Category Archives: NASA

Tuesday / 8 October 2019

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NASA Awards Funding And Requests Proposals For Lunar Fuel Production, Spacesuits And Cubesats For Artemis

NASA Awards US$17.4M To 4 Companies To Study Production Of Fuel On Moon Or Mars; Blue Origin, SpaceX, Utah-based OxEon Energy, And Connecticut-based Skyre To Receive Funding; Request For Information Also Issued By NASA For Companies To Produce Lunar Spacesuits That Could Also Be Used By Private Astronauts; Additional Cubesat Launch Initiative Seeks Secondary Payloads To Fly With Artemis 2 On Space Launch System, The First Crewed Lunar Orbit Mission Since 1970s, Planned For 2023

Credits: NASA, ILC Dover, Lockheed Martin

Tuesday / 1 October 2019

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Artemis Support Campaign For USA Multi-Partisan Funding And International Cooperation Globally

USA 2024 Artemis Program To Land First Women And Return To Moon In Less Than 4.5 Years Now Needs US$1.6B Start To Agreed $20-40B Required; To Achieve Artemis Funding For FY2020 & Beyond – And Realize This 21st Century Vision – Artemis Needs Approval From Full Legislature (Senate And House), Direction From Lunar Exploration Analysis Group And National Space Society, Networking From World Space Week And Moon Village Association, And Engagement Of International / Global Space Agencies, NGOs, Independent Enterprises

Credits: NASA, Lockheed Martin

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 27-30 Sep 2019

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Artemis And First Women On The Moon Require Increased NASA Investment, Bipartisan Support

Urgency To Land First Women And Next Men On Moon Asap Stressed By VP Pence, Needs Bipartisan Support And Ideally 1% Of Federal Budget; NASA Orders Orion Spacecraft For Up To 12 Artemis Missions; JSC Developing Lunar Spacesuits To Be Tested On ISS In 2023; Currently 17 Female Astronauts Are Candidates For USA First Women On The Moon, Expected To Be World-Changing Event And Start Of Multi-World Civilization; Senate Proposed Budget Includes Additional US$1.2B For Exploration, Subject To Approval By House Of Representatives And Budget Negotiations

Credits: NASA

Friday / 13 Sep 2019

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Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter Resized And Rescheduled For 2022

Republic Of Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) Rescheduled To Launch July 2022; Size Of Spacecraft Increased From 500 Kg To 678 Kg To Allow More Science; US$166M Spacecraft Will Carry 4 Korea Payloads And Fly 9 Months Of 1-Year Mission In Elliptical Orbit To Maximize Science Return; Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) Will Use SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster; KPLO Will Carry NASA-Built ShadowCam Instrument To Search For Water In Permanently-Shadowed Lunar Craters

Credits: CNSA, NASA, KARI

Tuesday / 27 Aug 2019

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BIG Challenge Seeks Ideas For Permanently-Shadowed Regions Of Lunar South Pole

NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate Is Sponsoring Breakthrough, Innovative & Game-Changing Idea Challenge; BIG Seeks Capabilities To Study Dark Permanently Shadowed Regions Of Moon; Craters And Caves In Lunar Polar Regions Have Remained Hidden For Billions Of Years; Proposals May Include Collecting Lunar Regolith, Transporting And Storing Water; Competition Is Open To Space Grant-Affiliated Universities; Separately ESA Open Space Innovation Platform Is Seeking Ideas For Detecting, Mapping And Exploring Permanently Shadowed Lunar Caves

Credits: NASA, JAXA

Tuesday / 20 Aug 2019

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National Space Council Faces NASA And Private Options For Reaching Moon

USA National Space Council Chaired By VP Mike Pence Meets 20 August At National Air And Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center, Venue Where Pence In 2017 Has Already Committed To Lunar Return; Former House Speaker And Free Enterprise Advocate Newt Gingrich Proposes US$2B Prize To First USA Company To Land Humans On Moon; SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell Claims They Can Land On Moon With Starship By 2023; Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Is Also In Competition

Credits: SpaceX, NASA, Blue Origin

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 16-19 August 2019

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Orion Tests Propulsion System; NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Managing Artemis Lunar Lander

European-Built Orion Service Module Completes Critical 12-Minute Firing Of Propulsion System At White Sands, New Mexico, Simulating Insertion Into Lunar Orbit And Return Trajectory To Earth; NASA Administrator Bridenstine With Members Of Congress Announce Marshall Space Flight Center Will Manage Artemis Lunar Lander With Large Portion Of Work At Johnson Space Center In Houston; Lisa Watson-Morgan Will Manage Lander Program; Orion Environmental Tests Will Be Conducted At Glenn Research Center

Credits: NASA

Friday / 2 Aug 2019

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New USA Commercial Lunar Lander Provider Contracts Could Be Awarded Before Oct 2019

As Announced By NASA Solicitation 80JSC019R0013, New Contracts For Lunar Landers Capable Of Delivering >10kg Payloads To Lunar Surface By 31 Dec 2023 Planned To Be Awarded To Begin 15 Oct 2019 And Possibly Extend Through 28 Nov 2028; RFP Responses Due By 29 Aug 2019; Urgency To Support Artemis Human Moon South Pole Landing By 2024, This Opportunity Will Add New Contractor(s) To Existing CLPS Contracts Which Are Now Held By Astrobotic ($79.5M) And Intuitive Machines ($77.2M), After Orbit Beyond Withdraws From Its $97M Contract

Credits: International Lunar Observatory Association, Astrobotic, Moon Express

Friday / 26 July 2019

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Artemis Spacecraft, Service Module, And Habitability Module Making Progress Toward 2024 Human Lunar Landing  

Orion Is Ready For Integration Into Artemis-1 Mission Planned By 2021; Vice President Pence At KSC Unveils Spacecraft Accompanied By Buzz Aldrin And Rick Armstrong Before Visiting Launch Complex 39A; Northrop Grumman Is Awarded Contract To Develop Minimum Habitation Module Based Upon Cygnus Spacecraft; ESA Formally Agrees To Contribute Additional Orion Service Module For Artemis-3 Human Lunar Landing; White House Reaffirms Commitment To Send Next Man And First Woman To Moon In 5 Years

Credits: NASA

Apollo11@50 Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 19-22 July 2019

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In Peace For All: Significant Time To Advance 21st Century Vision For Multi World Species

50th Observation Of 1969 Apollo 11 Landing At Tranquility Base Comes At Exciting And Critical Time For New Human Moon Landings; Crew Members Buzz Aldrin And Michael Collins Along With Neil Armstrong Family Meet At White House With USA President; Vice President Pence Giving Speech At Kennedy Space Center 20 July; Artemis Plan To Land First Women And Next Man At Moon South Pole 2024 Requires Additional Investment, Ideally 1% Of Federal Budget

Credits: NASA