Moon

Was Discovery of Lunar Ice a Missed ‘Sputnik Moment’ ?

Was Discovery of Lunar Ice a Missed ‘Sputnik Moment’ ?

Did the United States foolishly overlook what should have been an obvious call to action when DOD’s (not NASA’s) Clementine mission discovered water ice at the lunar poles?  And is there still time to do something about it? Spacepolicyonline’s Marcia Smith has a writeup on comments made by U.S. Representative Jim Bridenstine at a meeting […]

Posted in: Congress, Mars, Moon
With Historic Approval, Moon Express is “Go” for the Moon

With Historic Approval, Moon Express is “Go” for the Moon

Yesterday, Google Lunar X Prize competitor Moon Express announced that it has received approval for what will be the first purely commercial mission to go beyond Earth’s immediate orbit. If all goes according to plan, and that is a pretty big if considering the variables involved, ME’s MX-1 lander will launch out of New Zealand […]

Posted in: Moon
The Choices We Make: Thiel, the Moon and Mars

The Choices We Make: Thiel, the Moon and Mars

What a week in space. It began of course, with SpaceX launching a Dragon spacecraft to ISS for the 9th time, and landing a Falcon 9 first stage at Cape Canaveral for only the second time. It also featured a speech and curious non-endorsement by former astronaut and first female Shuttle Commander Eileen Collins at […]

Posted in: Mars, Moon, NASA, SpaceX, Uncategorized
Astrobotic Technology Introduces New Lunar Lander, Luxembourg Reaches For it All

Astrobotic Technology Introduces New Lunar Lander, Luxembourg Reaches For it All

Two recent news items highlight the slow, but steady progress being made to set the stage for the robotic exploration and utilization of space beyond low Earth orbit. First, the tiny European nation of Luxembourg, already home to two of the world’s largest ComSat companies, announced a new initiative, called spaceresources.lu  to promote space mining and […]

Posted in: Asteroids, Moon
Russia Maintaining Long Term Lunar Ambitions

Russia Maintaining Long Term Lunar Ambitions

Despite its current problems, which include a 30% cut in funding over the next decade, and the recently announced delay of its heavy lift launch vehicle plans, the Russian space program is keeping its long term ambitions focused squarely on the Moon. Sergey Krikalev, executive director of Roscosmos State Space Corporation told TASS on April […]

Posted in: Moon, Russian Space
Shifting Lunar Poles and Shifting Lunar Plans

Shifting Lunar Poles and Shifting Lunar Plans

The journal Nature has published a fascinating paper which provides convincing evidence that the Moon’s axis shifted by roughly 5 degrees some 3 billion years ago. What makes the work more than a matter of scientific curiosity however, is the fact that the shift was traced by using data from a variety of spacecraft to […]

Posted in: Moon
A 6-10 Person SpaceX / Bigelow Lunar Station for $2 billion per Year

A 6-10 Person SpaceX / Bigelow Lunar Station for $2 billion per Year

A collection of papers just released at the journal New Space makes the argument that thanks to advances by SpaceX. Bigelow Aerospace and others, the United States is in a position mount a return to the Moon and construction of a permanent base housing 6-10 people at the lunar North Pole in approximately 10 years […]

Posted in: Moon, SpaceX
Did Audi Capture the State of American Space Program in Super Bowl Commercial?

Did Audi Capture the State of American Space Program in Super Bowl Commercial?

Using Apollo imagery in commercials for major sporting events is certainly nothing new. In a 2014 spot for Cadillac, which played throughout the Winter Olympics, we left the keys in the lunar lander cause we had been there, done that and were “bored.” Besides, we were “the only ones going back.” It was pure braggadocio. Given […]

Congressional Hearing Takeaway: NASA May Lose its ARM, Yet Reach for the Moon

Congressional Hearing Takeaway: NASA May Lose its ARM, Yet Reach for the Moon

On February 3rd, Congress held another in an a seemingly endless line of hearings to discus NASA’s human space flight program. As usual, nothing was decided other than the fact that everyone seemed to agree with the assertion that what NASA is saying is a plan, is not one at all, and that some sort […]

Posted in: Mars, Moon, NASA
Russia’s Lunar Ambitions Following an American Path Not Taken

Russia’s Lunar Ambitions Following an American Path Not Taken

Is Russia following a path the American space program could have taken? A story in the Russian news agency TASS outlines a lunar exploration program which seems to draw on many of the lessons recently learned, but not applied by NASA for its own “Journey to Mars.” The program, which has yet to be funded, […]

Posted in: Moon, Russian Space
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