Tag: Artemis
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After weeks of delay, Blue Origin sets up suborbital space mission to test NASA landing technology
Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard booster makes its landing in December 2019. (Blue Origin Photo) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is now targeting Tuesday for the launch of its New Shepard suborbital spaceship on an uncrewed mission to the edge of space and back, to try out a precision landing system for…
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Crucial first fueling test on tap for SLS core stage later this month
The first Space Launch System core stage on the B-2 test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Credit: NASA If all goes according to plan, engineers in southern Mississippi later this month will load cryogenic propellants into the core stage of a rocket NASA says will launch astronauts back to the moon, exposing…
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ASAP urges NASA to build cross-program computer test capability for Artemis
The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) expressed its concern about the integrated computer testing capabilities across the three separate programs under the Exploration Systems Development (ESD) division of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The Exploration Ground Systems (EGS), Orion, and Space Launch System (SLS) programs under ESD are working together to accomplish upcoming…
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ASAP urges NASA to build cross-program computer test capability for Artemis
The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) expressed its concern about the integrated computer testing capabilities across the three separate programs under the Exploration Systems Development (ESD) division of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The Exploration Ground Systems (EGS), Orion, and Space Launch System (SLS) programs under ESD are working together to accomplish upcoming…
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NASA lays out $28 billion plan to return astronauts to the moon in 2024
Astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt collects lunar rake samples from the moon on the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. Credit: NASA NASA officials released a nearly five-year, $28 billion plan Monday to return astronauts to the surface of the moon before the end of 2024, but the agency’s administrator said the “aggressive” timeline set by…
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Students team up with NASA to tests tools for Artemis
Student teams from around the country have partnered with NASA to test prototype tools for upcoming Artemis missions. This week, students remotely directed divers at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab to test their designs, which addressed a variety of NASA’s needs through the Micro-g NExT program. This year’s testing was impacted significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic,…
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NASA touts lunar landing tech, and Blue Origin says there’ll be a flight test ‘soon’
Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spaceship makes a precision landing in May 2019. (Blue Origin Photo) Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong famously had to dodge a boulder-strewn crater just seconds before the first moon landing in 1969 — but for future lunar touchdowns, NASA expects robotic eyes to see such missions to safe landings. And…
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Blue Origin and partners pass key milestone for lunar lander design
Artwork shows the National Team’s lunar lander making its touchdown. (Blue Origin Illustration) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture says the aerospace team that it’s leading has completed its first “gated milestone” in a NASA-funded effort to develop a lunar lander for crewed missions. The milestone — known as the system requirement review,…
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NASA challenges companies to mine lunar soil
Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani NASA announced Thursday it plans to purchase lunar soil from a commercial company, an effort the agency’s top official said is intended to set a precedent for the transfer of ownership of extraterrestrial material and stimulate a market harvesting resources from bodies throughout the solar system. The initiative is starting small, but…
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Rocket Lab Debuts Photon Satellite
Rocket Lab has announced that the kick stage used on their 14th Electron launch, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical,” was transitioned into satellite mode after payload deployment. This is the first Photon satellite to fly, named “First Light.” The technology demonstration tested the spacecraft systems needed to enable new missions to Earth orbit, the…