Category Archives: 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

Thanksgiving Holiday Edition
Wed-Mon / 23-28 Nov 2022

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8 International Lunar Missions May Follow Artemis 1, Capstone, Danuri in Remainder of 2022 and 2023

As Artemis Orion spacecraft occupies cislunar distant retrograde orbit (130 x 64,000 km) with splashdown expected 11 Dec, NASA Capstone tests cislunar near rectilinear halo orbit (1,600 x 70,000 km) and KARI Danuri on course to reach 100km lunar orbit 16 Dec, numerous global efforts work to follow with ispace M1 launching NET 29 Nov 2022; Throughout 2023: Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One NET Q1, Intuitive Machines IM-1 NET March, JAXA SLIM NET April, ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET June, Roscosmos Luna-25 NET July; IM-2 and Turkish Space Agency AYAP-1 aim for late 2023

Credits: NASA, KARI, Astrobotic, IM, JAXA, ISRO, TSA

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 / 11-14 Nov 2022

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Apollo 11 ‘Peace For All’ Ethic Observed Around the World as Veterans, Remembrance, Armistice Day 11 Nov

“We came in peace for all mankind” reads inscription left on plaque mounted between 3rd and 4th rung of Lunar Module Eagle within Moon Sea of Tranquility (0.67°N, 23.47°E), words inspired by first Congressional Declaration of Policy and Purpose of the National Aeronautics and Space Act, updated in 2010 to read “Devotion of Space Activities to Peaceful Purposes for Benefit of All Humankind”; Celebrated as Veterans Day in USA, Remembrance Day in Commonwealth Nations and Armistice Day in France and other nations, 11 Nov is an appropriate date to meditate on importance of peaceful off-world exploration

Credits: NASA

Friday / 11 Nov 2022

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Japan Authorizes ispace to Prospect on Moon During HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Launching NET Nov 22

First license under Japan Space Resources Act now held by ispace, which is set to lead wave of commercial Moon landing activity with M1, currently awaiting launch opportunity via SpaceX F9 at KSC SLC-40 to ~3-month low energy transfer, landing at Lacus Somniorum (37.56° N, 30.8° E) on Moon; ispace plans to collect and sell lunar regolith ‘in place’ to NASA during M1 under US$5,000 contract; CEO Takeshi Hakamada says “Space resource utilization is another step toward our goal of establishing the cislunar economy” in release

Pictured: ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada, Japan Minister of State for Space Policy Sanae Takaichi; Credits: ispace, Twitter, PM Office of Japan

Tuesday / 1 Nov 2022

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Lunar Flashlight to Prospect for Water on Moon, Launch with ispace Mission-1 NET 22 November

Utilizing 4 shortwave IR lasers (1.064, 1.495, 1.85, 1.99 μm) and indium gallium arsenide spectrometer, 6U / 14kg Lunar Flashlight 2-month nominal cubesat mission led by PI Barbara Cohen of NASA GSFC to search for water ice hidden within permanently shadowed regions on Moon from 15 x 70,000 km elliptical near-rectilinear polar orbit with ~6 day period; Lunar Flashlight now launching with Hakuto-R M1, which has arrived at KSC for launch on SpaceX F9 NET 22 Nov carrying UAE Rashid rover, Canadensys-built 360° cameras, JAXA spheroid robot

Credits: NASA, ispace, Wikipedia

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28-31 Oct 2022

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NASA Economic Impact Study Shows US$71.2B Effect on Output, NASA OTPS Issues Lunar Exploration Policy Recommendations

While NASA itself employs some 19,000+ civil servants, its operations support an estimated 339,600 jobs nationally, per Economic Impact Report generated by IMPLAN modeling software, compiled by researchers at Voorhees Center in Chicago; Study estimates 1,000,000+ people in 90 nations employed in $469B global space industry; Lunar Landing and Operations Policy Analysis issued by Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy identifies 7 lunar challenges / mitigation approaches: Landings, Surface Operations, Surface Movement, Radio-Frequency Interference, Areas with Special Characteristics, Unexpected Activities and Human Heritage Protection

 

Pictured: (TL-TR) Amanda Hernandez, Gabriel Swiney (NASA OTPS), (BL-BR) Yittayih Zelalem, Joshua Drucker, Zafer Sonmez (Voorhees Center); Credits: NASA, NSS, LinkedIn

Tuesday / 25 Oct 2022

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Artemis Moon Return Advances with Analog Training, 3 Orion Capsules on Order as Cost Transparency Urged

NASA analyzing data gathered by NASA / JAXA Astronauts Drew Feustel, Zena Cardman, Jessica Meir, Stan Love, Akihiko Hoshide, Norishige Kanai during nighttime Moonwalk simulation (JETT field test #3) and 3-day pressurized rover sojourn (D-RATS) near Flagstaff AZ; Lockheed Martin to build Orion additional crew capsules for Artemis missions 6-8 at cost of US$1.99B; Wayne Hale of NASA Advisory Council recommends PPP contract details be public, expresses concern on program architecture and 1-way Starship landing test; Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine joining Advisory Board of CLPS provider Firefly

Credits: Lockheed Martin, NASA

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 / 7-10 Oct 2022

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Stalwart Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Continues to Contribute to Cutting Edge Moon Science and Exploration

Team led by Vishnu Viswanathan of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center manipulate LOLA data to determine effect of asteroid impacts that created 5,200 Moon craters 20–1,200m in diameter over 4.25B years on True Polar Wander; Modeling suggests 10° / 300km variance, with implications for polar water ice location; LRO also actively in use for commercial exportation initiatives – in calibration testing of Intuitive Machines Lunar Telemetry and Tracking Network, set to support IM-1 mission NET Q1 2023 and in upcoming test of Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System on CAPSTONE

Credits: NASA, Advanced Space