Category Archives: NASA

Friday / 23 January 2015

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Moon Express, Space Florida, NASA
Advancing Florida Moon Missions Legacy

ME FL

ME Testing & Developing MTV-1X Lunar Lander At KSC Shuttle Landing Facility, Will Begin Operations By End Of Q2 2015 At Space Launch Complex 36, Which Was Used To Launch Surveyors To Moon, Mariners To Mars, Pioneers To Jupiter / Saturn / Beyond; Bob Richards (CEO) Says Agreement With Space Florida, & ME Initial Investment Of US$500K Will Allow For “Immediate” Infrastructure Improvements To Make Site Operational; Likely To Build Own “Moonscape”; Block House & Engineering Building To Be Dubbed “Moon Mountain” 

Image Credit: ME, NASA

Tuesday / 20 January 2015

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State Of The Union, USA:
The Moon, Mars, Stars, Beyond

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21st Century Pioneering Americans Work To See Multi World Citizens Once Again, This Time For Good; New Frontier At Moon South Pole Has Resources, Energy To Enrich And Empower, Perspective To Solve Earth’s Most Intractable Conflict – In Peace For All; Nothing Gained By Presiding Over Greatest Retreat In US History

Image Credit: Sol Loeb, pdxmim.com, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 16-19 January 2015

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Moon South Pole
Drawing New Lunar Pioneers

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New Moon South Pole Ventures Including UK-Based Lunar Mission One & Russia-Based Lin Industrial Join Established Declarations Of Interest In Moon South Pole Missions By USA (RPM), American Enterprises Such As Shackleton Energy Corporation, Japan (SELENE-2), India (Chandrayaan-2), Russia (Luna-Glob), ESA, ILOA; Moon South Pole – Replete With Valuable Resources & Providing A Relatively Stable Thermal Environment – Is Generally Considered Optimal Location For Human Lunar Exploration / Settlement

Image Credit: JAXA, Lunar Mission One, Lin Industrial

Friday / 16 January 2015

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Moon Express Steadily Advancing
Moon Lander Technologies

ME 2015

Moon Express Preparing For Phase 2 Test Flight Campaign Of Hydrogen Peroxide Fueled MTV-1X Lander After Successful Dec 2014 Test Flights At Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility “Moonscape” In Florida; Testing Is Being Conducted In Partnership With NASA Lunar CATALYST Program & In Pursuit Of GLXP Lander & Mobility Terrestrial Milestones Prizes; MTV-2X Vehicle Scheduled To Be Built & Tested In Q1 2015

Image Credit: Moon Express, NASA

Friday / 9 January 2015

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Cube Quest Challenge Summit For
Missions Near & Beyond Moon

Cube Quest Challenge Summit 2015

2-Day Summit At Moffett Field CA Held 7 & 8 Jan Introducing US$5M NASA Program For Teams To Design, Build & Deliver Flight-Qualified, SmallSats Capable Of Advanced Operations Near & Beyond Moon; Winner(s) Qualify For Mission To Launch On Maiden Flight Of SLS ~Nov 2018; (L-R) Ames Research Center Director Pete Worden, Cube Quest Challenge Administrator James Cockrell, Planetary Protection Officer Cassie Conley & Others Discuss Mission & Engineering Details, Secondary Payloads, How Cube Quest Relates To Human Exploration

Image Credit: NASA, Ames Research Center

Wednesday / 7 January 2015

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Astronaut Hoffman: Human Moon Missions Logical Next Step

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Former NASA Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman Says It Makes More Sense To Revisit Moon Before Attempting Mars Missions; Moon On Average  Is ~600 Times Closer, Mission Would Be Cheaper, Shorter & Safer; Human Explorers Could Confirm Extent Of Water Ice Deposits, Potentially Begin Transforming Those Resources Into Rocket Fuel, Air, Drinking Water, Thereby Transforming Economics Of Space Travel; Hoffman Says, After 43 Years, USA / Humanity Needs To Get Used To Planetary Exploration Again, Practice / Test Systems & Prepare To Expand Society Into Solar System

Image Credit: ESA, ISU

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 19-22 December 2014

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Moon Express Lunar Missions Progressing With KSC Flight Tests

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MTV-1x Moon Express Lander To Undergo First Tethered Tests This Weekend At NASA KSC In Florida After Successfully Completing Full Pressurization, Telemetry & Static Thruster Tests This Past Week; Team Plans To Return To KSC In Early 2015 For Additional Testing Integrating H2O2 Thrusters, Star Tracker & Flight Vehicle Navigation Controls; 2015 Promises To Be Critical Year For Moon Express: Launch Agreement As Secondary Payload Expected, Payload Advancement To Flight Status, Integration Of ILO-X Payload, Continuation Of Fundraising To Achieve 2016 Launch

Pictured: Moon Express Co-Founders Bob Richards, Naveen Jain, Barney Pell with Buzz Aldrin

Image Credit: Moon Express

 

Wednesday / 17 December 2014

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Lunar Lander Technology Development Advancing At KSC In Florida

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Morpheus Lander Completes Final Test Flight At KSC, Climbing 240m, Making 30-Degree Glide Slope, Traversing 400m & Descending Into Simulated Moonscape; 1st Time Morpheus Was Completely Controlled By Autonomous Landing & Hazardous Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) Laser-Guided Navigation System; Craft Is Used To Demonstrate Lander / Hopper Technologies That Could Be Used In Future Moon Missions; Moon Express Also Conducting Flight Tests At KSC As Part Of Lunar CATALYST Program, 1st Static Hot Fire Tests On On MX-1 Vehicle Successful (Inset), Tethered Flight Tests Upcoming

Image Credit: NASA, Moon Express

Wednesday / 10 December 2014

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Astronaut Hadfield: We Are Going To The Moon Next, “Because It Just Makes Sense”

HadfieldMoon

Canada Astronaut Chris Hadfield Says Moon Is Logical Next Stop For Human Space Explorers; Just 3 Days Away Moon Provides Ideal Environment To Develop & Test Technologies That Will Be Needed To Explore Mars & Beyond; Hadfield Praises NASA Work On Orion, Says Next Big Step Should Be To Construct Permanent Lunar Base; Criticizes Mars One Mission, Comparing It To 1845 Northwest Passage Expedition: “If We Started Going To Mars Any Time Soon Everybody Would Die”; Comments Made To Royal Geographical Society In London

Image Credit: NASA, futuretimeline.net

Thanksgiving Edition
Thu-Mon / 27 Nov – 1 Dec 2014

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CubeQuest Challenge To Advance Lunar Exploration

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With New Centennial Challenge NASA Offers 1st In-Space Competition & Largest Prize Ever; CubeQuest Challenge Offers 3 Separate Prizes: 4 (US$500K) Ground Tournaments To Qualify For Flight On First SLS Launch, Deep Space Derby $1.5M Prize To Demonstrate Communication / Durability At >400,000,000 Km From Earth, Lunar Derby $3M For Placing CubeSat In Stable Lunar Orbit & Demonstrating Communications / Durability; Program Manager Eric Eberly Says Contest Could Dramatically Improve Affordability Of Space Missions & Increase Research Possibilities

Image Credit: NASA