12 ISECG Member Agencies Including NASA, ESA, Roscosmos Release Update Of 2011 Global Explorations Roadmap; New Plan Confirms Intention To Include Both Moon & Asteroid Missions Instead Of Either / Or Approach; Human Moon Missions Seen As Preparatory To Mars Missions In 2030s; NASA Administrator Bolden Says Agency Willing To Contribute Expertise / Resources To Multinational Human Moon Missions
Image Credit: ISECG, NASA
Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) System Ready For Launch On LADEE Mission After Series Of Successful Ground Tests; ESA Observatory In Spain & 2 US Ground Terminals Will Relay Data To The Moon Orbiter At Unprecedented Rates (622 Mbps); Laser Wavelengths 10,000 Times Shorter Than Radio, Allowing For Reduction In Antenna Size – Lowering Mass, Volume, Power Requirements Of Future Space Missions; LADEE Launching 6 Sep 2013
Image Credit: NASA
NASA Lunar Science Institute In Mountain View CA Changes Name To Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI); Name Change Reflects Natural 21st Century Advance Of Human Exploration Goals, Building Out From Vital Well-Developed Cislunar Foundation To Include Vast Resources & Promising Research / Exploration / Human Settlement Potential Of Asteroids, Mars, Jupiter / Saturn Moons & Beyond
Image Credit: NASA
Two NASA Interplanetary Spacecraft Capture Images Of Earth-Moon System; MESSENGER Obtained Its Black & Whited Photos (R) From A Position Around Mercury (98 Million Km From Earth), While Cassini Used Acquired Color Images From A Vantage Point 1.5 Billion Km Away, Behind A Back-Lit Saturn; Images Demonstrate How Tiny Earth Is In Vastness Of Space, & Strategic Importance / Logic Of Developing Earth-Moon System As 1st Step In Human Expansion Into The Cosmos
Image Credit: NASA
Record-Holding US Astronaut Franklin Diaz Initiates US$46K Crowdfunding Project To Create Documentary About Space Propulsion Technology His Company Is Developing; Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) Uses Superheated Plasma To Propel Craft To Phenomenal Speeds Into Deep Space; With Technology Spacecraft Could Carry Twice As Much Cargo To Moon, Get To Mars In Half The Time, Redirect Dangerous Asteroids, Clean Up Space Junk
Image Credit: Ad Astra Rocket Company
0.5-kg CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT) Could Propel 5-kg Cubesats To Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Beyond For 1/1000 Of Current Mission Costs; University Of Michigan Team Led By Benjamin Longmier Fundraising To Test New CAT Plasma Engine That Could Open Solar System For CubeSats; International Workshop On Implications & Opportunities Arising With Advent Of LunarCubes Set For 13 Nov 2013 In Palo Alto CA, USA
Image Credit: Kickstarter, lunarcubes.com
Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin (L) Says Geography / Geology Of Big Island, Hawaii Is Excellent Analog / Testing Ground For Permanent Moon Base; He Encourages Learning In Hawaii, Settlement Of Moon, Then Mars & Beyond; Also Supports PISCES Technology Development For Robotic & Human Missions Beyond LEO – Rob Kelso (R) Exec Director Featured On The Space Show 21 June; ISDAC-USIS Workshop On 22 June In Colorado Continues Discussion Of ‘Moon Permanent Base Headed By Buzz Aldrin’
Image Credit: Getty Images, IAF, ESA/Foster, WHT/A.Pacheco
Chandrayaan-2, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Pushing India To Accelerate Space Capabilities, Advance Global Standing As Space Leader; Chandrayaan-2 With Russia Will Be First India Lunar / Planetary Surface Mission, Currently Slated Under 2012-2017 5-Year Plan; Mars Mission Success Would Be 1st For Asian Country, ISRO Addressing Added Mission Complexity Due To Distance & Communication Logistics
Image Credit: ISRO
B-2 Stand At NASA Stennis Space Center Being Renovated In Preparation For 2016 SLS Engine Propellant Fill / Drain Tests & Hot Fire Tests; Site Was Previously Used To Validate Saturn Engines Before They Were Used For Apollo Human Moon Missions; First Test Flight Of SLS Will Send Orion MPCV On Uncrewed Trip Around Moon In 2017, First Crewed Flight Slated For 2021
Image Credit: NASA
Peter Kokh, In April 2013 Edition Of Moon Miners’ Manifesto, Notes PISCES Efforts To Develop Sustainable Basalt Concrete On Hawai`i Island As Example Of “Spin Up” Technology Development: Identifying Profitable Terrestrial Applications For Technologies Needed In Space / Moon To Spur Advancement Of Human Off-World Capabilities; MMM Seeking Ideas For Similar Technology Matches That Could Be Advanced By Private Enterprise
Image Credit: NASA, Moon Society, PISCES