Moon

Here Be Dragons: The Rise of SpaceX and the Journey to Mars

Here Be Dragons: The Rise of SpaceX and the Journey to Mars

Here Be Dragons: The Rise of SpaceX and the Pursuit of Mars is an in-depth history of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation and the Falcon 9/Dragon system which just won NASA’s Commercial Crew award to return human spaceflight capacity to the United States. It is much more than that however.  SpaceX was founded with the Red […]

A Red Ryder and a Moon of Fire and Ice

A Red Ryder and a Moon of Fire and Ice

Note: New results from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter indicates just how asinine the notion was that the Moon is no longer a worthy destination for human exploration simply because “we’ve been there before.” But then again, India’s Chandrayaan 1 orbiter had already confirmed that point by discovering the presence of water molecules on the Moon […]

Posted in: Moon
Google Lunar X-Prize Selects 5 Milestone Winners

Google Lunar X-Prize Selects 5 Milestone Winners

China’s Jade Rabbit may have company yet.  After a slow start which saw many of the teams stymied by the multiple challenges of putting together a credible entry in the Google Lunar X-Prize contest.  GLXP altered the rules last year to allow for the insertion of milestone prizes totaling $6 million aimed at helping leading […]

China’s Rover Not Done Yet

China’s Rover Not Done Yet

Apparently there is no need to compose “Ode to a Rover Dying Young.” At least not yet.  Chinese new service Xinhuan.ner has confirmed that the  Yutu, or  “Jade Rabbit” Moon rover is coming back to life after surviving the deep cold of the two week lunar night.  Shortly before going into a planned hibernation mode, the […]

Posted in: Chinese space, Moon
Seeing Double: The Vision for Space Exploration Ten Years Later

Seeing Double: The Vision for Space Exploration Ten Years Later

Recent years have seen a number of meaningful space anniversaries, and to some they can are increasingly somber moments of reflection on what we once could do, on what happened a long time ago. Today however, is something else. Today marks the ten year anniversary of something the we didn’t do at all, implement the […]

Posted in: Mars, Moon, NASA
It’s Nominal! LADEE En route to the Moon

It’s Nominal! LADEE En route to the Moon

If you happened to be playing the Orbital Science’s drinking game, you might have lost track somewhere around 5th stage ignition, but after a flawless countdown and launch, the 844 lb. LADEE probe is on the way to the Moon. Taking off right on time, the Minotaur V continued Orbital’s very good year, boosting the […]

Exploring NASA’s Agreement with Bigelow

Exploring NASA’s Agreement with Bigelow

On Thursday, May 23 at 1:30 p.m. EDT, NASA Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier and Bigelow Aerospace founder and president Robert Bigelow will hold a “media availability” to discuss the Space Act Agreement between the two organizations.  The event comes two months after the original document outlining the participation was signed in late March of this year, and almost midway through […]

Posted in: Moon, NASA, Space Commerce
Northrop Grumman Presents Lunar Lander Concept for Golden Spike

Northrop Grumman Presents Lunar Lander Concept for Golden Spike

  Northrop Grumman News Release Photo Release — Northrop Grumman Completes Lunar Lander Study for Golden Spike Company Study Identifies a New Minimalist Ascent Pod Lunar Lander Concept REDONDO BEACH, Calif. — May 8, 2013 — Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has completed a feasibility study for a new commercial lunar lander for the Golden Spike […]

Posted in: Moon, Space Commerce
Russia Approves Lunar Orbiter for 2015

Russia Approves Lunar Orbiter for 2015

Source: Rianovosti, Russianspaceweb In another sign that after years of decay and delays, Russia is serious about  revamping its space infrastructure, Vladimir Popovkin announced today that his agency Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, will launch a lunar orbiter mission in 2015 aboard a Soyuz-2.  Scheduled to lift off out of the yet to be completed Vostochny space launch complex in the […]

Posted in: Moon, Russian Space
Golden Spike Taps Northrop Grumman to Refine Lunar Lander Concepts

Golden Spike Taps Northrop Grumman to Refine Lunar Lander Concepts

Source: space.com The Golden Spike Company announced last week that it has selected Northrop Grumman to conduct a design trade for the lunar lander which would be required to bring about its vision of privately conducted manned trips to the Moon. The construction of the actual lander would come after a competition in which the defense giant might not necessarily be the […]

Posted in: Moon
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