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☆ NASA Picks Blue Origin-Led Group to Build Moon Lander for Artemis V Mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the second try, Jeff Bezos and his rocket company have won a contract to take NASA astronauts to the surface of the moon. NASA announced on Friday that it had awarded a contract to Mr. Bezos’ company, Blue Origin, to provide a lunar lander for a moon mission that is currently scheduled to launch in 2029. The mission, Artemis V, is another key piece of NASA’s Artemis program, which is to send astronauts back to the moon as part of an effort to explore the south pole region. The winning of the contract could start a promising rebound year for Blue Origin after a number of delays and setbacks. Blue Origin has identified the cause and hopes to resume New Shepard flights involving both space tourists and scientific cargo later this year.

☆ Bezos' Blue Origin wins NASA contract to build astronaut lunar lander
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Blue Origin contract is valued roughly $3.4 billion, NASA's exploration chief Jim Free said, with Blue Origin privately contributing "well north" of that amount, Blue Origin's lunar lander head John Couluris said. Blue Origin plans to build its 52-foot (16-meter) tall Blue Moon lander in a partnership with Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), Boeing(BA.N), spacecraft software firm Draper, and robotics firm Astrobotic. Friday's announcement in Washington was a long-awaited outcome for Blue Origin, which had unsuccessfully had competed for past contracts. After losing in 2021, Blue Origin unsuccessfully fought to overturn NASA's decision to ignore its Blue Moon lander, first with a watchdog agency and then in court. Blue Origin and lawmakers had pressured NASA to award a second lunar lander contract to promote commercial competition and ensure the agency has a backup ride to the moon.

☆ NASA researchers will spend a year living in a simulated Mars habitat
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Bill Stafford/NASAAiming for fidelity has resulted in a habitat that could feasibly built on Mars, Smith adds. MARK FELIX/AFP/AFP /AFP via Getty ImagesNASA is attempting to fill in what it calls “Strategic Knowledge Gaps,” that currently make a manned Mars mission too risky. A manned Mars mission will ship food to the planet in advance of humans, which means it will need a long shelf-life. Intended as a location for the emirate to develop technology for an eventual Mars mission, it was also designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, with 3D-printed buildings. Thankfully the crew entering CHAPEA in June will not have to concern themselves with that potentially deadly element of a Mars mission.

☆ What Would the G.O.P. Plan Actually Do to the Budget?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Margot Sanger-Katz | Alicia Parlapiano | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

Budget Cuts in the G.O.P. If every agency is cut If defense, veterans’ health and border security are spared Defense Defense –18% 0% No change Veterans' medical Veterans' medical –18% 0% No change Health and Human Services Health and Human Services –18% –51% Education Education –18% –51% Housing and Urban Development Housing and Urban Development –18% –51% Homeland Security Homeland Security –18% 0% No change Justice Justice –18% –51% State State –18% –51% Transportation Transportation –18% –51% Agriculture Agriculture –18% –51% International aid International aid –18% –51% NASA NASA –18% –51% Veterans (other) Veterans (other) –18% –51% Energy Energy –18% –51% Interior Interior –18% –51% Treasury Treasury –18% –51% Labor Labor –18% –51% Social Security Administration Social Security Administration –18% –51% Commerce Commerce –18% –51% Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency –18% –51% Corps of Engineers Corps of Engineers –18% –51% Other Other –18% –51% Source: Analysis of Congressional Budget Office data by Bobby Kogan, Center for American Progress Note: Figure shows base discretionary budget authority totals for 2024-2033. The New York TimesThe charts above show how exempting big categories of spending would make the budget caps more draconian. The budget caps aren’t the only changes in the current House bill that would reduce federal spending. tax enforcement Budget cuts would reduce tax collections, reducing the savings in the rest of the bill –$120 billion Sources: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget ; Congressional Budget Office Note: TANF refers to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

☆ Environmental groups sue U.S. over SpaceX launch license for Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 1, (Reuters) - Conservation groups sued the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday, challenging its approval of expanded rocket launch operations by Elon Musk's SpaceX next to a national wildlife refuge in South Texas without requiring greater environmental study. SpaceX had vigorously opposed subjecting its Starbase to an EIS review, a process that typically takes years, even decades. The FAA granted its license following a far less thorough environmental assessment and a finding that SpaceX activities at Boca Chica pose "no significant impact" on the environment. The lawsuit challenges that finding as a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The lawsuit highlights a history of tension between environmentalists, who have sought to limit development at Boca Chica, and Musk, a hard-charging entrepreneur known for risk taking.

☆ What’s next for SpaceX’s Starship after a dramatic first launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Starship launches for the first time on its Super Heavy booster from Texas on April 20, 2023. Soon after the launch, SpaceX began the process of cleaning up the launchpad and assessing the damage to its infrastructure. Fish and Wildlife Service disclosed this week that the Starship launch started a 3.5-acre fire on land owned by Texas' Boca Chica State Park. A SpaceX Starship prototype stands in a bay at the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on April 18, 2023. As with any rocket-development program, and especially the largest ever assembled, SpaceX's timeline for the next Starship flight is likely to evolve and change.

Fish and Wildlife Service. Damage to the launch pad, the floor of which was largely demolished during liftoff, was visible in photos of the aftermath. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Fish and Wildlife Service findings. The April 20 launch was days after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted SpaceX a license to launch the Starship via its Super Heavy rocket booster. REUTERS/Joe Skipper 1 2 3The report by the Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the U.S.

☆ Commercial lunar lander presumed lost after historic moon landing attempt
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A Japanese lunar lander, carrying a rover developed in the United Arab Emirates, attempted to find its footing on the moon’s surface Tuesday — and potentially mark the world’s first lunar landing for a commercially developed spacecraft. The lunar lander, called Hakuto-R, was carrying the Rashid rover — the first Arab-built lunar spacecraft, which was built by Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. Israel-based company SpaceIL was the first XPrize contestant to attempt to put its lander on the moon after the program ended. Its Beresheet spacecraft crashed in 2019 after ground teams lost contact with the lander as it approached the surface. That same year, the Indian Space and Research Organisation lost contact with a lunar lander shortly before it was slated to touch down on the moon.

☆ NASA unveils the four astronauts who will fly on the Artemis 2 mission around the moon in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, center, stands with the crew of the Artemis II mission, from left: Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Monday announced the four astronauts who will fly on the agency's upcoming mission around the moon, currently scheduled for late 2024. Artemis II follows the uncrewed Artemis I mission, which completed a nearly month-long journey around the moon late last year. The Artemis II mission will launch on NASA's Space Launch System rocket, with the Orion capsule carrying the astronauts on a 10-day journey to the moon and back. While Artemis II won't land on the moon, it will make a near pass above the surface and demonstrate the Orion spacecraft's ability to transport people safely.

☆ NASA to announce astronauts chosen for Artemis II lunar flyby mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] People gather ahead of an event of NASA to announce the crew of the Artemis II space mission to the moon and back in Houston, Texas, U.S., April 3, 2023. REUTERS/Go NakamuraApril 3 (Reuters) - NASA plans on Monday to introduce the four astronauts for its Artemis II lunar flyby mission, set for launch as early as next year in what would be the first crewed voyage around the moon since the end of the Apollo era more than 50 years ago. The newly introduced crew will include the first Canadian astronaut for a moon mission, as well as three Americans from a pool of 18 NASA astronauts - nine women and nine men - selected for the Artemis program in 2020. They were the last of 12 NASA astronauts who walked on the moon during six Apollo missions starting in 1969 with Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. If Artemis II is a success, NASA plans to follow up a few years later with the programs' first lunar landing of astronauts, one of them a woman, on Artemis III, then continue with additional crewed missions about once a year.

☆ NASA has flown 24 white American men to the moon. Now it's finally sending a woman, a Black astronaut, and a Canadian.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But the next mission, Artemis III, is set to drop two astronauts to the lunar surface. NASA/Ben SmegelskyNASA has promised that the following mission, Artemis III, will land a woman and a person of color on the moon for the first time ever. Those will be the first boots on the lunar surface since the last Apollo moon landing, in 1972. The agency is also working with SpaceX to turn the company's Starship into a lunar lander for the Artemis III moon touchdown. "We need to celebrate this moment in human history, because Artemis II is more than a mission to the moon and back.

☆ Axiom unveils spacesuits for NASA's upcoming Artemis moon missions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Chief Engineer Jim Stein wears the new spacesuit during the Axiom Space Artemis III Lunar Spacesuit event at Space Center Houston in Houston, Texas, on March 15, 2023. "We're pleased that humanity's next steps on the moon are going to be in an Axiom spacesuit," Suffredini added. NASA's Artemis program represents a series of missions with escalating goals. In addition to Axiom, NASA also awarded a contract to Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon , to build next-generation spacesuits. Under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services program, NASA expects to provide up to $3.5 billion for spacesuits through 2034.

☆ NASA awards Firefly Aerospace $112 mln contract for far-side moon lander
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - NASA on Tuesday said it had picked U.S. rocket builder Firefly Aerospace to put a lander on the moon's far side in 2026, under a nearly $112 million contract. "The commercial lander will deliver two agency payloads, as well as communication and data relay satellite for lunar orbit, which is an ESA (European Space Agency) collaboration with NASA," the U.S. space agency said. NASA handed a similar award of $73 million to spacecraft software firm Draper last year to deliver science and technology payloads to the far side of the moon in 2025. NASA awarded Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly $93.3 million in 2021 to carry a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the moon in 2023. Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SpaceX capsule delivers latest four-member crew to International Space Station
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 3 (Reuters) - A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS) after a brief delay early on Friday, carrying two U.S. astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a United Arab Emirates astronaut on a six-month science mission. The autonomously flying spacecraft dubbed Endeavour docked with the space station shortly after 1:40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) on Friday, about 25 hours after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Docking maneuvers fell behind schedule as the Crew Dragon was making its final approach to the station. The ISS crew also is responsible for performing maintenance and repairs aboard the station, and to prepare for the arrival and departure of other astronauts and cargo payloads. Rounding out the four-man Crew 6 was Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, 42, who like Alneyadi is an engineer and spaceflight rookie.

☆ Elon Musk says SpaceX is planning to attempt a launch of its Starship spacecraft in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Starship could launch next month "if remaining tests go well." The SpaceX CEO's comment came in response to a Twitter user asking if Starship was almost ready for launch. Two crewed missions to the moon, Artemis 3 and 4, are expected to launch in 2025 and 2027. The Starship test flight will launch from the Starbase spaceport site in Boca Chica, Texas, federal filings show. SpaceX is yet to officially announce a date for its Starship launch and did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Boeing's role in building NASA's new rocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

The mobile launcher with NASA's SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 3 to Launch Complex 39B on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “I worked over 50 Space Shuttle launches,” Boeing SLS program manager John Shannon told CNN by phone. Though more than 1,000 companies were involved with designing and building SLS, Boeing’s work involved the largest and most expensive portion of the rocket. The SLS rocket ended up flying its first launch more than six years later than originally intended. All of the “major components” for a third SLS rocket are also completed, Shannon added.

The first full-color image released from the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope is the sharpest infrared image of the distant universe ever produced, according to NASA. Space Telescope Science Institut / NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERONASA released the first batch of images from the tennis court-sized observatory to much fanfare in July. The exoplanet HIP 65426 b in different bands of infrared light, as seen from the James Webb Space Telescope. Back to the moonFifty years after the final Apollo moon mission, NASA took key steps toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface. Chinese officials have also said they intend to use the space station for space tourism and commercial space initiatives.

☆ NASA's Orion capsule splashes down, completing the first Artemis moon mission
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Orion capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022. NASA's Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, Mexico on Sunday, completing the agency's Artemis 1 mission. Just under 26 days since Artemis 1 launched on NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, its most powerful ever, the capsule is back. While no astronauts were onboard Artemis 1, the nearly month-long journey around the moon is a critical demonstration for NASA's lunar program. The mission represents a crucial inflection point in NASA's moon plans, with the program delayed for years and running billions of dollars over budget.

☆ A lost ecosystem revealed in Greenland by oldest environmental DNA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A long time agoAn artist's illustration reconstructs Greenland's unique ecosystem as it existed 2 million years ago. Beth ZaikenScientists in Denmark have found the world’s oldest DNA sequences in sediment from the ice age. The core, taken from northern Greenland, revealed that the polar region was once abundant with plant and animal life 2 million years ago. Mastodons, reindeer, geese, lemmings and hares lived in an ecosystem that was a mix of temperate and Arctic flora and fauna. The fossil includes the head, neck and body together — a rare discovery for the marine reptiles, which didn’t preserve well in one piece.

☆ Biden administration drafting executive order to simplify space rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, has signaled her intention to codify new rules for private space activities, but the plan for the executive order has not been reported. The executive order is considered an early step to simplify existing regulations before new rules take shape. Companies like Blue Origin, Axiom Space and others are developing private space stations with unclear procedures for how they can court foreign governments as customers or execute their missions in space. Private space stations like Orbital Reef, which Blue Origin is developing with Boeing and Sierra Space, could be deployed by 2030. White House officials have held several "listening sessions" with space companies since Nov. 14 to discuss what rules the space industry would like to see, according to people familiar with the meetings.

☆ Exclusive: Biden administration drafting executive order to simplify space rules -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, has signaled her intention to codify new rules for private space activities, but the plan for the executive order has not been reported. The executive order is considered an early step to simplify existing regulations before new rules take shape. Companies like Blue Origin, Axiom Space and others are developing private space stations with unclear procedures for how they can court foreign governments as customers or execute their missions in space. However, a lack of rules governing private in-space activities complicates space companies' ties with prospective customers, investors and insurers that need more legal certainty. Private space stations like Orbital Reef, which Blue Origin is developing with Boeing and Sierra Space, could be deployed by 2030.

☆ It's been 50 years since the last moonwalk. NASA astronauts explain why it took so long.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The 50th anniversary of the last Apollo astronaut moonwalk is Wednesday. NASA astronauts say it's taking so long to return to the moon because of politics and money. But NASA built Orion to send astronauts back into lunar orbit and, as early as 2025, link up with SpaceX's Starship to land astronauts on the moon. NASA astronaut Victor Glover visits the Space Launch System rocket inside Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, on July 15, 2021. NASA/Kim ShiflettAs early as 2004, former President George Bush was setting goals to return astronauts to the moon.

☆ Full ‘cold moon’ shines bright and eclipses Mars in a rare event
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —December’s full moon, also known as the “cold moon,” will shine bright in the night sky this Wednesday, peaking at 11:08 p.m. December 7 also marks the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 17 mission launch — the last time humans set foot on the moon. Moon observingThe full moon will make its way across the sky starting at sunset. It was the final mission of NASA’s Apollo program and brought the number of humans who have walked on the moon to a grand total of 12. Apollo 17 was the final lunar landing mission in NASA's Apollo program.

☆ Fact Check-Lengthier Artemis I trajectory toward Moon compared to Apollo 11 is not proof that space travel is a hoax
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Artemis I mission took a different, less direct route toward the Moon compared to the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. The Artemis I lengthier trajectory is not proof of inferior technology, nor is it proof that space travel is a hoax, despite claims made online. Social media users shared a meme claiming to show the number of days it took for the Apollo 11 spacecraft to reach the Moon compared to the November 2022 Artemis I mission. A graphic released by NASA showing the Apollo 11 flight trajectory can be viewed (here), with the Artemis I trajectory viewable (here). “The Apollo 11 mission had a very direct path to a low lunar orbit to deliver the crew to the lunar surface.

☆ Astronauts will give the space station a power boost during Saturday spacewalk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The International Space Station will receive a power boost during a spacewalk on Saturday, as NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio install a solar array outside the floating laboratory. Against the backdrop of spectacular views of Earth, the team assembled a mounting bracket on the starboard side of the space station’s truss. This hardware allows for the installation of more rollout solar arrays, called iROSAs, to increase electrical power on the space station. The plan is to add a total of six iROSAs, which will likely boost the space station’s power generation by more than 30% once all are operational. During Saturday’s spacewalk, Cassada and Rubio will install a solar array to increase capacity in one of the space station’s eight power channels, located on the station’s starboard truss.

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