Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 19-22 Aug 2022

Artemis Program Getting New Director as Critics Sound Alarm on Need for Organizational Coherency

As directed by congress in NASA Authorization Act of 2022, the agency is to appoint Director of Moon to Mars office, responsible for development of “an integrated master plan, integrated master schedule, and integrated risk management procedures” and reporting to Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Administrator (T-B) Jim Free; Executive restructure comes amid stern warnings from prominent space community members to Politico, including NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Chair Patricia Sanders and AIAA Director Daniel Dumbacher; VP Kamala Harris to discuss “new rules framework” at National Space Council meeting 9 Sep

Credits: NASA

Tuesday / 16 Aug 2022

CAPSTONE Team Celebrates 2022 Mission of the Year Award for Cislunar Orbital Pathfinder

AIAA Small Spacecraft Technical Committee honors Capstone at 36th SmallSat Conference in Utah; Partners on the <US$30M mission include Advanced Space / PI Bradley Cheetham, providing overall project management, Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (set to interface with LRO) and Ballistic Lunar Transfer / Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit trajectories; Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems (founded by Jordi Puig-Suari of Cal Poly, co-inventor of the CubeSat standard) and parent company Terran Orbital, who designed, built and operate 25kg, 12U Capstone; Stellar Exploration, manufacturer of hydrazine propulsion system; Launch provider Rocket Lab

Credits: AIAA SmSTC, 2022 SmallSat Conference, Advanced Space, Terran Orbital, Rocket Lab, Stellar exploration

Friday / 29 July 2022

LRO Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment Analysis Shows Moon Pits Offer Habitable Thermal Profile

100m-diameter depression within Mare Tranquillitatis maintains baseline -43°C during ~14 Earth-day lunar night (vs -173°C surface average), 17°C during lunar day (vs 127°C) due to distinct cavity overhang, per study of DLRE data led by Tyler Horvath and David Paige of UCLA, Paul Hayne of CU Boulder; Moderate temperatures may enable extended human habitation, exploration; First surface-based thermal images to be obtained with Lunar Compact InfraRed Imaging System, expected to launch to MSP NET Nov 2023 on Masten Mission One

Credits: NASA, GSFC, Arizona State University, ESA

Friday / 22 July 2022

ispace Conducting Final Testing on HAKUTO-R Flight Model for November Launch Window

Operating in Japan, USA and Luxembourg, ispace may reach Moon surface within 2022 with Hakuto-R undergoing final thermal vacuum, vibration and function checks at IABG Space Centre near Munich Germany; Flight-ready Mission 1 lander expected to ship to KSC in Sep, launch via SpaceX F9 NET Nov carrying UAE MBRSC and JAXA rovers, flight computer and cameras from Canada enterprises Mission Control Space Services and Canadensys, NGK solid-state battery, engraved panels with supporter names

Credits: ispace

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 15-18 July 2022

International Moon Day Prelaunch: Space Community Observes Apollo 11 Flight on 16 July

53rd commemoration of Apollo 11 launch to Moon will be recognized at Houston Astros baseball game, with Astronaut Anne McClain (R) throwing first pitch, Jessica Meir (L) presenting 28,163-kph ‘fastball’ that flew on ISS; AIAA hosting Neil’s Day celebration of Apollo 11 / Viking Mars landing with online presentations from Space historian Christian Gelzer, Apollo Mission Controller Lawrence Kuznetz and others; Economist/YouGov poll shows strong USA support for human exploration of Moon / Mars, with majorities of both parties / men and plurality of women in favor

Credits: NASA

Friday / 15 July 2022

Malapert Mountain Beckons Lunar Exploration, Science, Communication, Industry

As world space powers focus future landing & Moon base efforts on Moon South Pole / prospecting H2O hidden in PSRs near Shackleton Rim, critical infrastructure zone atop nearby (~130km) Malapert Massif (86°S, 0°) remains undeclared by NASA, CNSA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, ISRO or SpaceX; Malapert possesses indispensable qualities for MSP buildout: A unique astrophysical vantagepoint; Constant line-of-sight to Earth (long-duration Earth observation / communication redundancy) and Shackleton (local comms and power beaming); 70%+ solar illumination; Geological significance (border area of South Pole–Aitken basin); 4 suitable 150-m landing sites have been identified by Carnegie Mellon / Astrobotic

Credits: NASA / LROC / ASU / N. Petro / ESA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 24-27 June 2022

2022 Summer Around Moon About to Commence, Surface Landers Soon to Follow

Instantaneous launch window for CAPSTONE lunar orbit pathfinder set at 22:00 NZST, with live NASA coverage starting 1 hour prior; Artemis 1 mega Moon rocket deemed ready after 4th WDR reaches T-29 seconds, ship is returning to VAB for final launch preparations / hydrogen leak repair before possible 23 August inaugural launch to Moon DRO; Astrobotic CLPS Moon lander Peregrine may be first USA lander since Apollo if Q4 2022 goal is met; Astrobotic Mission 1 to carry international commercial payloads from Germany, Japan, Seychelles, Hungary, Mexico, UK, USA + 11 NASA experiments

Credits: NASA, Rocket Lab, Astrobotic

Tuesday / 21 June 2022

UAE Rashid Rover on Track for November Launch for Moon Landing on ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1

Deigned by Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre engineers at Dubai ‘Silicon Oasis’, 10-kg Rashid Rover now in France for CNES thermal / vibration testing; Integration with Series 1 Lander to follow at ispace facility in Germany, with arrival of lander / rover at KSC NET September; SpaceX Falcon 9 launch window opening early November; M1 will also carry payloads from JAXA (2-wheeled spheroid rover), Canadensys (2 360° cameras), NGK (solid state battery experiment), Mission Control Space Services (AI flight computer)

Pictured: Emirates Lunar Mission Director Hamad Al Marzooqi
Credits: ispace, MBRSC, Twitter
 
 

Weekend Edition
Fri-Tues / 27-31 May 2022

Global Moon Regatta Preparations Advance as 2022/3 Launch Windows Approach

NASA now targeting 6-22 June window for inaugural Artemis-era CAPSTONE launch to validate unique orbit around Moon, holding virtual social launch day event with worldwide interaction via Facebook 6 June; Meanwhile Artemis 1 / SLS rocket begins return to KSC launch pad 39B also 6 June, WDR attempt scheduled 19 June; Roscosmos Luna-25 slated for 22 August sans ESA PILOT-D navigation system; ispace HAKUTO-R, CLPS missions IM-1 / PM1 striving for Q4 launch; ISRO Chandrayaan-3, JAXA SLIM pushed to 2023

Credits: NASA

Tuesday / 1 March 2022

Space Agencies Looking for Next Generation of Lunar Vehicles May Consider Tapping Electric Car Industry

2 USA commercial teams, 1 composed of Northrop Grumman, AVL, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, Michelin (with Moon workers Harrison Schmitt and Charles Duke serving in advisory roles) and partnership between Lockheed Martin, General Motors compete for contract to build modern Lunar Terrain Vehicle; JAXA works with Nissan and Toyota on electric and hydrogen powered concepts; Researchers at Keck Institute for Space Studies (Caltech) promote utilization of off-the-shelf components from production electric automobiles to minimize R&D cost of bespoke vehicles

Credits: NASA, Northrop Grumman