CLEVELAND (NASA PR) — The thruster system that will propel NASA’s Gateway around the Moon was recently fired up for the first of many ground tests to ensure the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) is ready for flight.
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Tag: Lunar Gateway
Innovative Propulsion System Gets Ready to Help Study Moon Orbit for Artemis
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — In 2021, NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, CubeSat will launch to a never-before-used cislunar orbit near the Moon.
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Maxar and Busek Thruster System for NASA Lunar Gateway Passes Critical Milestone
NATICK, Mass., March 18, 2021 (Busek Co. PR) — Busek Co., a developer of high-performance electric propulsion technology for space applications, and Maxar Technologies (NYSE: MAXR) (TSX: MAXR), a trusted partner and innovator in Earth intelligence and Space Infrastructure, confirmed today the successful completion of an end-to-end hot fire test campaign validating all major elements of the 6-kilowatt solar electric propulsion (SEP) subsystem for the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) of NASA’s Gateway in lunar orbit.
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NASA Mega Moon Rocket Passes Key Test, Readies for Launch
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (NASA PR) — The largest rocket element NASA has ever built, the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, fired its four RS-25 engines for 8 minutes and 19 seconds Thursday at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The successful test, known as a hot fire, is a critical milestone ahead of the agency’s Artemis I mission, which will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the Moon and back to Earth, paving the way for future Artemis missions with astronauts.
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Skoltech and MIT Researchers Identify Optimal Human Landing System Architectures to Land on the Moon
MOSCOW (Skoltech PR) — Researchers from Skoltech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have analyzed several dozen options to pick the best one in terms of performance and costs for the ‘last mile’ of a future mission to the Moon – actually delivering astronauts to the lunar surface and back up to the safety of the orbiting lunar station. The paper was published in the journal Acta Astronautica.
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Goddard’s Core Flight Software Chosen for NASA’s Lunar Gateway
By Katherine Schauer and Karl Hille
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
GREENBELT, Md. — NASA is improving a flight software system to help create and certify essential software for the lunar Gateway.
As part of the Artemis program, NASA will send astronauts to the Moon and establish a sustained lunar presence by the end of the decade. The Gateway will provide a waypoint for lunar exploration and allow astronauts to live and work in lunar orbit as well as host science instruments and experiments.
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NASA Awards Contract to SpaceX to Launch Initial Elements for Lunar Outpost
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for the agency’s Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), the foundational elements of the Gateway. As the first long-term orbiting outpost around the Moon, the Gateway is critical to supporting sustainable astronauts missions under the agency’s Artemis program.
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Three More Service Modules for Artemis to be Built in Europe
PARIS (ESA PR) — ESA signed a further contract with Airbus for the construction of three more European Service Modules for Orion, NASA’s spacecraft that will fly astronauts to the Moon and lunar Gateway as part of the Artemis programme.
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Thales Alenia Space to Provide Study for ESA’s Cis-lunar Transfer Vehicle
TURIN, Italy, January 25, 2021 (Thales Alenia Space PR) – Thales Alenia Space, joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) has signed a contract with European Space Agency (ESA), worth €4.5 million [$5.45 million], for the study of Cis-Lunar Transfer Vehicle (CLTV), a transportation logistic space vehicle to be used for a variety of missions: from the logistic resupply of Lunar Gateway pressurized modules, to the transportation of space infrastructure in low Earth orbit, and the potential use in future missions in support of the European Large Logistic Lander (EL3).
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Airbus Studies “Moon Cruiser” Concept for ESA’s Cis-lunar Transfer Vehicle
Versatile, autonomous logistics vehicle to support future lunar missions based on heritage from Orion ESM and ATV
Toulouse, 28 January 2021 – Airbus has been awarded a CLTV (Cis-Lunar Transfer Vehicle) study for a “Moon Cruiser” by the European Space Agency (ESA). According to the study concept (two parallel Phase A/B1), the CLTV is a versatile, autonomous logistics vehicle that could, for example, provide timely and efficient support to NASA and ESA in the implementation of the future Artemis Moon missions. The spacecraft will be based on existing and proven technologies and will complement the multipurpose European Large Logistic Lander (EL3).
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Astronauts to Boost European Connectivity
PARIS (ESA PR) — Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are planning a spacewalk to install a high-speed satellite link that will improve their connections with Europe.
The system will enable astronauts to connect at home broadband internet speeds – delivering a whole family’s worth of video streaming for communications and a data pipeline connecting the scientific experiments aboard the Station to researchers in Europe.
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NASA, Government of Japan Formalize Gateway Partnership for Artemis Program
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA and the Government of Japan have finalized an agreement for the lunar Gateway, an orbiting outpost that commercial and international partners will build together. This agreement strengthens the broad effort by the United States to engage international partners in sustainable lunar exploration as part of the Artemis program and to demonstrate the technologies needed for human missions to Mars.
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European Gateway Module to be Built in France as Thomas Pesquet Readies for Second Spaceflight
PARIS (ESA PR) — ESA signed a contract today with Thales Alenia Space to start building the European module for the lunar Gateway that will provide the new human exploration facility with communications and refuelling.
The Gateway is being built by the partners of the International Space Station and will enable sustainable exploration around – and on – the Moon, while allowing for space research and demonstrating the technologies and processes necessary to conduct a future mission to Mars.
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Canada’s Top Space Highlights of 2020
LONGUEUIL, Que. (CSA PR) — It’s an understatement to say that 2020 was an exceptional year. As the year draws to a close, here’s a look at some of the most compelling, inspirational and incredible moments for Canada in space. Happy New Year!
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First-ever Autonomous Operations for Canadian ISS Robots Canadarm2 and Dextre
Saint-Hubert, Quebec (CSA PR) — Since its installation on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001, Canadarm2 has performed hundreds of important tasks, including assembling the Station’s modules, keeping the ISS in shipshape, and lending astronauts a hand during spacewalks.
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