Keith’s note: A few weeks ago a robotic explorer named Odysseus completed a journey – one not unlike its mythological human namesake undertook – and struggled ashore at the south pole of the Moon. While injured and out of sorts for a while, Odysseus managed to accomplish much of what it had been tasked to do – starting with a precision landing in a place no human or droid has ever visited before. The way that Odysseus made it to the lunar surface involved some truly heroic thinking the mission control team – rather fitting for a space droid named after a hero.

Keith’s note: The first launch of a ULA Vulcan rocket – powered by Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman engines – took off this morning at 2:18 a.m. EST and has sent the Astrobotic Pergegrine lander on its way to the Moon. Alas it is having communications and power issues which they managed to fix that but there there are critical propulsion system issues. I am going to be on Deutsche Welle TV just after 12:00 pm EST Update: [Deutsche Welle Audio] – and then on Alhurra TV around 2:45 pm EST Update: [Alhurra audio] – then BBC World News TV at 3:45 pm EST and then Deutsche Welle TV (again) just after 6:00 pm today Update: [second Deutsche Welle Audio] to talk about the mission and the various things on board the Peregrine lander. More from NASA

Keith’s note: I really had fun today on i24 TV in Israel (again) today talking about the ESA proposal for a time zone on the Moon with Ellie Hochenberg. Audio. Video Link below

Keith’s note: I was just on Al Jazeera Arabic talking about the various countries and companies that are headed to the Moon. Sometimes there is competition. More often there is collaboration. You’ll hear me drop little doses of soft power here and there. Audio

Keith’s note: I am trying to wrap my head around this thing that NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson keeps saying. Is the State Department putting him up to this? They do not seem to be doing any arm waving about it. Just Nelson. Oddly I do not seem to see anyone else saying it – except in some articles in China who think that America is trying to do the same thing in reaction to Bill Nelson making these claims.

According to ‘We’re in a space race’: Nasa sounds alarm at Chinese designs on moon published by the Guardian “The US is locked in a space race with China and the country needs to “watch out” that its rival does not gain a foothold and try to dominate lunar resources, Nasa’s top official has warned. The assessment came from the Nasa administrator, Bill Nelson, a former astronaut and Florida senator, who went on to warn that China could eventually claim to “own” the moon’s resource-rich areas.The contest between the US and China, he added, was intensifying and the next two years could determine which country achieves an advantage. “It is a fact: we’re in a space race,” Nelson told Politico. “And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’

As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the Moon under Artemis, the agency has identified 13 candidate landing regions near the lunar South Pole. Each region contains multiple potential landing sites for Artemis III.

On Wednesday at around 7:30 a.m. EDT the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission arrived atop Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a nearly 10-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building. More: Artemis I Moon Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT Friday, Aug. 19, to announce regions near the lunar South Pole the agency has identified as potential areas for astronauts to land as part of the Artemis III mission, targeted for 2025.

NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon “At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon. Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface. The firm-fixed price, milestone-based contract total award value is $2.89 billion.”

NASA Invites Media to Discuss Science Priorities for Artemis III Moon Landing “NASA is hosting a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST Monday, Dec. 7, to discuss the release of a report defining the agency’s science priorities for the Artemis III mission, which will launch the first woman and next man to the Moon in 2024. The teleconference will stream live on NASA’s website.” NASA Artemis III Science Definition Team […]