NASA Interns at Johnson’s Rock Yard

NASA/James Blair In this image from May 22, 2023, a NASA intern uses an augmented reality headset to test out heads-up display technology being developed for future Artemis missions. This technology was created as part of the NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students, or SUITS, design challenge in which college students from across the country help design user interface solutions for future spaceflight needs. Today marks the beginning of NASA’s Spring 2024 internship season; across the country, hundreds of interns are joining the Artemis Generation and contributing to the…

Read More

Fire! NASA kicks off Artemis moon program’s 2024 with big engine test (video)

As NASA battles delays in its Artemis moon program, testing on its hardware continues at a rapid pace. NASA engineers fired up an engine for the Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, a future version of the type that will help launch astronauts toward the moon as soon as 2025. The test on Wednesday (Jan. 17) successfully fired the RS-25 engine for nearly as long as a typical launch, which would be 8.5 minutes. Under scrutiny is the venerable RS-25 engine type, with heritage that dates from the space shuttle program.…

Read More

NASA Science, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One Concludes

Cameras aboard Peregrine capture the American flag and the NASA insignia on one of the lander’s tanks to signify America’s return to the Moon. Credits: Astrobotic The first flight of NASA’s commercial lunar delivery service carrying agency science and technology, as well as other customer payloads intended for the Moon, has come to an end. After 10 days and 13 hours in space, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One made a controlled re-entry on Earth over open water in the South Pacific at approximately 4:04 p.m. EST on Jan. 18. Astrobotic was…

Read More

NASA to Join Astrobotic’s Media Call on Peregrine Mission One Status

NASA NASA will join an Astrobotic media teleconference at 12 p.m. EST, Thursday, Jan. 18, to discuss updates on their Peregrine Mission One, which is carrying science for the agency as part of its Commercial Lunar Provider Services (CLPS) initiative. The audio-only teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website. Following a successful launch on Jan. 8, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander experienced a propulsion issue after the spacecraft entered its operational state. This is preventing Astrobotic from achieving a soft landing on the Moon. Aboard the Peregrine spacecraft are five NASA…

Read More

China won’t beat US Artemis astronauts to the moon, NASA chief says

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is unconcerned that China will beat the United States in returning astronauts to the moon.  Both China and the United States have plans to land astronauts on the moon before the decade is over, reviving talk of a new space race. “It is a fact: We’re in a space race,” Nelson said in a 2023 interview. “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…

Read More

NASA Science Heads to Moon on First US Private Robotic Artemis Flight 

As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander launched on United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket at 2:18 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Carrying NASA scientific instruments as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander launched on United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket at 2:18 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Peregrine has about a 46-day journey to reach the lunar surface. Once on the…

Read More

NASA, United Arab Emirates Announce Artemis Lunar Gateway Airlock

NASA and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) have entered into an agreement for MBRSC to provide the Crew and Science Airlock module for the Gateway Space Station. As part of the agreement, NASA will fly a United Arab Emirates astronaut to Gateway on a future Artemis mission. Pictured is an artist’s concept of Gateway (left) and an artist’s concept of a government reference airlock (right). NASA NASA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced Sunday plans for the space centre…

Read More

NASA Administrator, Leaders to Discuss Artemis Moon Mission Plans

An illustration of a suited Artemis astronaut looking out of a Moon lander hatch across the lunar surface, the Lunar Terrain Vehicle and other surface elements. NASA will hold a media teleconference at 1:30 p.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 9, to provide an update on the agency’s lunar exploration plans for the benefit of all under Artemis. Audio of the briefing will stream live on NASA’s website. In addition to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, agency participants will include: NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission…

Read More

NASA’s Artemis I Spacecraft Prepped to Depart to Ohio Facility

Technicians inside NASA’s Kennedy Space Centers Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) in Florida use a crane to load the Artemis I spacecraft – now called an environmental test article – into the crew module transportation fixture in preparation for its departure to NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. NASA/Kim Shiflett From Florida to the Moon and back, NASA’s Orion spacecraft is still making moves. The crew module that flew more than 1.4 million miles during the agency’s historic Artemis I mission is getting ready for its next destination –…

Read More

Artemis 2 moon astronaut says his 1st space launch will feel epic

One of the Artemis 2 astronauts will mark his first trip in space with a trip to the moon. Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen recently shared in a video on X, formerly Twitter, how he and the rest of the Artemis 2 crew plan to get to the moon in 2024, including what he expects to feel on the big launch day. “You can imagine what it’s really going to be like to come up to the launch pad and have this living, breathing rocket full of fuel,…

Read More