Rollout Brings the Dawn of Artemis II
Early Saturday morning, NASA rolled out the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will send humans back to the Moon for the first time in 54 years.
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Moon
Artemis Makes Strides Forward in Lunar Communications
On September 17th, 2024, NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a Near Space Network Services contract to design, build, and operate a system of communications relay and navigation satellites in lunar orbit to support Artemis missions.
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China Targets Far Side for Sample Return
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, also known as Chang’e, has seen the launch of eight missions and three successful Moon landings since 2007. Chang’e-6 launched on May 3rd at 5:27 p.m. local time, and is China’s most ambitious lunar mission yet.
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NASA Gives the Green Light to Lunar Terrain Vehicle Teams
On Wednesday, April 3rd, NASA announced the three teams of commercial companies that will develop concepts for the Lunar Terrain Vehicle, an unpressurized rover which will provide mobility for astronauts as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
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Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus Achieves First Landing for CLPS
On Thursday, February 22nd, Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander Odysseus successfully touched down on the Moon, achieving the “ultimate milestone” for the IM-1 mission and marking the first major victory for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
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Re-Entry Seals Peregrine’s Fate
Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on January 18th, 2024, ending its mission after a 10 day, tumultuous journey through cislunar space.
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Japan Becomes Fifth Nation to Land on the Moon
On January 19th 2024, JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) successfully touched down on the surface of the Moon. This makes Japan the fifth nation in history to conduct a successful soft landing on the surface of the Moon, following Russia, the United States, China, and India.
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NASA Leadership Lays Out Revised Artemis Schedule
In a media teleconference held on January 9th, NASA leadership announced significant delays to the next two missions in its Artemis program.
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United Arab Emirates to Build Gateway Airlock
NASA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced Sunday plans for the space centre to provide an airlock for Gateway, humanity’s first space station outside of Low Earth Orbit.
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Three Lunar Landers Target Arrival in January
2024 is shaping up to be a year of triumphant lunar return, with several missions planned to welcome in a new age of international exploration of Earth’s nearest neighbor.
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NASA’s VIPER Takes Shape
At NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, work on NASA’s next lunar explorer has begun. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) is now in assembly ahead of its projected launch in 2024 onboard a Falcon Heavy.
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Op-Ed: Can We Arrest the Fall of CLPS?
As NASA prepares to go back to the moon, the CLPS program stands on a dangerous fulcrum – will program structure help or hurt our lunar return?
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Lunar Lander Lineup, Two Nations, Two Missions
Next week is shaping up to be a busy time for rocket launches, but also a very busy time for the Moon. For the first time in 54 years, there are two landers in orbit of the Moon at the same time.
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CAPSTONE: The Microwave Oven Sized Pathfinder
NASA’s small pathfinder spacecraft is headed for the Moon to study orbits and demonstrate new capabilities.
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Artemis I/SLS Booster Components Arrive Ahead of Stacking
JUNE 17, 2020–Northrop Grumman has delivered ten Space Launch System solid rocket segments for the Artemis I mission, along with two inert OmegA segments for booster training to the Kennedy Space Center after making a long train ride from Utah to Florida.
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NASA chooses Astrobotic to land VIPER rover on the Moon
JUNE 13, 2020– On June 11th, 2020, NASA announced that Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh robotics company, had been selected to deliver the VIPER rover to the lunar South Pole as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), part of the Artemis program, which seeks to land humans on the moon by 2024.
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NASA awards Artemis Moon lander contracts to Dynetics, SpaceX, and National Team
APR. 30–Dynetics, SpaceX, and Blue Origin’s National Team win contracts to develop Human Lander Systems for the Artemis moon landings.
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