Tuesday / 10 August 2021

Moon-themed Music and Art Sent to ISS to be Monetized Via Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT)

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

Pictured: Micah Johnson (L), Bob Richards; Credits: Artemis Music Entertainment, Micah Johnson

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 30 July – 2 Aug 2021

China Shares Moon Samples / Data, Plans Lunar Orbital Relay in Support of South Pole Missions

Data from 13 institutional analyses of Chang’e-5 samples (17 g) now available from CNSA Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, applications for second sample release due 15 Sept; 1,731 g total collected within Oceanus Procellarum, site officially named Statio Tianchuan per IAU; With Chang’e-6 sample return mission targeting Aitken crater in vicinity of South Pole and Chang’e-7/8 explicitly targeting MSP, CNSA plans new data relay satellite – rather than operating in L2 halo orbit, new lunar relay to transmit from highly elliptical orbit nearer lunar surface, allowing up to 10 Mbps down/ 1 Mbps up

Credits: CAST, CLEP, CNSA

Friday / 23 July 2021

Moon Precession Cycle May Have Increased Effect on Earth Weather Conditions

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 sea level rise; Highlighting need for advanced laser-ranging facilities on lunar surface, vital for further understanding Earth-Moon system; UH Sea Level Center Director Philip Thompson (B) identifies Gulf of Mexico, CA, HI flood risk “at least quadrupling” while Administrator Nelson (T) states “NASA’s Sea Level Change Team is providing crucial information so that we can plan, protect, and prevent damage”

Credits: NASA, Creative Commons, NOAA, UH

Friday / 2 July 2021

Galaxy Forum Bringing Space Education To Vi, Silicon Valley For July 4 Weekend

Artemis Moon Activity And Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence Are Topics Of Galaxy Forum 2021 USA, Silicon Valley In-Person / Online Hybrid Event Streaming From Vi At Palo Alto, Adjacent To Stanford Campus; Presenters Include SETI Institute Co-Founder Jill Tarter (Searching For Aliens, Finding Ourselves), Berkeley SETI Research Center Director Andrew Siemion (SETI From The Moon), Paragon Space Development Corporation President Grant Anderson (Artemis / NASA Returns To The Moon), ILOA Director Steve Durst (Stanford On The Moon) And ILOA Board Member Joseph Sulla (ILOA 5 Moon Missions)

Credits: SETI Institute, BSRC, Paragon, ILOA, Space Age Publishing Company

Thursday / 18 June 2021

China-Russia Joint Working Group Developing International Lunar Research Station Plan

Wu Yanhua Of CNSA And Sergey Saveliev Of Roscosmos Present Guide For Partnership v1.0 At GLEX 2021 In St Petersburg, Russia; 3 Development Phases (Reconnaissance, Construction, Utilization) Encompassing 5-Facility Station (Cis-Lunar Transportation In Space + Long-Term Support, Transport And Operation, Science, And Ground Support & Application On Surface), With 8 Science Objectives (Lunar Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, ISRU, Astronomy / Earth Observation From Moon, Cis-Lunar Space); Limited Collaboration Opportunities For Chang’e 7-8 And Luna 25-28, With Broader Participation In ILRS Missions 1-5 Between 2031-35

Credits: CNSA, Roscosmos, SCIO

Tuesday / 15 June 2021

Russia Strives For Human Presence On Moon Surface, Jupiter Probe By 2030

Luna 25 Launch Set For 1 October, Marking Resumption Of Lunar Exploration Activities After 45+ Year Hiatus For Russia, First Nation To Robotically Explore Moon; Luna 25 To Attempt Landing At Boguslavsky Crater Near Moon South Pole (72.9°S, 43.2°E) To Investigate Subsurface Ice Deposits; Luna 26 (2024), Lunar 27 (2025), Luna 28 (2027) To Culminate With International Lunar Research Station Buildout With China & Human Lunar Missions By Decade End; Nuclear-Powered Zeus To Launch From Moon Orbit 2030, Exploit Venus Gravity-Assist On Jupiter Trajectory During 50-Month, US$58M Mission

Credits: Roscosmos, NASA, ISRO

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 4-7 June 2021

World Space Leaders Meet As Two Distinct Lunar Coalitions Take Shape

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson In Talks With Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin On Future Of ISS Partnership As USA And Russia Presidents Biden And Putin Prepare For Geneva Summit 16 June; Nelson Predicts Space Travel “On Agenda”, Characterizes Biden As “A Fan Of Space”; Concurrently, Roscosmos And CNSA To Co-Host Meeting On International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) At Global Space Exploration Conference 2021 In St. Petersburg, During Which Potential International Partners Expected To Respond To Participation Invites; ISRO, ESA Have Yet To Commit To 11 Nation-Strong Artemis Coalition Or ILRS, Raising Possibility Of Dual Membership

Credits: NASA, TASS, ESA, Wikipedia

Friday / 14 May 2021

Permanent Moon Settlement Advanced By International Research Stations In Antarctica

Neumayer III Station, Located On Ekström Ice Shelf In Antarctica (70°38′S 8°15′W) Is Site Of EDEN ISS (UL) Greenhouse, A Prototype Closed-Loop Sustenance System Helping To Feed Onsite Researchers And Develop Technology / Agronomic Knowledge Base Necessary To Sustain Human Life Outside Earth Ecosystem With Collaboration, From Germany Primarily And Austria, Italy, Canada, The Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, USA; China Is Pursuing Similar Goals At China Great Wall Research Station (BR) On King George Island Of Antarctica (62°13′S 58°57′W) With Plexiglass Greenhouse Covering 602m2; Efforts Have Focused On Brassica Cultivation

Credits: ESA, ACRYLITE, DLR, Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration

Tuesday / 11 May 2021

DOGE-1 Mission To Moon May Revolutionize Space Enterprise Funding

“To The Moon” Rallying Call Of Investors, Enthusiasts And Idealists Who Believe A Reformation Of International Monetary Policy Towards Decentralized, Distributed Ledger Cryptocurrency In Lieu Of Government-backed Fiat Money Will Democratize Transactional Commerce, Is Set To Become Reality With Q1 2022 40kg CubeSat, Launching To Lunar Orbit Via SpaceX Falcon 9; DOGE-1 Being Constructed By Geometric Energy Corporation Of Calgary, Canada With Collaboration Of Mimir Solutions And Iteration Syndicate

Credits: SpaceX, Reddit, Youtube

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 Apr 2021

NASA Administrator Nominee Reaffirms USA Commitment To Artemis Human Lunar Landings, Competitive Contract Practices

In Testimony To Senate Commerce Committee Nominee Bill Nelson Pledges “Moon Should Be A Place That Is Not Militarized” Under Artemis Accords, Urges Cooperation Between Nations Participating In Lunar Activity; Committee Chair Maria Cantwell Advocates For “Dissimilar Redundancy” In Human Lander Program, Opening Possibility Of Future Additional Contracts; Nelson Insists “Timetable For 2024 Is Still There”, Implying That SpaceX Confidence In Keeping Schedule Deciding Factor In Award; Confirmation In Full Senate Expected 28 April

Credits: NASA, US Senate