NASA is developing the latest version of its overarching vision for space exploration: the Moon to Mars Architecture. Amid an environment of questions about the Artemis Program, the agency’s year-long Strategic Analysis Cycle is drawing to a close this November with the 2024 Architecture Concept Review, called ACR24.
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At 7:25 AM CDT on October 13th, 2024, the fifth Integrated Flight Test (IFT-5) of SpaceX’s Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle lifted itself from its Orbital Launch Mount at Starbase, Texas.
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On September 17th, 2024, NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a Near Space Network Services contract to design, build, and operate a system of communications relay and navigation satellites in lunar orbit to support Artemis missions.
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The development of NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture is a continuous process, one which is always seeking to strengthen our approach to sending humans to Mars and beyond. In June, NASA released a pair of white papers that give a glimpse into this year’s analysis: Lunar Surface Cargo and Lunar Mobility Drivers and Needs.
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Artemis’ stated goal to “prepare for human missions to Mars” is an ambitious undertaking, with visible consequences on its organization. With Artemis entering flight across its various programs, and hardware which will eventually support its primary missions in flow, we have entered a unique era for spaceflight.
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At its core, the Artemis Program represents a new way of thinking in space exploration. NASA’s Moon to Mars objectives incorporate the Artemis Program as part of the roadmap to the Red Planet.
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VIPER, NASA’s 500 million dollar Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, is one of the latest victims of turbulent times – with NASA announcing that they would be canceling the mission effective August 1, 2024
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The second SLS core stage, or CS-2, is now aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge following its rollout from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, paving the way for the first flight of crew to the moon in over 50 years.
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In April of this year, the United States and Japan signed a formal agreement to collaborate on the first of a new kind of spacecraft for the Artemis Program: a pressurized rover. Acting like a camper van for astronauts to live in as they roam across the surface of the Moon, the pressurized rover is a dramatic new capability for the Artemis Program.
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On June 5, 2024 at 10:52 AM, America’s newest crew capable spacecraft lifted off from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. 61 years, 21 days, 1 hour, 48 minutes and 1 second since Atlas LV-3B 130-D launched Gordon Cooper into orbit aboard Faith 7, the mighty Atlas V continues the dream.
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On Friday, May 10 2024, Serbia became the most recent partner on China’s International Lunar Research Station, a multinational effort to support permanent science and research at the lunar South Pole.
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If one word can summarize the past five years of human spaceflight, it’s “commercialization.” The early 2020s have been defined by a dramatic shift in the way we think about space exploration, particularly as NASA moves beyond LEO to procure new capabilities for its groundbreaking Artemis program.
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On April 15th 2024, NASA hosted a media teleconference giving updates on the current status of the agency’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. MSR is a vital step in providing high fidelity environmental data which could dramatically inform the technology and methodology for a planned human mission to the Red Planet.
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On Wednesday, April 3rd, NASA announced the three teams of commercial companies that will develop concepts for the Lunar Terrain Vehicle, an unpressurized rover which will provide mobility for astronauts as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
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SpaceX has begun the final prep work for a third flight of their Starship heavy lift reusable launch vehicle, with March 14 as the currently projected liftoff date, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.
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After several weather related delays and juggling launch pads, NASA and SpaceX have launched the Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station, setting course for a six month scientific endeavor onboard the orbiting laboratory, and setting the stage for the start of Expedition 71.
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NASA’s next crew to depart for the International Space Station, Crew-8, are nearly ready for launch, set to embark on a voyage of scientific discovery onboard the orbiting laboratory for the benefit of all on Earth.
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On Thursday, February 22nd, Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander Odysseus successfully touched down on the Moon, achieving the “ultimate milestone” for the IM-1 mission and marking the first major victory for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
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As we prepare to go back to the moon, industry expert Robbie Gitten takes a deep dive on several elements of what makes a moon base in his first Op-Ed for Space Scout.
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On February 15th, at 1:05 AM Eastern Time, Intuitive Machine’s NOVA-C, Odysseus, lifted off in support of the IM-1 mission – with the aim of becoming the first American spacecraft to make it to the lunar surface in over 50 years.
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Intuitive Machines is targeting February 14th for the launch of IM-1, the first flight of its NOVA-C robotic moon lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
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On January 30th, at 12:07:15 PM Eastern Time, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 lofted the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft as part of the NG-20 mission in a historic first for both Commercial Cargo providers.
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Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on January 18th, 2024, ending its mission after a 10 day, tumultuous journey through cislunar space.
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On January 19th 2024, JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) successfully touched down on the surface of the Moon. This makes Japan the fifth nation in history to conduct a successful soft landing on the surface of the Moon, following Russia, the United States, China, and India.
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Set for release on January 22nd, these highly-anticipated documents will provide key insights into NASA’s overarching Moon to Mars exploration strategy, including new details in its vision for sending humans to Mars.
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While the Commercial Crew Program seems fairly straightforward, it has already had huge implications on the immediate future of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and beyond.
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In a media teleconference held on January 9th, NASA leadership announced significant delays to the next two missions in its Artemis program.
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On January 8th, 2024, at 2:18:34 AM, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket flew for the first time, carrying the Astrobotic Peregrine Lunar Lander towards the Moon.
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NASA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced Sunday plans for the space centre to provide an airlock for Gateway, humanity’s first space station outside of Low Earth Orbit.
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On Friday, January 5, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket rolled to the pad for the first time, ahead of its first flight scheduled for January 8, 2024.
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At the National Space Council meeting on December 20, 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris and her advisors announced that the Artemis Program will land an international astronaut on the moon “before the end of the decade.”
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One year ago, NASA’s Orion spacecraft concluded its maiden voyage around the Moon, a journey of 1.4 million miles ending with a gentle splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Now, the first crewed Orion is well underway in construction, with more on the way…
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On November 30th, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report detailing the various challenges remaining for SpaceX, Axiom, and NASA as they work towards the first Moon landing in more than 50 years as part of the Artemis III mission.
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Space Scout lead photographer David Diebold reflects on his experience travelling to cover SpaceX’s second Integrated Test Flight of Starship
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At 7:02 AM CST, the 397 ft tall Starship launch vehicle lifted off from its South Texas launch site, becoming the most powerful rocket ever flown into space.
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One year ago, In the early hours of November 16th, 2022, the skies of Florida were lit up by the
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After weeks of reshuffling, NASA and SpaceX’s CRS-29 mission lifted off from Historic Launch Complex 39A for the International Space
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At NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, work on NASA’s next lunar explorer has begun. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) is now in assembly ahead of its projected launch in 2024 onboard a Falcon Heavy.
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Blue Origin has unveiled their latest, full size mockup of their Blue Moon MK1 Cargo lander at their Huntsville facility, showcasing an updated design of their uncrewed cargo vehicle.
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As NASA prepares to go back to the moon, the CLPS program stands on a dangerous fulcrum – will program structure help or hurt our lunar return?
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Artemis 2’s Solid Rocket Motors, or RSRMVs, have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center as NASA and their international partners gear up for humanity’s return to the moon.
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SEP. 17, 2022—NASA adds another piece to the puzzle of procuring another lunar lander, amidst ever-shifting timelines and funding levels.
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JAN. 16, 2020–NASA is currently targeting this fall for the launch of Artemis I, the uncrewed first test flight of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket and the Orion Spacecraft together. With less than a year of time remaining until the launch, NASA has already begun launch preparation operations.
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Things got hot in Utah yesterday with a test firing of the world’s most powerful solid rocket booster.
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JUNE 17, 2020–Northrop Grumman has delivered ten Space Launch System solid rocket segments for the Artemis I mission, along with two inert OmegA segments for booster training to the Kennedy Space Center after making a long train ride from Utah to Florida.
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JUNE 13, 2020– On June 11th, 2020, NASA announced that Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh robotics company, had been selected to deliver the VIPER rover to the lunar South Pole as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), part of the Artemis program, which seeks to land humans on the moon by 2024.
Read MoreMAY 14, 2020–In a virtual conference yesterday, NASA HEO released a further breakdown of the Human Lander System, or HLS contracts.
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MAY 6, 2020- After temporarily pausing on-site work for the agency’s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, NASA is now preparing to reopen the Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC), Stennis Space Center, and Michoud Assembly Facility alongside other agency centers and locations which are critical to the Artemis Program.
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MAY 5, 2020–The U.S. government is in the process of drafting what is now known as the ‘Artemis Accords’, an international legal basis for moon mining.
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MAY 4, 2020–Lunar Starship was recently chosen for the Artemis Human Lander System contracts. SpaceX claims they can land on the moon uncrewed by 2022. Can they make it work?
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APR. 30–Dynetics, SpaceX, and Blue Origin’s National Team win contracts to develop Human Lander Systems for the Artemis moon landings.
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