Moon Space Elevator Emerging as Practical Cis-Lunar Transportation Solution
As supply chain disruptions of LOX and LN2 create launch delays amid medical crisis, limitations of chemical propulsion generally (availability, risk, environmental effects) have prompted industry and academic thought leaders to conceptualize space ‘elevator’ as infrastructure alternative, championed by International Space Elevator Consortium; Moon-based elevators take advantage of low gravity, allowing use of conventional materials: Lunar Space Elevator (LiftPort / Michael Laine) and Spaceline (Columbia University); Hybrid concept Sky Ladder (CALT / Wang Xiaojun) would utilize tethered spaceports attached to both Earth and Moon at 4% cost of rocket-based transit
Redwire Regolith Print (RRP) experiment utilizes Additive Manufacturing Facility (developed by subsidiary Made In Space) on ISS, fitted with custom printing heads / build plates brought by Cygnus NG-16 S.S. Ellison Onizuka, to fabricate 3 test slabs composed of regolith simulant; RRP seeks to validate construction method in low gravity, with goal of applying technique in-situ for long term, radiation-blocking Moon infrastructure; Test slabs to be returned to Earth for control comparison / durability testing; 1 Sep SPAC merger expected to raise US$170M
Researchers with Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and U.R. Rao Satellite Centre, divisions of ISRO, confirm presence of lunar water H2O) in 
Artemis Music Entertainment teams with Nanoracks on first music (Clair de Lune played by Wing-Chong Kam) in space to be minted into NFT, a type of unique blockchain token used to assign ownership of media; version of Clair de Lune transmitted to ISS from Houston, traveling 201,168+ orbital km prior to Earth return; “Why Not Me” visual artwork accompanied, to become first of kind NFT with auction set for 13:00 HST 10 August on Notables platform; Proceeds benefit Students for the Exploration and Development of Space / Artemis Music Foundation
Gravitational-Wave Lunar Observatory for Cosmology (GLOC) is latest concept for conducting fundamental astrophysical research on Moon; Vanderbilt and Harvard astrophysicists K. Jani and A. Loeb contend conditions on Moon surface preferable to terrestrial and space for laser interferometry, propose <5 Hz instrument to validate general relativity / Lambda cold dark matter, observe type 1a supernovae; GLOC joins Artemis era radio astronomy from the Moon projects Farside Array for Radio Science Investigations of the Dark ages & Exoplanets (University of Colorado / JPL), FarView (Lunar Resources Inc) Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (NIAC); Optical astronomy underway includes Q1 2022 ILO-X (International Lunar Observatory) and Ultimately Large Telescope (University of Texas) study
18.6-year lunar nodal cycle caused by Moon’s 5.145° inclination from solar ecliptic may magnify coastal flooding, with peaks of high tide activity centering around mid-2030s amid 3.6 mm / yr 
Artemis 1 At KSC Ready For 18-m Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Upper Stage Next Week, Now Fitted With 9.1-m Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter Atop 65m Core, Itself Sitting Between 54-m Twin Solid Fuel Boosters; Orion Stage Adapter And Crew Module Mass Simulator To Follow In Stacking Sequence, Completed Total Height ~98m; Uncrewed Artemis 1 Launch Still Hoped For 2021, Acceleration And Kinetic Forces To Be Measured By Seated 
Laser Communications Relay Demonstrations (LCRD) To Launch To 35,405km Geosynchronous Orbit On Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) From Cape Canaveral Space Force Station 23 June, Powered By ULA Atlas V In 551 Configuration; Building On LADEE Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration Of 622 Mbps Downlink / 40 Mbps Uplink From Moon Orbit, LCRD Is Expected To Show Infrared Laser-Based Speed To / From Optical Ground Station 1 (California) & 2 (Hawaii) ‘10 To 100x’ Faster Than Existing Radio Frequency Comms
