Wednesday, November 20, 2024
The Latest Update on Humanity's First Lunar Space Station...
Maxar Space Systems
Gateway Tops Off (News Release)
Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element is now equipped with its xenon and liquid fuel tanks.
Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element, which will make the lunar space station the most powerful solar electric spacecraft ever flown, recently received the xenon and liquid fuel tanks for its journey to and around the Moon.
Technicians in Palo Alto, California carefully installed a piece of equipment that will house the tanks. Once fully assembled and launched to lunar orbit, the Power and Propulsion Element’s roll-out solar arrays – together about the size of an American football field endzone – will harness the Sun’s energy to energize xenon gas and produce the thrust to get Gateway to the Moon’s orbit where it will await the arrival of its first crew on the Artemis IV mission.
The Power and Propulsion Element will also carry the European Radiation Sensors Array science experiment provided by ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), one of three Gateway science experiments that will study solar and cosmic radiation. The little understood phenomenon is a chief concern for humans and hardware journeying to deep-space destinations like Mars and beyond.
The Power and Propulsion Element is managed out of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and built by Maxar Space Systems of Palo Alto, California.
Source: NASA.Gov
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Maxar Space Systems
NASA / Maxar Space Systems
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
On This Day in 1969: The Third Man in History Sets Foot on the Moon...
NASA
It was 55 years ago today that Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad stepped off the ladder of the Intrepid Lunar Module and set foot onto the Moon's surface at Oceanus Procellarum. To mark the occasion, Conrad immediately exclaimed “Whoopee!" This was followed by him commenting, "Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that’s a long one for me."
Pete Conrad was one of the shortest astronauts during the early days of America's space program...at a height of 5'6". (Neil Armstrong was 5'11".) Conrad was only one inch taller than me—which would give me hope to become an astronaut if not for a few health issues and the fact that I hated math back in high school and college!
Pete Conrad and his fellow moonwalker Alan Bean spent a total of 7 hours and 45 minutes on the Moon's surface during Apollo 12, with Dick Gordon remaining in lunar orbit aboard the Yankee Clipper Command Module on this mission. Apollo 12 concluded with a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on November 24, 1969.
Monday, November 18, 2024
Stacking Will Soon Begin on the Second SLS Rocket for Launch!
NASA / Kim Shiflett
NASA Prepares for Artemis II Rocket Integration (News Release)
Since the mobile launcher returned in October from Launch Complex 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work has been underway for upcoming stacking operations of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Moon rocket.
To prepare for launch, the mobile launcher is undergoing optical scans, system checkouts and umbilical refurbishment, including installation of the aft skirt electrical umbilicals.
The booster segments will soon move from the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility to the VAB via a transporter. The aft assemblies, or bottom portions of the five segment boosters, will be situated in the facility’s transfer aisle and then lifted atop the mobile launcher in High Bay 3.
The examinations and preparations of the mobile launcher and rocket elements lay the groundwork for the Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon.
Source: NASA.Gov
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NASA / Kim Shiflett
NASA / Kim Shiflett
NASA / Kim Shiflett
NASA / Kim Shiflett
NASA / Kim Shiflett
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Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Nation #48 Has Joined NASA's Moon Exploration Initiative...
NASA
NASA Welcomes Denmark as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory (News Release)
Following a signing ceremony on Wednesday in Denmark’s capital city, Copenhagen, NASA embraced Denmark as the 48th nation to commit to the safe and responsible exploration of space that benefits humanity.
“We welcome Denmark’s signing of the Artemis Accords today,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Denmark, as a founding member of the European Space Agency (ESA), has contributed to space exploration for decades, including collaborating with NASA on Mars exploration. Denmark’s signing of the Artemis Accords will further international cooperation and the peaceful exploration of space.”
Christina Egelund, minister of higher education and science, signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of Denmark. Alan Leventhal, U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark also participated in the ceremony, and Nelson contributed recorded remarks.
“With the Artemis program, the United States is leading the way back to the Moon, and Denmark wants to strengthen the strategic partnership with the United States and other partners for the benefit of both science and industry,” said Egelund. “The signing of the Accords is in line with the Danish government’s upcoming strategy for space research and innovation. As part of the strategy, Denmark seeks to strengthen ties with our allies such as the United States. Space holds great potential, and we want – in cooperation with other countries – to advance scientific breakthroughs and influence the development and use of the space sector in the future.”
In 2020, the United States, led by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, and seven other initial signatory nations established the Artemis Accords, identifying a set of principles promoting the beneficial use of space for humanity. The Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data.
The commitments to the Artemis Accords and efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles support the safe and sustainable exploration of space.
Source: NASA.Gov
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
The Latest Update on the First Crewed Lunar Flight Since 1972...
Lockheed Martin / David Wellendorf
Artemis II Orion Spacecraft Undergoes Testing (News Release)
Teams lifted NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II test flight out of the Final Assembly and System Testing cell and moved it to the altitude chamber to complete further testing on November 6 inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Engineers returned the spacecraft to the altitude chamber, which simulates deep space vacuum conditions, to complete the remaining test requirements and provide additional data to augment data gained during testing earlier this summer.
The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign, sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman, as well as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back.
Source: NASA.Gov
Monday, November 4, 2024
A Random Rant About a Pop Star...
So anyways, I stumbled upon the tweet below where American music artist Olivia Rodrigo considered it a turn-off if men she met on a first date said that they wanted to go to space. She thinks that these guys are "a little too full" of themselves for having this ambition.
...
Um, okay. Overlooking the irony that a celebrity is accusing other folks of being too full of themselves, what kind of ridiculousness is it that a guy who wants to be an astronaut would be considered too ambitious for her?
Hypothetically speaking, if Rodrigo met Neil Armstrong on a first date—if he was obviously still alive and around her age today—she wouldn't continue going out with him because he flew to the Moon on Apollo 11, or was about to courtesy of an Artemis mission?
And let's not overlook the fact that Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and a lot of today's NASA astronauts are married with children... So traveling beyond Earth's atmosphere clearly didn't stop these explorers from having normal, earthly lives as well.
Of course, Rodrigo's response may be to billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson traveling to space via their respective companies, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic. And in Elon Musk's case, he wants to spend his inherited fortune and government subsidies to build a rocket—SpaceX's Starship vehicle—that would send people to Mars.
Bezos and Musk don't help the case against Rodrigo; considering that Bezos created a multibillion-dollar online retail company that destroyed countless numbers of mom-and-pop stores and major businesses like Sears, Borders and Toys 'R' Us, while Musk spent $44 billion on buying Twitter so that he could turn it into a right-wing propaganda tool used in an attempt to get Donald Trump re-elected tomorrow.
So yea, it disappoints me greatly that Olivia Rodrigo would look down on guys who are passionate about space exploration...but uberwealthy white folks like Bezos and Musk are giving her a reason to adopt such an attitude towards men wanting to venture to the Kármán line and beyond. Very unfortunate.
Olivia Rodrigo reveals that a guy wanting to go to space is a red flag for her:
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 2, 2024
“This is a very oddly specific question that I ask guys on first dates. I always ask them if they think that they would want to go to space. And if they say yes, I don’t date them. I just think if… pic.twitter.com/JdVhYBNMKz
Labels:
Apollo,
Artemis,
Blue Origin,
SpaceShipTwo,
SpaceX,
Starship
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Photos of the Day: My Face in Space...
My Face in Space
Happy Halloween, everyone! Just thought I'd end this month with these two screenshots that were taken from a video filmed during the Polaris Dawn mission two months ago.
Thanks to My Face in Space, an online campaign where people were invited to submit photos of themselves to fly on SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience capsule last September (with the proceeds going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital), I got to see a selfie that I sent months ago float around inside the cabin of Resilience with Earth shining brightly outside the window!
I've flown my name on dozens of space missions since 1996, but to actually see myself virtually floating beyond Earth's atmosphere? Absolutely surreal.
I've also included the certificate that My Face in Space sent me after the Polaris Dawn mission had concluded on September 15. Check out the YouTube video below to see the photos that other participants included on this flight!
My Face in Space
My Face in Space
Labels:
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Polaris Program,
SpaceX,
Youtube
Monday, October 28, 2024
The Latest Update on the First Crewed Mission to the Lunar Surface in Over 50 Years...
NASA
NASA Provides Update on Artemis III Moon Landing Regions (News Release)
As NASA prepares for the first crewed Moon landing in more than five decades, the agency has identified an updated set of nine potential landing regions near the lunar South Pole for its Artemis III mission. These areas will be further investigated through scientific and engineering study. NASA will continue to survey potential areas for missions following Artemis III, including areas beyond these nine regions.
“Artemis will return humanity to the Moon and visit unexplored areas. NASA’s selection of these regions shows our commitment to landing crew safely near the lunar South Pole, where they will help uncover new scientific discoveries and learn to live on the lunar surface,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program Office.
NASA’s Cross Agency Site Selection Analysis team, working closely with science and industry partners, added, and excluded potential landing regions, which were assessed for their science value and mission availability.
The refined candidate Artemis III lunar landing regions are, in no priority order:
- Peak near Cabeus B
- Haworth
- Malapert Massif
- Mons Mouton Plateau
- Mons Mouton
- Nobile Rim 1
- Nobile Rim 2
- de Gerlache Rim 2
- Slater Plain
These regions contain diverse geological characteristics and offer flexibility for mission availability. The lunar South Pole has never been explored by a crewed mission and contains permanently shadowed areas that can preserve resources, including water.
“The Moon’s South Pole is a completely different environment than where we landed during the Apollo missions,” said Sarah Noble, Artemis lunar science lead at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “It offers access to some of the Moon’s oldest terrain, as well as cold, shadowed regions that may contain water and other compounds. Any of these landing regions will enable us to do amazing science and make new discoveries.”
To select these landing regions, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers analyzed the lunar South Pole region using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and a vast body of lunar science research. Factors in the selection process included science potential, launch window availability, terrain suitability, communication capabilities with Earth, and lighting conditions. Additionally, the team assessed the combined trajectory capabilities of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, the Orion spacecraft and Starship HLS (Human Landing System) to ensure safe and accessible landing sites.
The Artemis III geology team evaluated the landing regions for their scientific promise. Sites within each of the nine identified regions have the potential to provide key new insights into our understanding of rocky planets, lunar resources and the history of our Solar System.
“Artemis III will be the first time that astronauts will land in the south polar region of the Moon. They will be flying on a new lander into a terrain that is unique from our past Apollo experience,” said Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist. “Finding the right locations for this historic moment begins with identifying safe places for this first landing, and then trying to match that with opportunities for science from this new place on the Moon.”
NASA’s site assessment team will engage the lunar science community through conferences and workshops to gather data, build geologic maps and assess the regional geology of eventual landing sites. The team will also continue surveying the entire lunar South Pole region for science value and mission availability for future Artemis missions. This will include planning for expanded science opportunities during Artemis IV, and suitability for the LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) as part of Artemis V.
The agency will select sites within regions for Artemis III after it identifies the mission’s target launch dates, which dictate transfer trajectories, or orbital paths, and surface environment conditions.
Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all.
Source: NASA.Gov
Labels:
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Saturday, October 26, 2024
The Latest Update on the First Crewed Flight to the Moon in Over 50 Years...
Lockheed Martin
Artemis II Astronauts Put Orion’s Side Hatch to the Test (News Release - October 23)
Artemis II NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen recently traveled to Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, where they practiced opening and closing an Orion crew module side hatch model to help demonstrate its reliability and durability during their 10-day mission around the Moon.
During normal mission operations, the crew will not operate the hatches – the ground systems team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will assist the crew into Orion at the launch pad, then close the hatch behind them prior to liftoff. After splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, recovery teams will open Orion's side hatch and help the crew to exit.
Back-up crew members Andre Douglas of NASA and Jenni Gibbons of CSA also trained on hatch operations, which help ensure that the crew can safely enter and exit the spacecraft in the event of an emergency. The side hatch is normally opened using a manual gearbox system, but in an emergency, the hatch has release mechanisms containing small pyrotechnic (explosive) devices that release the latch pins on the hatch instantaneously, allowing the hatch to open quickly.
Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all.
Source: NASA.Gov
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Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Friday, October 25, 2024
Nation #47 Has Joined NASA's Moon Exploration Initiative...
NASA
NASA Welcomes Chile as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory (News Release)
Chile signed the Artemis Accords on Friday during a ceremony hosted by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, becoming the 47th nation and the seventh South American country to commit to the responsible exploration of space for all humanity.
“Today we welcome Chile’s signing of the Artemis Accords and its commitment to the shared values of all the signatories for the exploration of space,” said Nelson. “The United States has long studied the stars from Chile’s great Atacama Desert. Now we will go to the stars together, safely and responsibly, and create new opportunities for international cooperation and the Artemis Generation.”
Aisén Etcheverry, minister of science, technology, knowledge and innovation, signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of Chile. Jennifer Littlejohn, acting assistant secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, and Juan Gabriel Valdés, ambassador of Chile to the United States, also participated in the event.
“The signing marks a significant milestone for Chile, particularly as our government is committed to advancing technological development as a key pillar of our national strategy,” said Etcheverry. “Chile has the opportunity to engage in the design and development of world-leading scientific and technological projects. Moreover, this collaboration allows us to contribute to areas of scientific excellence where Chile has distinguished expertise, such as astrobiology, geology and mineralogy, all of which are critical for the exploration and colonization of space.”
Earlier in the day, Nelson also hosted the Dominican Republic at NASA Headquarters to recognize the country’s signing of the Artemis Accords on October 4. Sonia Guzmán, ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United States, delivered the signed Artemis Accords to the NASA administrator. Mike Overby, acting deputy assistant secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, and other NASA officials attended the event.
In 2020, the United States, led by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, and seven other initial signatory nations established the Artemis Accords, identifying an early set of principles promoting the beneficial use of space for humanity. The Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data.
The commitments of the Artemis Accords and efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles support the safe and sustainable exploration of space. More countries are expected to sign in the coming weeks and months.
Source: NASA.Gov
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