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 / 8 Nov 2022

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MVA Symposium 2022 Opens with Total Lunar Eclipse, Egalitarian Considerations, on USA Election Day

Advancing Cislunar development with best practices for the benefit of all 8,000,000,000 is the business of the Moon Village Association 6th annual Workshop & Symposium 8-10 Nov at the LAX Sheraton Gateway; inaugurated early 8 Nov by a reddish Moon total eclipse amidst Galaxy Stars, the MVA WS&S will introduce the Lunar Commerce Portfolio, well timed for addressing the perennial question “Who Owns the Moon” and exploring Moon South Pole development, while Republicans and Democrats, Libertarians and Egalitarians, amongst others, determine USA policy futures

Pictured: Giuseppe Reibaldi, John Mankins, Guo Linli, P. Sreekumar; Credits: MVA, NASA, Twitter

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 4-7 Nov 2022

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Rocket Lab Solar Panels to be Integrated on Artemis Lunar Gateway PPE by Maxar as Thales Alenia Welds HALO Module

Panels of 30% efficienct Z4J multi-junction solar cells made by Rocket Lab subsidiary SolAero Technologies (Albuquerque NM) under contract for Maxar Technologies, builder of Lunar Gateway Power and Propulsion Element; Redwire subsidiary Deployable Space Systems (Goleta CA) to integrate panels into PPE Roll Out Solar Array, providing ~70 kW to power 6 kW Hall-effect ion thrusters made by Busek (Natick MA); PPE to launch with Cygnus-based Habitation and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) NET Nov 2024, forming core of cislunar space station; HALO being fabricated by Thales Alenia in Turin, Italy for Northrop Grumman

Credits: Rocket Lab, NASA, Northrop Grumman, Thales Alenia

Friday / 4 Nov 2022

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Astrobotic PM1 Advances with Precision Landing Validation as BE-4 Engines Being Integrated on Vulcan Centaur

100-km test flight of Optical Precision Autonomous Landing system aboard King Air B200 twin turboprop confirms functionality 9 km above mountainous northern region of Mojave Desert analogous to lunar surface while providing Astrobotic with data to be utilized for US$79.5M Peregrine Mission 1 to Lacus Mortis (NET Q1 2023) and $320.4M Griffin Mission One to Nobile Crater (NET Nov 2024); Meanwhile Blue Origin working with ULA to complete Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle with BE-4 LNG / LOX (“methalox”) engines at Decatur, Alabama ULA facility

Credits: Astrobotic, ULA

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

Friday / 28 Oct 2022

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Quantum Space Announces October 2024 Mission QS-1 to Earth-Moon-Lagrange Points 1 and 2 with Cislunar Superhighway Ambitions

NewSpace enterprise Quantum Space working toward self-funded launch of 400-kg satellite to collect space situational awareness data in cislunar space over 3-year mission; Main visible imager payload will be provided by GEOST, spacecraft bus to be built by Blue Canyon which will carry commercial customer payloads; Co-founded by Kam Ghaffarin (L), who also is Founder of IBX, Executive Chair at X-energy, Intuitive Machines & Axiom Space; QS-1 to utilize commercial deep space ground stations, modular cislunar communication / servicing waystations to follow

Also Pictured: Quantum Space CEO Steve Jurczyk, CTO Ben Reed;
Credits: NASA, X-Energy, IAF, Quantum Space
 

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