Category Archives: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 9-12 Dec 2022

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Orion Return is Beginning of New Era of Lunar Exploration as 2023 Commercial and National Moon Mission Prepare

Mission team including Landing / Recovery Director Melissa Jones, Entry Flight Director Judd Frieling now planning to recover Orion capsule near Guadalupe Island, ~241 km from Baja California coast following 11 Dec 09:40 PST splashdown; Just 10 hours prior, ispace HAKUTO-R lander is to launch to Moon from CCSFS (02:38 EST); CLPS missions from Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic to follow NET Q1 2023, JAXA SLIM NET April, ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET June; Artemis 2 circumlunar crewed mission NET May 2024, SpaceX uncrewed demo mission and crewed dearMoon NET 2024

Credits: Astrobotic, Blue Origin, NASA

Friday / 9 Dec 2022

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Peregrine Testing Advances, Astrobotic Joins Blue Origin-led Sustaining Lunar Development Team

Astrobotic Peregrine 120-kg payload class (35 kg dedicated commercial) lunar lander currently undergoing electromagnetic compatibility / interference testing at 32-acre Dayton T. Brown lab with thermal vacuum testing to follow; Aerotech Inc to integrate Peregrine into payload fairing of ULA Vulcan Centaur at CCSFS; PM1 reportedly launching first half of 2023 to either Lacus Mortis (45.13°N, 27.32°E) or Gruithuisen Domes (36.56°N, 40.72°W); Astrobotic now member of ‘National Team’ vying for NASA SLD human / cargo lander (uncrewed demo NET 2026) contract with Blue Origin, Draper, Honeybee, Boeing, Lockheed Martin

Credits: Astrobotic, Blue Origin, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 2-5 Dec 2022

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Wave of Independent Moon Missions to Trail Artemis 1, Followed by National Efforts, Then Another Raft of Indies

As NASA / ESA Orion Moonship returns to Earth, Advanced Space-controlled, Tyvak-built, NASA-funded Capstone remains in NRHO and Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter Danuri on course to reach Moon orbit 16 Dec, planned commercial missions include ispace M1 awaiting SpaceX launch at KSC pending F9 review; Intuitive Machines IM-1 March 2023; Astrobotic PM1 Q1 2023; Followed by national missions from JAXA (SLIM, April 2023), ISRO (Chandrayaan-3, June 2023), Roscosmos (Luna-25, July 2023); Independents IM-2 (late 2023), SpaceX landing demo mission (2024), IM-3 (Q2 2024), Astrobotic GM1 (Nov 2024)

 Credits: NASA, ISRO, KARI, IM, SpaceX, Astrobotic,

Friday / 2 Dec 2022

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Artemis 1 Orion Spacecraft Departing Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit for Moon Flyby, Earth Return and Reentry

Orion headed back toward Moon following 105-second main engine trajectory maneuver, a 4-day leg of Artemis 1 journey which has seen the furthest travel of any human-rated vessel (aside from Apollo 10 ascent module in heliocentric disposal orbit) at 432,210-km from Earth; Final powered lunar flyby set to occur at 8:43 PST on 5 Dec, sending Orion on a 6-day trip towards Earth; 11 Dec reentry at 9:40 to be fastest (39,429 kph / Mach 32) and hottest (2,760°C) to date, first to employ ‘skip’ technique allowing precision splashdown and lowered g-forces

 Credits: NASA

Thanksgiving Holiday Edition
Wed-Mon / 23-28 Nov 2022

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8 International Lunar Missions May Follow Artemis 1, Capstone, Danuri in Remainder of 2022 and 2023

As Artemis Orion spacecraft occupies cislunar distant retrograde orbit (130 x 64,000 km) with splashdown expected 11 Dec, NASA Capstone tests cislunar near rectilinear halo orbit (1,600 x 70,000 km) and KARI Danuri on course to reach 100km lunar orbit 16 Dec, numerous global efforts work to follow with ispace M1 launching NET 29 Nov 2022; Throughout 2023: Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One NET Q1, Intuitive Machines IM-1 NET March, JAXA SLIM NET April, ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET June, Roscosmos Luna-25 NET July; IM-2 and Turkish Space Agency AYAP-1 aim for late 2023

Credits: NASA, KARI, Astrobotic, IM, JAXA, ISRO, TSA

Tuesday / 15 Nov 2022

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NASA Moon Flagship Artemis 1 Ready for Inaugural Launch to Lunar Orbit and Secondary Payload Deep Space Delivery

Weather forecast estimated at 90% favorable for 2-hour window set to begin on 16 Nov 01:04 EST for launch of Artemis 1 mission from historic KSC Launch Pad 39B; Live broadcast to begin with SLS core stage fueling with Launch Control Center commentary at 15:30 on 15 Nov followed by launch coverage starting at 10:30, continuing through SRB (~T+2 minutes), core stage (T+8 minutes) and upper (Interim Cryogenic Propulsion) stage separation and TLI; Post-launch news conference with mission team scheduled for 04:00 16 Nov

Pictured: (Clockwise) NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Artemis Mission Manager Michael Sarafin, JSC Flight Director Emily Nelson, Orion Program Manager Howard Hu, SLS Program Manager John Honeycutt, Exploration Ground Systems Program Manager Mike Bolger; Credits: NASA, LinkedIn, ULA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 11-14 Nov 2022

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Apollo 11 ‘Peace For All’ Ethic Observed Around the World as Veterans, Remembrance, Armistice Day 11 Nov

“We came in peace for all mankind” reads inscription left on plaque mounted between 3rd and 4th rung of Lunar Module Eagle within Moon Sea of Tranquility (0.67°N, 23.47°E), words inspired by first Congressional Declaration of Policy and Purpose of the National Aeronautics and Space Act, updated in 2010 to read “Devotion of Space Activities to Peaceful Purposes for Benefit of All Humankind”; Celebrated as Veterans Day in USA, Remembrance Day in Commonwealth Nations and Armistice Day in France and other nations, 11 Nov is an appropriate date to meditate on importance of peaceful off-world exploration

Credits: NASA

Friday / 11 Nov 2022

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Japan Authorizes ispace to Prospect on Moon During HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Launching NET Nov 22

First license under Japan Space Resources Act now held by ispace, which is set to lead wave of commercial Moon landing activity with M1, currently awaiting launch opportunity via SpaceX F9 at KSC SLC-40 to ~3-month low energy transfer, landing at Lacus Somniorum (37.56° N, 30.8° E) on Moon; ispace plans to collect and sell lunar regolith ‘in place’ to NASA during M1 under US$5,000 contract; CEO Takeshi Hakamada says “Space resource utilization is another step toward our goal of establishing the cislunar economy” in release

Pictured: ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada, Japan Minister of State for Space Policy Sanae Takaichi; Credits: ispace, Twitter, PM Office of Japan

Tuesday / 1 Nov 2022

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Lunar Flashlight to Prospect for Water on Moon, Launch with ispace Mission-1 NET 22 November

Utilizing 4 shortwave IR lasers (1.064, 1.495, 1.85, 1.99 μm) and indium gallium arsenide spectrometer, 6U / 14kg Lunar Flashlight 2-month nominal cubesat mission led by PI Barbara Cohen of NASA GSFC to search for water ice hidden within permanently shadowed regions on Moon from 15 x 70,000 km elliptical near-rectilinear polar orbit with ~6 day period; Lunar Flashlight now launching with Hakuto-R M1, which has arrived at KSC for launch on SpaceX F9 NET 22 Nov carrying UAE Rashid rover, Canadensys-built 360° cameras, JAXA spheroid robot

Credits: NASA, ispace, Wikipedia

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28-31 Oct 2022

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NASA Economic Impact Study Shows US$71.2B Effect on Output, NASA OTPS Issues Lunar Exploration Policy Recommendations

While NASA itself employs some 19,000+ civil servants, its operations support an estimated 339,600 jobs nationally, per Economic Impact Report generated by IMPLAN modeling software, compiled by researchers at Voorhees Center in Chicago; Study estimates 1,000,000+ people in 90 nations employed in $469B global space industry; Lunar Landing and Operations Policy Analysis issued by Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy identifies 7 lunar challenges / mitigation approaches: Landings, Surface Operations, Surface Movement, Radio-Frequency Interference, Areas with Special Characteristics, Unexpected Activities and Human Heritage Protection

 

Pictured: (TL-TR) Amanda Hernandez, Gabriel Swiney (NASA OTPS), (BL-BR) Yittayih Zelalem, Joshua Drucker, Zafer Sonmez (Voorhees Center); Credits: NASA, NSS, LinkedIn