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 […]

Keith’s note: China has launched its Change’e-5 mission to return samples from the Moon. The launch aboard a Long March 5 rocket went off as planned and the spacecraft is now on its way out of Earth orbit and heading toward the Moon. Change’e-5 will land on 27 November, drill 2 meters into the lunar surface, and collect 2 kg of samples for return to Earth. The landing site is […]

Baffling: After news about water in lunar regolith @NASA is not highlighting decades of #ISRU research. They had time to prepare follow-up news and run with it by featuring all of the tech that is has to draw from. Instead: nothing but crickets. https://t.co/jHf90ToFnp #Artemis pic.twitter.com/s1WACgQFOX — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) October 27, 2020 It’s time to drown out those crickets with some action. The 2019 Lunar ISRU wksp report is […]

NASA’s SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon, NASA “NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places. SOFIA has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the […]

Community Letter regarding NASA’s Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program “As you are aware, the Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program (LDEP) is the continuation of a credible plan to re-engage in lunar surface exploration that has evolved and matured in the past few years, and shown significant progress in the last year. After years of planning next steps toward the Moon, we believe this program is designed for both expediency and […]

What will astronauts wear on moonwalks in 5 years? We're currently working on options for our #Moon2024 mission + beyond. We'll have a transition suit for 1st mission + modern spacesuit designs for astronauts to explore the lunar surface & help create our sustainable lunar future pic.twitter.com/HhDyvIC1L1 — NASA (@NASA) May 1, 2019 Keith’s note: I sent this request to NASA PAO: With regard to this @NASA tweet: “Will the […]

LEAG Letter To NASA Administrator Bridenstine Regarding Resource Prospector Mission “We wrote to Drs. Gerstenmaier and Zurbuchen to describe the community-wide support for RP on 2 March 2018, after the redirection for this initially HEOMD-led mission to be shared with the new Lunar Exploration and Discovery Program within SMD. We now understand RP was cancelled on 23 April 2018 and the project has been asked to close down by the […]

Aerospace Corporation White paper: Cislunar Development: What to Build – and Why “The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy (CSPS) released a new policy paper that explores future opportunities in cislunar space – essentially, the space inside the moon’s orbit and the orbital area around the moon. Cislunar Development: What to Build – and Why discusses the possible applications for cislunar space – for example, outposts on the […]