Tag: Moon
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NASA calls for industry input on new xEMU Lunar Spacesuits
NASA has issued a “Request For Information (RFI)” from industry on designing the next generation of spacesuits that will be worn by the Artemis crew that will step foot on the surface of the Moon. A long-time goal of NASA to advance its spacesuit options, “NASA Exploration Extravehicular Activity (xEVA)” will be designed to provide…
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Intuitive Machines selects SpaceX to launch commercial lunar lander
Artist’s illustration of an Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander during launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines confirmed plans Wednesday to launch a commercial lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast in 2021 on a mission to deliver multiple payloads to the moon, including up to…
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NASA issues its fast-track plan to get two commercial lunar landers for 2024-2025
An artist’s conception shows a lunar lander’s ascent module blasting off from the moon. (NASA Illustration) After two preliminary rounds, NASA today published its final call for industry proposals to have the first two landers capable of putting astronauts on the moon ready for 2024 and 2025. NASA’s broad agency announcement, known as NextSTEP-2 Appendix…
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NASA awards $10M to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for hydrogen-oxygen storage tech
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander on the lunar surface. (Blue Origin Illustration) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is on the top of the funding list for a newly announced round of “Tipping Point” funding from NASA for technologies that could be applied to exploration and settlement of the…
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LRO’s view of Chandrayaan 2 landing site obscured by shadows
NASA’s Galileo spacecraft captured this view of the moon in 1992 on its mission to Jupiter. Credit: NASA An overflight last week of the Chandrayaan 2 landing site on the moon by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has turned up no clear sign of the lost Indian lander. Another flyover with better lighting conditions is scheduled…
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NASA’s Orion spacecraft program gets a multibillion-dollar vote of support
The Orion crew capsule meant for NASA’s uncrewed Artemis 1 mission around the moon and back is being prepared for its flight. (NASA Photo / Radislav Sinyak) NASA says it’s ordering three more Orion spacecraft for missions to the moon, at a cost of $2.7 billion — and plans to order as many as nine…
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Launch of South Korean lunar orbiter delayed to 2022
The moon as seen from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA The launch of South Korea’s first moon orbiter has been delayed from December 2020 until July 2022 after the mission encountered technical issues during development, officials recently announced. The design of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, or KPLO, has grown beyond its original launch…
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Bigelow’s B330 – an autonomous, expandable independent exploration space station
While Bigelow Aerospace’s expandable module, BEAM, continues to perform above all expectations while attached to the International Space Station (ISS), the company has larger ambitions for its range of modules, centered around the B330 – a huge inflatable module. The key focus is on attracting NASA to select B330 as a transportation module for long-duration…
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NASA lunar orbiter to image Chandrayaan 2 landing site
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated to correct date of LRO flyover. This mosaic of the near side of the moon was created using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will try to locate India’s Vikram lander on the moon during a flyover of the landing site Tuesday. Indian space officials said they…
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India’s first attempt to land on the moon appears to end in failure
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) with Modi comments. A member of the Chandrayaan 2 team reacts after contact with the Vikram lander was lost Friday. Credit: ISRO Ground teams lost communication with India’s first lunar landing mission moments before its scheduled touchdown on the moon Friday, and the robotic research craft…