Category Archives: Women on the Moon

Tuesday / 18 April 2023

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Starship Launch Slated for This Week, a Variant is to Carry First Human Moon Missions Artemis 3 / 4 to Surface

Starship in HLS form – minus aerodynamic fins / heat shielding, plus mid-body RCS thrusters – is to land uncrewed demo prior to carrying 2 Artemis astronauts from lunar orbit (transferred from Orion, launched by SLS) to surface near MSP under Option A US$2.89B contract NET Dec 2025 and Artemis 4 NET Sept 2028 under $1.15B Option B; Lunar missions to utilize ‘tanker’ and ‘depot’ scheme in which HLS will be refueled in NRHO; Artemis 5 onward to have TBD alternative lander under NextSTEP Appendix P

Pictured: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Starship Engineering Director Shana Diez, Starship Engineering VP Joe Petrzelka in Starship Mission Control; Credits: SpaceX, Twitter / @WalterIsaacson

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 31 March – 3 April 2023

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Artemis 2 Crew, First to Moon in 21st Century, to Be Announced Monday; Artemis 3 Moon Landing NLT 4 July 2026 Advances

NASA and CSA-ASC livestream 11:00 EDT on 3 April to announce official selection of 4 Astronauts to fly 7,402 km beyond the far side of the Moon NET Nov 2024; NASA will choose 3 crew from its 41 Astronauts (16 being women); Canada will select 1 Astronaut from its 3 men / 1 woman team; Looking forward to Artemis 3 / First Woman on the Moon (cast your vote on Space Age Pub / LED Poll), raises significant question of which international / non-USA person will be first to touch Moon surface

Credits: NASA, CSA-ASC
SPC Editorial Comment: In respects to Artemis 2 crew selection, our team hopes the mission will include 2 Women and 1st Person of Color to fly to the Moon
 

Friday / 31 March 2023

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Artemis Management Comes Under New Moon to Mars Program Office at NASA HQ

Amit Kshatriya, a 16+ year NASA veteran with background in ISS operations, to oversee hardware / mission development and risk management for major Artemis components – SLS, Orion, HLS, Gateway, xEMU spacesuits, and Exploration Ground Systems – as Deputy Associate Administrator of Moon to Mars Program Office; Kshatriya (L-R) reports to Associate Administrator Jim Free of Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (representing ~30% of NASA total FY2024 budget of US$27.2B) and Deputy Associate Administrator Catherine Koerner, who also serves as Director of Strategy and Architecture Office, which interfaces with SMD / STMD

Credits: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 10-13 March 2023

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Artemis Moon Exploration Advances with Increased Funding Proposal, Upcoming Crew and Spacesuits Reveal

Biden-Harris Administration fiscal year 2024 USA budget allocates US$27.2B for NASA, a 7.1% increase, with $8.1B for lunar exploration & $949M for Mars sample return; Artemis II 4-member crew to be announced at joint NASA / CSA-ASC joint press event at JSC Ellington Field 3 April, with astronaut interviews 4 April; Prototype Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) space suits for Artemis III lunar surface exploration being developed by Axiom / Raytheon subsidiary Collins Aerospace under $3.5B contract running through 2034 to be demonstrated 15 March at Space Center Houston

Credits: NASA

Friday / 17 Feb 2023

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Mountain at Moon South Pole Named in Honor of NASA Apollo-era Mathematician Melba Roy Mouton

The 6,096-m high mountain on the western rim of Nobile Crater (~85.4°S, 37.5°E) is now officially known as Mons Mouton after NASA Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) team nomination to IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature; Situated just a few km east of Leibnitz Beta Plateau, Mons Mouton is to be the site of the 100-day VIPER mission to be delivered via Astrobotic Griffin lander NET Nov 2024; Mons Mouton is also 1 of 13 sites selected by NASA fo Artemis 3 human landings NET 2025

Pictured: Melba Roy Mouton, WGPSN Organizing Committee members Rita Schulz, Debra Elmegreen, José Espinosa; Credits: IAU, NASA

Friday / 27 Jan 2023

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13 Proposed Artemis III Landing Sites to be Scrutinized at Virtual Lunar Surface Science Workshop (LSSW)

With institutional support from LPI, USRA, NASA / convened by Samuel Lawrence (JSC) and Noah Petro (GSFC), LSSW The First Steps in a Bold New Era of Human Discovery: Candidate Artemis III Landing Sites will be held online 4-5 April; Locations under consideration are within Artemis Polar Exploration Zone (poleward of 84° S); Artemis 3 to conduct sample collection over ~6 days of surface operations, ≤4 EVAs within 2 km of SpaceX Starship lander; Abstacts due 1 March and will be available for review 21 March

Credits: NASA, LPI

Tuesday / 24 Jan 2023

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JAXA Tests Skills of Astronaut Candidates in Lunar Simulation with Eye Towards Artemis Surface Missions NET 2025

2 woman and 8 men (out of 919 and 3,208 respective applicants) awaiting JAXA new astronaut class selection following final testing of rover / EVA aptitude in Space Exploration Field, a 400m2 lunar training replica containing 425,000 kg of silica sand (SiO2) within Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center at JAXA Sagamihara Campus; 2023 class of Japan Astronauts to be first including women since 1999 group, may also include candidates lacking formal postsecondary education; Space tourists Yusaku Maezawa and Steve Aoki may make lunar flyby on SpaceX Starship with #dearMoon NET 2023

Pictured: Exploration Hub Director Ikkoh Funaki, 2009 JAXA astronaut group; Credits: JAXA, @Astro_Wakata

 

Friday / 20 Jan 2023

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Happy 93rd Birthday to Buzz Aldrin as Artemis Generation on Cusp of Resuming Human Activity on Moon 

In a recent op-ed tribute to Apollo 7 Astronaut Walt Cunningham, second person to reach lunar surface Buzz Aldrin reiterates “Human exploration is essential. We must return to the Moon, and then go farther”; The first woman will walk on Moon with Artemis 3 (landing NLT 4 July 2026), a historic event which may be advanced at upcoming State of the Union address 7 Feb; Where crew will land within South Pole area TBD, sites under consideration will be discussed at NASA-sponsored Lunar Science Surface Workshop 4-5 April

Credits: NASA, Twitter / @TheRealBuzz

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

Friday / 9 Sept 2022

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National Space Council, Chaired by VP Kamala Harris, Convening at Johnson Space Center

Modernization of “outdated” commercial space regulation to be discussed at 2nd Biden-Harris administration meeting of the National Space Council 9 Sep, in furtherance of United States Space Priorities Framework; VP Harris was on-site for 1st Artemis launch attempt at KSC 29 Aug, declaring the “return on an investment… being able to put human beings on the Moon where they can work and live — it’s going to be immense”, while assuring public “our commitment to the Artemis Program remains firm” via Twitter; NSC meeting to include tour of JSC facilities

Pictured: VP Harris, Astronauts Shannon Walker, Joe Acaba; Credits: NASA, White House