July 22nd, 2024
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Now 55 years ago, Apollo 11’s “flag raising” of Old Glory on the ancient lunar surface took all of 10 minutes during Neil Armstrong’s and Buzz Aldrin’s two-and-a-half hour moonwalking adventure in July 1969. But that seminal event in “vexillological” history was not without a lot of debate, discussion and early worries that were run […]
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It is a classic wait-a-minute Moon moment. The message from NASA last week: “NASA Ends VIPER Project, Continues Moon Exploration.” The space agency’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) project had undergone a comprehensive internal review. NASA found price tag sticker shock, delays to the launch date, and risk of future cost growth – reasons […]
To gain insight on how the Soviet Union built moon-bound gear, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) carried out a covert spy job on a Soviet exhibit in 1959. A CIA action team dismantled a “Lunik 2” exhibit to document what techniques and technologies were used by the Soviet Union. Stealthy spy operation […]
Call it the UN “stamps of approval” to commemorate July 20, 2024 as International Moon Day. The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) is issuing six postage stamps and three souvenir sheets to commemorate this day, saluting America’s Apollo 11 landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969. “Following the birth of space exploration nearly 70 […]
NASA has requested SPACEX to carry out a month-long “Special Study for Emergency Response,” a contract valued at $266,678.00. The work request was signed on July 15 and the work is to be completed by August 15. This action was signed by a procurement officer at Kennedy Space Center. There has been speculation that the […]
While NASA has cancelled its VIPER lunar rover, the private group, Intuitive Machines, has finalized a landing site for its “sold-out” IM-2 lunar prospecting mission. Still on track for a launch later this year, the IM-2 mission is designed to prospect for water ice and other volatiles on the Moon’s south pole, an effort […]
UPDATE: NASA’s Moon News: VIPER CANCELLED Go to NASA announcement at: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-ends-viper-project-continues-moon-exploration/ “VIPER is 100% built and has completed part of its testing. It is ready to go and NASA is junking a very capable rover and ceding leadership in resource exploration. It is a dark day for lunar science and exploration and maybe the […]
The existence of lunar lava tube caves, cozy conduits for expeditionary crews below the Moon’s surface has been reported. Thanks to analysis of NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) radar data, what lies below the Apollo 11 landing site of Mare Tranquillitatis has been detected. A team of international scientists, under the lead of the University […]
What happens when you mix an architect with material, electrical, mechanical, aerospace and software specialists – but then blend in a glass blower? “We are a pioneering space architecture and engineering company at the forefront of shaping the future of interplanetary living,” explains the Skyeports website. “We integrate the principles of robust structural design, advanced […]
The yet-to-fly Sierra Space Dream Chaser commercial spaceplane is already listing landing sites around the globe. Spaceport Oita in Kunisaki, Oita, Japan, is a possible landing spot, according to a recent Sierra Space statement. Meanwhile, Dream Chaser, billed as the world’s first winged commercial spacecraft recently arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The Dream Chaser […]
