Author Archives: LED Editor

Tuesday / 15 April 2025

Posted on by

New ispace-U.S. CEO Elizabeth Kryst Signs 2 Memorandums of Understanding

40th Space Symposium was backdrop for 2 announced collaborations; ispace-U.S. will work with Zeno Power, Tyler Bernstein Co-Founder / CEO, to develop technologies enabling survival of lunar night; demo mission planned NET 2027 with ispace APEX 1.0 next-generation lander (using Resilience-learned knowledge) and Zeno Power radioisotope power system (RPS) providing continuous, reliable heat / electricity via nuclear that solar panels cannot, during the 14-day lunar night at –173°C; ispace will work with Redwire (NYSE:RDW), President Mike Gold, 1 of 14 prime holders of CLPS IDIQ (indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity) contracts, worth US$2.6B, to pursue future CLPS contracts

Credit: ispace 

Friday / 11 April 2025

Posted on by

NASA Expected to Choose 1 of 3 Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTVs) This Year, Award US$4.6B

3 companies were tasked with building a Moon rover to support Artemis; Lunar Outpost Eagle seats 2 Astronauts in front, each wheel turns independently, screens show what several cameras see, there are tool and sample containers, it can be operated remotely; Astrolab / Venturi / Axiom LTV has 2 Astronauts standing at rear, storage containers for lunar samples; Intuitive Machines RACER holds 2 Astronauts, carries 400kg of cargo plus trailer with 800kg, offers remote control, engineered with 9 companies and input from Moonwalkers Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt

Credits: Space.com/Future/Brett Tingley, Astrolab, Intuitive Machines 

Tuesday / 8 April 2025

Posted on by

ispace-U.S. Calls Together Science Advisors for Lunar Exploration

Lunar exploration company ispace (ispace-U.S.) has formed U.S. Lunar Science Advisory Board (US LSAB) in conjunction with 1 Apr naming of new CEO Elizabeth Kryst; Chair is Alan Stern, former NASA Associate Administrator; Amanda Hendrix, Planetary Science Institute, who studies Moon composition and lunar resources; Philip Metzger, University of Central Florida, who does regolith research; Lisa Gaddis, LPI, has received many NASA awards, does lunar analysis and geology; Jack Burns, Professor Emeritus of both Astrophysics and Physics, served on numerous NASA committees; Clive Neal, Professor of Planetary Geology, has overseen lunar samples, helped train NASA Astronauts

Credit: ispace (Pictured CW from upper left: Metzger, Stern, Burns, Gaddis, Hendrix, Neal) 

Tuesday / 1 April 2025

Posted on by

Moon Village Association and its Global Expert Group Emphasize International Cooperation and Sustainability

Moon Village Association (MVA) supports diverse projects in many fields, fosters communications and cooperation, advises UN COPUOS (Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space), had UN declare International Moon Day July 20 annually, Abu Dhabi hosting 2025 main event as well as NET Nov Workshop & Symposium; the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA) sprang from MVA to advance peaceful lunar governance and sustainability, will have 10th operational meeting 22 May; other MVA projects include promoting innovation, coordination and standardization toward lunar positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services and a Lunar Governance Working Group

Credits: XTEND, MVA 

Friday / 28 March 2025

Posted on by

Lunar Commercial Communications Now and in the Future

Astrobotic Griffin-1 Moon lander, NET late 2025, will carry a Stamper Technology NanoFiche device with movie Miracle on 34th Street, Long Now world language translator and portions of Lunar Codex, et al.; aiming for a multimillion-year archive of human achievement, the device is made to survive thermal, mechanical and radiation extremes; Intuitive Machines (IM) and Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) are using NASA awards from a US$4.82B fund to build lunar communications commercial services, IM working with York Space Systems to build relay satellites, and KSAT with CPI Vertex Antennentechnik to build 20-meter Earth antennas expected to be operational late this year

Credits: Astrobotic, Stamper Technology, IM, KSAT, NASA

Tuesday / 25 March 2025

Posted on by

Artemis 2: On-Track to Bring Humans Closer to the Moon than We’ve Been in More Than 50 Years

NASA Astronauts Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen are training meticulously for a million-km, 10-day Moon flyby in Orion spacecraft, 1st crewed flight of the Artemis campaign, Artemis II; set to launch NET April 2026 via Space Launch System (SLS), Orion is now at Kennedy Space Center; also there, SLS now has its 64-meter core stage — largest component of the rocket — joined with stacked solid rocket boosters; crew are testing Orion life support, communications and navigation systems and speaking with its engineers

Credits: CSA, NASA

Friday / 21 March 2025

Posted on by

Philosophy of Solar System Exploration: Moon and Then Mars

Pioneering thinkers Astronaut Suni Williams, Bhavya Lal of NASA / Rand, Ryan Faith of US House / SpaceNews and Brent Sherwood of AIAA, Blue Origin and NASA agree on fundamentals: Moon is the proving ground for Mars and the start of a multiplanetary legacy, priorities must be sustainability, collaboration, creativity, economic integration and innovations that benefit everyday life; collaboration internationally and public / private makes Moon / Mars and beyond accomplishment a shared human achievement; exploring allows philosophical musing on our purpose, learning how we solve problems of materials, chemicals, technology; Williams is honored by ISRO and her father’s village in India, as well as by friendly dolphins greeting her capsule at splashdown

.

Credits: Suni Williams, Bhavya Lal, Ryan Faith, Brent Sherwood, ILOA, NASA, NASA/Don Pettit

Tuesday / 18 March 2025

Posted on by

ispace Has On-Track Mission, Receives Increased Award from Draper

ispace Hakuto-R Mission 2 aims to accomplish mission milestone 6 of 10 when it completes deep-space orbital maneuvers 24 April, affirming survivability there, ahead of 6 Jun landing at Mare Frigoris ~60°N; ispace business mission is to construct a sustainable Earth-Moon ecosystem implementing space resources; Hakuto-R is a multinational commercial lunar exploration program, includes payload development for lunar orbiting and landing; non-profit R&D company Draper releases US$7.7M additional funding to ispace-U.S. from its US$73M NASA CLPS award, for design of APEX 1.0 lander going NET 2026 H2 to Schrödinger Basin, ~75°S on Moon far side

.

Credits: ispace, Draper

Friday / 14 March 2025

Posted on by

First-ever Commercial Lander View of Earth Eclipsing Sun from Surface of Moon

During upcoming lunar eclipse on Earth, Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost parked on Moon at Mare Crisium near Apollo 11 Mare Tranquillitatis exploration area is expected to capture the first images by a robotic lander of a total solar eclipse; Earth will mostly block the Sun but leave halo / ring / rim of red around perimeter; Moon surface expected to look red; maximum totality at Firefly Texas control room is 01:18 CDT 14 Mar; eclipse will last 6 hrs 3 mins, with 65 mins of totality; Blue Ghost will rely on batteries rather than solar panels

.

Credits: Firefly Aerospace, Stellarium / Bob King

Tuesday / 11 March 2025

Posted on by

8 of 10 Payload Objectives Met by Firefly Blue Ghost Lander on Moon

Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lander completing 8 of 10 CLPS payload objectives since 2 March arrival at Mare Crisium, other 2 expected; LISTER drilling 3 meters to resume after solar noon >120°C air temp; LEXI to attempt imaging Earth magnetosphere; Lunar PlanetVac manipulating regolith; RAC determining regolith accumulation on surfaces; LMS using electrical resistivity to determine rock composition; SCALPSS sending images; RadPC resisting radiation; EDS removing dust; NGLR reflecting laser pulses; LuGRE receiving GPS and satellite signals; Blue Ghost cameras will attempt capture of upcoming eclipse and sunset

.

Credits: Firefly Aerospace