Category Archives: Lunar Flyby

Tuesday / 7 May 2024

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NASA OIG Identifies Needed Orion Improvements Ahead of Crewed Artemis 2 Mission

Report NASA’s Readiness for the Artemis 2 Crewed Mission to Lunar Orbit recommends significant review of Orion spacecraft systems prior to integration and stacking of the Lockheed-Martin / Airbus-built capsule on Artemis SLS rocket for NET Sept 2025 launch of Artemis 2, in light of Artemis 1 anomalies including 100+ areas of unexpected heat shield degradation during reentry, melting of separation bolts, and 4.5-hour communication outage; NASA plans to increase material between separation bolts before Artemis 3 redesign and upgrade DSN servers to prevent a reoccurrence of Goldstone outage, considering modification to less strenuous reentry trajectory

 
Credits: NASA OIG

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 30 June – 3 July 2023

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USA, China, Canada and India Crewed Moon Missions on Horizon

As 2023 second half begins, NASA seeking ≤ 60 kg lunar surface science payloads under Artemis III Deployed Instruments (A3DI) Program, with Step-1 proposals due 30 June, Step-2 due 31 Aug; CNSA Chang’E-7 team evaluating international payload proposals, expert review due 1 July, final tech confirmation 1 Sep; CMSE working to land Taikonauts via LM-9 / 10 in 2020s, build ILRS with construction starting NET 2026; Astronaut Jeremy Hansen, set to be first Canadian to fly by Moon NET Nov 2024, celebrates Canada Day 1 July; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 launching 13 July at 14:30 IST, human landings may be accelerated via Artemis / USA-India partnership

Credits: NASA, USA, China, Canada, India

Tuesday / 20 June 2023

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Artemis 2 Lunar Flyby Mission Advancing with Orion Testing / Integration, Crewmember Preparation

NASA will display Orion spacecraft to media in late summer including the capsule that is to fly Artemis 2 crew 8,889 km past Moon prior to lunar flyby, powered by ESA European Service Module-2 now in NASA possession at KSC undergoing testing; Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O) being integrated; Artemis 2 Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen of CSA-ASC will carry lessons to Moon from Vision Quest with Anishinaabe Elder on Sagkeeng First Nation land in Manitoba, and is to participate in Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa 1 July and lead Calgary Stampede Parade 7 July

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA-ASC, Twitter / @Astro_Jeremy
 

Friday / 7 April 2023

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Artemis 2 Crew Set to Be First Astronauts to Reach Moon in Modern Era, Travel Further from Earth than Any Previous Mission

Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Hammock Koch & Jeremy Hansen are training intensively for 10-day lunar flyby Artemis 2 mission launching to multiple-burn trans lunar injection NET Nov 2024; Luna flyby will take crew 7,400 km past Moon, setting record for distance currently held by Apollo 13 (1970), which flew 254 km from lunar far side; Koch, Glover and Hansen to be first woman, person of color and non-USA citizen (respectively) to fly past LEO, cross Van Allen Belts and flyby Moon

Credits: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 9-12 Dec 2022

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Orion Return is Beginning of New Era of Lunar Exploration as 2023 Commercial and National Moon Mission Prepare

Mission team including Landing / Recovery Director Melissa Jones, Entry Flight Director Judd Frieling now planning to recover Orion capsule near Guadalupe Island, ~241 km from Baja California coast following 11 Dec 09:40 PST splashdown; Just 10 hours prior, ispace HAKUTO-R lander is to launch to Moon from CCSFS (02:38 EST); CLPS missions from Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic to follow NET Q1 2023, JAXA SLIM NET April, ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET June; Artemis 2 circumlunar crewed mission NET May 2024, SpaceX uncrewed demo mission and crewed dearMoon NET 2024

Credits: Astrobotic, Blue Origin, NASA

Friday / 2 Dec 2022

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Artemis 1 Orion Spacecraft Departing Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit for Moon Flyby, Earth Return and Reentry

Orion headed back toward Moon following 105-second main engine trajectory maneuver, a 4-day leg of Artemis 1 journey which has seen the furthest travel of any human-rated vessel (aside from Apollo 10 ascent module in heliocentric disposal orbit) at 432,210-km from Earth; Final powered lunar flyby set to occur at 8:43 PST on 5 Dec, sending Orion on a 6-day trip towards Earth; 11 Dec reentry at 9:40 to be fastest (39,429 kph / Mach 32) and hottest (2,760°C) to date, first to employ ‘skip’ technique allowing precision splashdown and lowered g-forces

 Credits: NASA

Tuesday / 15 Nov 2022

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NASA Moon Flagship Artemis 1 Ready for Inaugural Launch to Lunar Orbit and Secondary Payload Deep Space Delivery

Weather forecast estimated at 90% favorable for 2-hour window set to begin on 16 Nov 01:04 EST for launch of Artemis 1 mission from historic KSC Launch Pad 39B; Live broadcast to begin with SLS core stage fueling with Launch Control Center commentary at 15:30 on 15 Nov followed by launch coverage starting at 10:30, continuing through SRB (~T+2 minutes), core stage (T+8 minutes) and upper (Interim Cryogenic Propulsion) stage separation and TLI; Post-launch news conference with mission team scheduled for 04:00 16 Nov

Pictured: (Clockwise) NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Artemis Mission Manager Michael Sarafin, JSC Flight Director Emily Nelson, Orion Program Manager Howard Hu, SLS Program Manager John Honeycutt, Exploration Ground Systems Program Manager Mike Bolger; Credits: NASA, LinkedIn, ULA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 Oct 2022

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2023 Lunar Missions on the Horizon as Artemis 1 Flyby and M1 Lander Preparing for Launches

NASA and ispace poised for 2022 Moon flyby / robotic landing, while several missions now targeting 2023; Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, ISRO, JAXA to launch Peregrine, Nova-C and Chandrayaan-3, SLIM landers NET Q1; Roscosmos plans Luna-25 launch via Soyuz-2.1b NET Q3; Also within 2023 Intuitive Machines striving to launch IM-2 mission including first satellite of lunar data relay ‘Khonstellation’, μNova hopper, SHERPA-ES tug, Orbit Fab Tanker-002 in-space fuel depot; Rocket Factory Augsburg to begin deployment of Harmony cislunar constellation; SpaceX to take Yusaku Maezawa and 8 selected crew, 1-2 professional astronauts on dearMoon lunar flyby with Starship

Credits: ISRO, SpaceX, RFA, dearMoon

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 26-29 Aug 2022

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Artemis 1 Launch to Open Next Generation of Moon Exploration, Test Human Lunar Return Technologies, Deliver 10 Deep Space CubeSats

NASA Space Launch System / Orion set to launch NET 29 August 08:33-10:33 EDT – putting mission on 42-day route to ~100-km Moon flyby / 70,000-km Distant Retrograde Orbit; Alternate launch dates 2 or 5 September; SLS will be 3rd lunar launch of 2022, after CAPSTONE and Danuri, possibly followed by landings of ispace, Luna-25, Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines; Most powerful rocket built will provide ~39,000 kN (8.8M lbs) of lift-off thrust and help re-establish humans as Multi World Species, utilizing Luna as next big step into Galaxy; Millions online, >100,000 in-person expected to watch live

Credits: NASA

Friday / 12 Aug 2022

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NASA Mega Moon Rocket Inaugural Flight Approaches as Astronaut Corps Trains for Lunar Orbit NET 2024

Long-awaited USA flagship spacecraft Artemis 1, comprised of $US23B+ Boeing / Northrop Grumman developed Space Launch System (SLS) and $20B+ / 4-crew Lockheed Martin Orion capsule slated to roll out to LC-39B at KSC 18 Aug ahead of 29 Aug launch to Moon; 42-day mission includes 4-day outbound phase, 6-day retrograde orbit; 5-m diameter, 186-piece AVCOAT heatshield must withstand 2,760°C while travelling 11 km/s upon reentry, a record for human-rated craft; “Any one of our 42 active astronauts is eligible” for Artemis 2/3 human Moon Missions, per Astronaut Office Chief Reid Wiseman

Credits: NASA