NASA Office Of Inspector General Outlines Artemis Financials, Biden / Harris Administration Backs Program
US$85.7B Artemis Price 2012-2025 Represents < 30% Of Adjusted Apollo Budget, With $35.2B Already Allocated; Remaining $50.5B To Meet 2024 Goal Largely Needed For Human Landing Systems ($21.3B), Space Launch System ($10.9B) and Orion Spacecraft ($6.4B), NASA 2021 Fiscal Year Budget Stands At $23.3B Total; White House, 11 Senators Voice Support, Giving Boost To Multi-partisan Nature Of Program, Critical For Moving Appropriations Through Government; Vice President Typically Leads Administration On Space, Kamala Harris Yet To Opine
Credits: NASA, White House, OIG
Political Consensus For NASA-led Return To Moon Emerging As White House Press Secretary 
3 USA Companies Competing To Build Human Landers To Carry Artemis Team To Moon Surface Have 10-Month Base Period Extended NLT 30 April, 1 Year After NASA Announcement Of Fixed Price Contracts To Blue Origin (With Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Draper), Dynetics (With Sierra Nevada Corporation, Paragon) And SpaceX Via Next Space Technologies For Exploration Partnerships Totaling US$967M; Funding Needed To Build 2 Winning Designs Projected $3.2B, Current Funding Appropriations Remain Around $850M; Space Advocates Urge Biden / Harris Administration To Prioritize First Woman On Moon / Lunar Exploration
Universities Space Research Association In Collaboration With Lunar And Planetary Institute (Now Led By Lisa Gaddis) Preparing A Robust Meeting For 2021; LPSC Typically Draws 2,000+ Academic Submissions, Which Will Be Available For Early Review 5 February, Oral Presentations Available 8 March; Sessions Planned On Lunar Remote Sensing, Lunar Magnetism, Crater Formation, Lunar Weathering, Endogenous Lunar Volatiles, Physicochemical Moon Evolution; Plenary Presentations Include NASA HQ Briefing, Mars, New Millennium Lunar Science; Special Session On New Results From Special Apollo Samples / Preparing For Artemis
NASA HLS Program Manager Dr. Lisa Watson-Morgan (L) And HEOMD Administrator Kathy Lueders Expected To Designate HLS Winner From 3 Contenders Soon, Contract Base Period Ending February; Blue Origin Was Awarded $579M To Develop Traditional 3-Stage System; Dynetics $253M For Single Stage Craft Supported By Vulcan Centaur Refueling Rockets; SpaceX $135M For Starship-Based System (Moonship) Which Also Relies On In-Space Cryogenic Refueling; Total Allotment To Build HLS Currently Meager $850M, NASA Estimates $3.3B Necessary
Set To Fly From Vostochny Cosmodrome Via Soyuz-2.1b, Destination: Boguslavsky Crater, Luna-Glob (Lunar Sphere) Program To Continue Where Soviets Left Off 45 Years Ago With Luna-25 And New Lunar Directorate Led By Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin; 9 Science Payloads Totaling 30 kg Include Mass-Spectrometer LASMA-LR, Exosphere Plasma Measurement Device ARIES-L, Panoramic Imager STS-L, Laser Retroreflector; Lander Constructed With ESA Contribution Of Pilot-D Landing System; Mission Series Continues With Luna 26-31, Culminating In MSP Robotic Base, Followed By Human Landings By Decade End With Orel (Eagle) Spacecraft
Automated Additive Manufacturing Processes Pioneered By Commercial Launch Providers Such As Rocketlab Now Being Validated For NASA Use On Future Landers By Long-Life Additive Manufacturing Assembly Program; High-Strength Alloy Combustion Chamber / Rocket Nozzle 280 Seconds Of 3315° C Ignition Data Spread Over 10 Days / 23 Tests Being Analyzed At MSFC In Huntsville AL For Durability, Efficiency In Comparison To Conventional Subtractive Machining Techniques; Industry Moving Towards Fully 3D Printed Rockets With Relativity Space Of LA CA Striving For 2021 Terran 1 Launch
Independent Organization SpaceIL, In Partnership With Israel Aerospace Industries And Israeli Space Agency, Plans Beresheet 2 Augmented Repeat Of 2019 Moon Landing Attempt – The Most Successful NGO Effort To Date, Winning US$1M Google Lunar X Prize Moonshot Award; New Mission To Occur First Half Of 2024, Will Include Orbiter With 2+ Year Lifespan And 2 Science Landers Weighing 118kg/ea; Expected ~$100M Cost; ISA Leader Izhar Shay Tells Times Of Israel That UAE, Which Plans 2024 Lunar Rover Rashid, Is Among “Seven Countries From Five Continents” Who Have Expressed Interest In Collaboration
Moon Exploration Company ispace, Fueled By US$125M+ Funding, Opens Location In Denver CO; 1st Generation Lander Hakuto-R Set For 2022 / 2023 Missions Has ~30-kg Payload Capacity, Design Of New Heavier Class Lander Meeting CLPS / Artemis Requirements To Be Overseen By USA Lander Program Director Kursten O’Neill (L) And CEO Kyle Acierno (R), Production To Be Contracted To General Atomics; ispace Has Grand Vision Of “One Earth-Moon Ecosystem” Actualized Through Mission Sequence In Which “Swarms Of Rovers” Facilitate Human Activity On Lunar Surface
LRO Data Indicates ~10-20% Of PSRs Sufficiently Cool (<110 K) To Allow Ice Formation Are Depressions Casting 1-cm – 1-km Shadows, Widely Dispersed Across Moon Polar Regions (>80° Latitude); Inclusion Of “Mini Cold Traps” In Study By UC Boulder / PSI Researchers Suggests Total Possible Lunar Ice Containing Area Is ~40,000 km2 (23,000 km2 Within <20° Moon South Pole, 17,000 km2 Within <20° Moon North Pole); Total PSRs Comprise Just 0.15% Of Total Surface Area; Relatively Small Cold Traps May Offer More Favorable Mission Parameters Than Large Craters