Category Archives: Moon Exploration

Tuesday / 27 January 2026

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Artemis 2 Wet Dress Rehearsal Next, NET 2 February

Space Launch System with Orion spacecraft atop it, ~5,000,000kg of hardware, stands on Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, awaiting Wet Dress Rehearsal fueling with cryogenic propellants and practice countdown NET 2 February; 3 NASA Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Astronaut Jeremy Hansen in day 4 of medical quarantine; Orion carries artifacts: Wright Brothers’ plane piece, American flag and its 50 stars from 1st and last Space Shuttle missions; NASA Administrator Isaacman acknowledges “a momentous step forward for human spaceflight . . . humans farther from Earth than ever before”

Image Credits: NASA / Keegan Barber, NASA / Robert Markowitz

Tuesday / 20 January 2026

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Buzz Aldrin Begins 97th Trip Around the Sun

Having worked on our Moon, Buzz Aldrin is one of 4 living multi-world humans; Pilot of the first Moon landing, Aldrin may get to see the first woman walk there; pioneer of the spacecraft cycler concept, he envisions large “hotel” spacecraft in repeating elliptical Sun orbit intersecting Earth and Mars orbits, using minimal fuel, accessed by “taxi” vehicles, for 5-month interplanetary trip; co-author of 2 SciFi books with ET characters, appreciates Trappist-1 seven-world star system and its ET-life possibility; non-fiction books include autobiographies, for children, and co-written with Leonard David

Image Credits: NASA

Holiday / New Year Edition
Wednesday – Monday
24 Dec 2025 – 5 Jan 2026

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Upcoming Artemis 2 Mission Reflects Apollo 8 Mission

Artemis 2 expects to take humans farther than any has yet traveled, >390,000 km, with 1st woman and 1st from outside USA, launching NET 5 Feb; Apollo 8 is recognized for being 1st to bring humans beyond Earth orbit, traveling 377,349 km away; Artemis 2 Astronauts will be absent communication with Earth ~45 minutes during Moon far side flight, learning from Apollo 8 Astronauts who experienced this 10 times in 20 orbits; ~1/4 of Earth humans saw television broadcast before Trans Earth Injection 25 December 1968, presaging Artemis 2 laser-based Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System “O2O” with 4K ultra-HD video livestream

Image Credits: NASA, Artemis 2 mission patch (L), Apollo 8 silver token (R)

Tuesday / 4 November 2025

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Duffy or Isaacman? Who is Better for Urgent Moon Goals?

NASA Interim Administrator Sean Duffy announces Human Landing System contract reopened, proposes NASA become part of US Department of Transportation, discusses with NASA-contracted space industry companies desire to maintain status quo, deals with Air Traffic Controller crisis from government shutdown; entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, builder of 2 multibillion-dollar companies, financier / astronaut for 2 space flights, tweets need for private capital to fund space for pharmaceutical formulations / asteroid mining / orbital computing, sponsors “Athena plan” given to Duffy / leaked to reporters that gives equal kudos to SpaceX / Blue Origin, wants NASA to again achieve “the near-impossible” / lead the world in human space exploration / ignite the space economy / be a force multiplier for science

Image Credits: Duffy (L) – NASA / Bill Ingalls; NASA; Isaacman (R) – John Kraus

Friday / 26 September 2025

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Lunar Exploration Company ispace Furthers Mission: Expand Our Planet, Expand Our Future with MoU and IAC Events

Lander / rover company ispace, inc (TOKYO:9348; market cap ¥57B) signs MoU 25 Sep with transportation-focused ElevationSpace of Japan (¥3.7B raised since founding) for lunar sample return with re-entry capsule in development by ElevationSpace; ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada (R) and ElevationSpace CEO Ryohei Kobayashi (L) also pledge to create related business opportunities for companies / governments worldwide; International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 28 Sep – 3 Oct in Sydney, Australia features 6 ispace Technical Sessions, ispace-U.S. CEO Elizabeth Kryst at the ispace booth 30 Sep 11:00, and reception 1 Oct 16:00 with sake and light refreshments; ispace divisions are in Japan, Luxembourg, USA

Image Credits: ispace, ElevationSpace

Friday / 15 August 2025

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LSIC Leverages Collaboration Among Academy / Commercial / Government Innovators for Moon Infrastructure

Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) advances foundational technology required for Artemis Moon missions and establishing long-term lunar presence; a one-day NASA meeting in 2020 is now 3,500+ collaborators from 1,200+ organizations, from all 50 states and 40+ countries; Director Jamie Porter invites participants; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) provides leadership, integration, documents / reports, as well as 12+ videos for engineers about lunar surface environments, challenges, design considerations; LSIC focus groups include ISRU, surface power, construction, and dust / temperature mitigation; Fall Meeting is 5-6 Nov at Georgia Tech in Atlanta

Image Credits:  LSIC

Friday / 1 August 2025

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Artemis II Astronauts Focused on the Importance of Mission

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen on Artemis 2 mission around Moon NET April 2026; “We absolutely have the team … [to] make Artemis 2 a success,” said Wiseman; Glover expresses full confidence in Orion spacecraft, “entry and heat shields … parachutes”; “A true American success story: heat shield technology,” Hansen added, reducing ~2,760°C reentry temp to ~24°C inside; Koch said, “We have to keep asking hard questions”; they are focused on proving to the world that NASA and USA are capable of returning humans to the Moon; China is committed to landing people on Moon in 2020s

Image Credits: NASA, Canadian Space Agency; Pictured CW from upper L: Wiseman, Commander; Glover, Pilot; Koch, Specialist; Hansen, Specialist

Tuesday / 22 July 2025

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New NASA Acting Admin Is “Fired Up and Ready to Launch” to the Moon; Supports Artemis

Appointed NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy opposes proposed NASA funding cut of 24.3% overall and 47% for science; Congress, both sides of the aisle / both houses, wants to maintain current funding (no inflation adjustment); Duffy tweeted: Our critical Moon mission, Artemis, must be as known & supported by America … as Apollo was! It’s a race to the Moon. Clock is ticking. I’m fired up and ready to launch! YouGov/CBS News poll shows 2/3 of Americans want Astronauts back on the Moon

Credits: NASA, X, nasawatch.com

Friday / 18 July 2025

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Lunar Science & Ethics MoU Forged Among LPP, COSPAR, IAU

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) among International Astronomical Union (IAU), Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and Lunar Policy Platform (LPP), will enhance / develop, over the next 3 years, principles outlined in LPP Guide to Lunar Science & Ethics, promoting peaceful, safe and sustainable lunar activities; from this, COSPAR President Pascale Ehrenfreund expects enhanced international cooperation and science-informed space policies; IAU President Willy Benz acknowledges the imperative to protect Moon unique features for future generations; LPP global network includes 40+ governments, space agencies, companies, scientists, institutions

Credits: LPP, COSPAR, IAU, University of Hawai’i

Friday / 11 July 2025

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NASA Calls for Scientists to Add Expertise to Artemis III Geology Team; LSIC Advances Moon Missions

Participating Scientists (PS) are needed to supplement knowledge held by current members of Artemis III Geology Team and other NASA Artemis Project teams; applications to be a PS are due August 12; PS will engage in pre-mission planning for Artemis orbital and surface missions, mission operations and post-mission reports; NASA LSIC regularly convenes government, academia and industry to collaborate on technologies for a sustained human presence on the Moon, addressing challenges like power, dust mitigation and construction; online and in-person conferences are held monthly, Fall meeting just announced for Nov 5-6 at Georgia Tech in Atlanta

Credits: NASA