Category Archives: Artemis Program

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 11-14 March 2022

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Lunar Fleet Buildup Advances as 7 Landers and 3 Orbital Missions Prepare for Launch

Wet Dress Rehearsal (propellant loading, countdown sequencing) of flagship ‘Mega Moon Rocket’ SLS expected 17 March at KSC Launch Pad 39B pending NASA test readiness review / subsequent press conference March 14 and inaugural launch to Moon orbit NET May; Rocket Lab Capstone orbiter launch window now set for 3-15 May; Intuitive Machines IM-1 launching NET June; Roscosmos Luna-25 NET 23 July; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET Aug; Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter NET 1 Aug; ispace HAKUTO-R NET Oct, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One NET Nov; IM-2 NET Dec, JAXA SLIM launching late 2022

Credits: NASA, Rocket Lab, IM, Roscosmos, ISRO, KARI, ispace, Astrobotic; JAXA

Friday / 4 March 2022

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Errant Rocket Stage of Disputed Origin Hurtling Toward Moon to Impact Lunar Farside Friday

Astrodynamic modelling suggests 4 ton object of uncertain origin most likely is spent upper stage of LM-3C, used during Chang’e 5-T1 test mission, and will strike Moon at ~2.58 km/s; 18th Space Control Squadron, charged space tracking for USSF, confirms rocket did not reenter Earth atmosphere but tells Space News “we cannot confirm the [rocket’s] country of origin”; NASA LRO documents predicted impact site within Hertzsprung Crater for scientific comparison once impact occurs 4 March 02:25 HST; X-band signal emanating from Chang’e-5 spacecraft reveals it occupies Distant Retrograde Orbit, pre-empting USA plans to pathfind strategic trajectory

Credits: NASA, ASU

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 25-28 Feb 2022

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Flagship Boeing SLS and SpaceX Starship Race to Achieve Deep Space Ascendency as Global Fleet Preps for 2022 Moon Missions

NASA planning Artemis I wet dress rehearsal NET March, inaugural flight of US$17B Space Launch System within 3 defined windows: 7-21 May, 6-16 June, 29 June – 12 July; Human Moon flyby Artemis II NET May 2024; Starship (SN20 / BN4) undergoing engine reconfiguration, now with 33 Raptor 2 engine specification on Super Heavy; Initial SLS variant Block 1 anticipated to make ~ 4000t thrust, BN4 ~ 7500t, Saturn V by comparison made ~ 3500t; Roscosmos, ISRO, KARI, JAXA, ispace, Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic also striving for 2022 Moon exploration

Credits: NASA, SpaceX

Friday / 25 February 2022

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Phase 2 of ‘Watts on the Moon’ Opens 3-Segment, 30-Month, US$4.5M Challenge to Enable Lunar Surface Power Transmission & Energy Storage

Running on HeroX crowdsourcing platform, NASA Centennial Challenges calls for USA team proposals for energy infrastructure concepts supporting long-term Moon operations; Open 23 Feb 2022 with competition end scheduled 11 Sep 2024, 285 teams with 3.3K innovators registered so far; Phase 1 winners (21 May 2021, totaling 500K) were Astrobotic, Astrolight, KC Space Pirates, Michigan Tech University, UC Santa Barbara, Skycorp, Team FuelPod; International missions planned near Boguslawsky, Nobile, Shackleton Rim, Malapert Mountain, Haworth Crater, Simpelius N to help determine solar illumination & resources for crew landing projected 2025 / Artemis 3

Credits: NASA, HeroX

Tuesday / 8 February 2022

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Shadowy Lunar South Pole Conditions Being Replicated for NASA Training Regimen in Texas

NASA Johnson Space Center shares Astronaut training exercise “simulating a Moonwalk” within specially outfitted 23,000,000-liter diving tank (62m X 31m x 12m) of Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, located within Sonny Carter Training Facility near Ellington Field / Houston Spaceport; Light containment used to replicate low angle of Sun relative to horizon in polar Moon regions (same effect is likely cause of water accumulation in cold traps / PSRs); Conditions pose novel challenge to Artemis astronauts set to explore area starting NET 2025

 

Credits: NASA, ESA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 4-7 Feb 2022

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Elon Musk to Give Update on Starship, Variant of which is to Land Humans on Moon During Artemis 3

Artemis SLS / Orion rollout now expected mid-March, while progress update on Starship prototype ‘Serial No. 20’ / SN20 to be given 10 Feb at 20:00 CST from Starbase TX; Expected topics include Raptor 2 engines (~230t thrust vs ~185 of Raptor 1) recently subjected to destructive testing, Moonship HLS variant, and orbital test flight landing 100km from Kauaʻi; FAA environmental assessment, “the schedule driver” of launch per Musk; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contention that launch activity is deleterious to Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge may trigger full EIS review

 

Credits: SpaceX, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28-31 Jan 2022

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Official Agreements on International Lunar Research Station Anticipated as Artemis Coalition Grows to 15 Nations

Israel is latest signatory to USA-led Artemis Accords effort seeking to reestablish human presence on the Moon as SLS megarocket nears mid-Feb launchpad rollout at KSC; Russia and China set to formalize ILRS agreement per Russia diplomatic statements and China’s Space Program: A 2021 Perspective white paper outlining robotic and human mission goals including consideration of human lunar landings within 5 years, ILRS full operational status expected NLT 2035; 2024 Chang’e-7 Moon south pole lander / orbiter and Lunar-26 orbiter missions to be closely coordinated

Credits: CNSA, Roscosmos, NASA

Tuesday / 18 January 2022

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Artemis Era Will Require Larger & More Diverse Astronaut Corps, Training Updates, Lunar Architecture

NASA Office of Inspector General report warns of dearth of flight-ready Astronauts (44 in 2021 vs nearly 150 in 2000) and calls for new protocols on “minimum manifest requirement” corps size safety margin (15% currently vs 50% shuttle era), recruitment, training, assignment; OIG suggests information gathering on Astronaut skillsets and demographics to meet Artemis mission diversity objectives of First Woman and Person of Color landing on Moon during Artemis III Mission NET 2025; LSSW workshop on Inclusive Lunar Exploration 26-27 Jan; Artemis structural requirements to be topic at Moon Village Association Architectural Concepts & Considerations Working Group meeting 25-27 Jan

Credits: NASA, MVA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 Jan 2022

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SLS ‘Mega Moon Rocket’ with Integrated Orion Spacecraft Prepares for Rollout / Wet Dress Rehearsal

Simulated countdown sequencing software / hardware test is last step before highly anticipated (12th year of $23B+ program) rollout of USA flagship Space Launch System from KSC Vehicle Assembly Building to historic Launch Pad 39B, as problematic RS-25 engine controller replaced and checked; Fueled dress rehearsal set to occur NET mid-Feb followed by hot fire and inaugural Artemis 1 uncrewed lunar flyby NET March; Elements of Artemis 2-4 crafts currently being manufactured with ULA Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (Decatur AL) and Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines (New Orleans LA) being readied for KSC shipment

Credits: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 7-10 Jan 2022

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New Zealand May Lead Artemis Moon Fleet with Orbital Wayfinder CAPSTONE Cubesat in March

Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment now scheduled to be first probe in USA-led Artemis Return to Moon; Launching to Earth orbit on Electron from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 located on Māhia NZ (39.2°S, 177.8°E) NET March under US$9.95M NASA contract; 12U, 25-kg cubesat will be delivered to TLI via Photon Kick Stage after 9-day elliptical orbit raising; 1600 x 70000 km polar near rectilinear halo orbit around Moon may provide optimal trajectory with minimal corrections (under 10 m/s ∆v) achievable with Maxar solar / electric propulsion element for Gateway (NET 2024)

Credits: Rocket Lab, Maxar