, expected to make inaugural launch NET 2027 and / or a redesigned single-core stage, reusable Long March 9 launching NET 2030; A new-generation crew capsule and staged descent lander are planned to complete the ambitious plan

Pictured: CNSA Deputy Director of the Department of System Engineering Lyu Bo; Credits: CNSA, CLEP, AAAS, NASA

Tuesday / 18 April 2023

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Starship Launch Slated for This Week, a Variant is to Carry First Human Moon Missions Artemis 3 / 4 to Surface

Starship in HLS form – minus aerodynamic fins / heat shielding, plus mid-body RCS thrusters – is to land uncrewed demo prior to carrying 2 Artemis astronauts from lunar orbit (transferred from Orion, launched by SLS) to surface near MSP under Option A US$2.89B contract NET Dec 2025 and Artemis 4 NET Sept 2028 under $1.15B Option B; Lunar missions to utilize ‘tanker’ and ‘depot’ scheme in which HLS will be refueled in NRHO; Artemis 5 onward to have TBD alternative lander under NextSTEP Appendix P

Pictured: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Starship Engineering Director Shana Diez, Starship Engineering VP Joe Petrzelka in Starship Mission Control; Credits: SpaceX, Twitter / @WalterIsaacson

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

Tuesday / 4 April 2023

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2-Day Online Lunar Surface Science Workshop First Steps in a Bold New Era of Human Discovery to Consider Candidate Artemis III Landing Sites

Organized by (L-R) JSC planetary scientist Samuel Lawrence and Artemis 3 project scientist Noah Petro of GSFC, supported by LPI & USRA, LSSW 19 to showcase latest research into scientific viability of 13 prospective Artemis III landing sites within 6° of MSP; Comments to be given by NASA SMD Deputy Associate Administrator Sandra Connelly, SpaceX Director of Crew Starship engineering Eduardo Velazquez, Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison Schmitt on 4 April; Sessions devoted to Malapert, DeGerlache, Haworth and DeGerlache-Kocher Massif, Faustini and Shackleton regions to be held 5 April

Credits: NASA, LinkedIn

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

Tuesday / 28 March 2023

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Institute on Space Law & Ethics to Consider Moral Theory for Off-Earth International Conflict Resolution

Space heritage preservation organization For All Moonkind (FAM) to engage legal and philosophical issues around human activity, resource utilization and hostilities with newly launched institute; President (L-R) Michelle Hanlon of UMiss Air and Space Law cites recent use of commercial Earth observation in the Russia-Ukraine War as highlighting need for ethical investigation and understanding; SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell has spoken on non-weaponization of Starlink; FAM Institute on Space Law & Ethics cofounders include Dan Hawk of United First Nations Planetary Defense, Space Analyst Namrata Goswami, SETI scientist John Rummel

Credits: For All Moonkind Institute on Space Law and Ethics, LinkedIn, NASA

Friday / 17 March 2023

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Artemis 3 & 4 Human Landing Missions Science Teams to be Lead by NASA’s Noah Petro and Barbara Cohen

Newly appointed science leads for Moon South Pole A-3 and 4 missions, Petro and Cohen, are set to become vital coordinators / voices for science teams, geology teams and payload teams – to maximize science during human return to Moon 2025-2027; Petro works with LRO & LEAG, will convene LSSW #19 Artemis 3 Landing Sites Workshop 4-5 April, and presented Mons Malapert advocacy at LSSW #12; Cohen is PI for Lunar Flashlight and Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (aboard Astrobotic Peregrine M1), works with LRO, Mars Science Laboratory

Credits: NASA, GSFC, Jay Friedlander

Tuesday / 7 March 2023

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Dynetics Touts Human Landing System Technology Advances Ahead of June HLS SLD Selection

Under NASA NextSTEP-2 Appendix N US$45M award, Leidos subsidiary Dynetics has matured key equipment it hopes will strengthen its bid with partner Northrop Grumman for Appendix P: Human Landing System Sustaining Lunar Development & Demonstration contract / uncrewed & crewed demo missions around Artemis 5 or later (NET 2028); Tech validations include methalox main / RCS propulsion testing at MSFC, Cryogenic Fluid transfer demonstration at GRC, Electrodynamic Dust Shield modules (first created at KSC); Blue Origin-led team including Draper, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Astrobotic, Honeybee Robotics also competing for Appendix P contract

Pictured: Dynetics HLS Manager Andy Crocker; Credits: Dynetics, NASA

Tuesday / 28 Feb 2023

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Lunar Crew Module / Lander Mockups on Display as CMSA to Announce Taikonauts for Shenzhou-16 & 17

30 years of steady progress toward and realization of human exploration in space (27 missions / 10 crewed) being celebrated at 3-month exhibit at National Museum of China in Beijing featuring models of China Manned Space Agency next-generation crewed spacecraft and lunar surface lander, which are to be launched via 25,906 kN-thrust Long March 10 (formerly LM-5DY) rocket in 2020s; 6 crewmembers for next 2 missions to Tiangong Space Station to be revealed as international astronaut exchanges under consideration

Pictured: (T-B) CMSA Director Hao Chun, Taikonaut Yang Liwei, CMSA Deputy Chief Designer Chen Shanguang; Credits: CMSA, CGTN screengrab, Wikipedia