Posts by Jeff Gardner
Washington Updates: Office of Space Commerce mission authorization proposal
What You Need to Know: The House Science, Space and Technology Committee reviews the Office of Space Commerce’s mission authorization proposal. ESA announces plans for a security center in Poland. Reditus Space completes its first reentry vehicle. United States Space Policy Updates The House Science, Space and Technology Committee holds a hearing to review the…
Read MoreWashington Updates: NASA awards lunar lander contracts
What You Need to Know: NASA awards lunar lander contracts to Astrobotic, Firefly, and Intuitive Machines. Japan renames its air force to the Air and Space Self-Defense Force. Rocket Lab announces plans to acquire Iridium Communications. United States Space Policy Updates NASA awards new lunar lander contracts to Firefly, Astrobotic, and Intuitive Machines for missions…
Read MoreBuilding a Map to the Moon
Over the next decade, dozens of robotic landings and a handful of crewed landings are anticipated to build an enduring presence on the lunar surface. Beyond the race for international prestige upon a successful landing, there are multiple benefits for returning to the Moon: national security, potential resource utilization, a gateway for missions deeper into…
Read MoreThe Next Great Economy: The Moon
The surface of the Moon will be far less barren in the coming years. At two featured discussions at the 41st Space Symposium on Thursday, NASA officials, commercial partners and scientists explained the rapidly growing opportunities on the lunar surface. With an ambitious launch schedule described during NASA’s Ignition Day, more commercial partners will be heading to the Moon than ever before.
Read MoreCommercial Space Stations Underscore the New Route to Orbit
Four new space stations are in a race to orbit. Commercial space station executives told an audience at the 41st Space Symposium on Wednesday that their companies are eager to scale up on the capabilities that the International Space Station has proven for more than 25 years. As the ISS faces a planned retirement and deorbiting in the early 2030s, four planned commercial…
Read MoreIsaacman on the Future of Artemis: ‘This Time, We Stay’
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman Tuesday morning laid out an optimistic, high-paced vision for the future of the Artemis Program at the 41st Space Symposium. Fresh off the success of the Artemis II splashdown, Isaacman explained the scientific and national security necessities for establishing a lunar base. “American leadership in the high ground of space is not optional,” he said. “I don’t see how…
Read MoreHow the Artemis II Mission Lifted 6 Million Pounds Into Space
When a launch vehicle the size of Artemis II takes off, the roar shakes everything around it for miles. The brightness of the flames burns like the sun. This fusion of spectacle and science is sending humans toward the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. In just a few days,…
Read MoreArtemis II Successfully Launches 4 Astronauts Toward the Moon
For the first time in more than 50 years, humans are leaving Earth’s orbit. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) took off from Kennedy Space Center at 6:35:12 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time on a mission that will set the stage for U.S. lunar habitation by 2028. As the 322-foot-tall launch vehicle thundered into the sky,…
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