by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

A giant solar sail measuring 86 square meters (925.7 square ft) is headed for a rendezvous with an asteroid next Monday as a secondary payload aboard the Artemis I launch to the moon on Monday. A presentation about NASA’s Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout mission earlier this month at the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., Aug. 26, 2022 (Northrop Grumman PR) – Two Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) five-segment solid rocket boosters will help launch the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida as early as August 29, 2022, as part of the Artemis I mission. Manufactured at Northrop Grumman’s northern Utah facility, the world’s largest rocket boosters will provide over 75 percent of the rocket’s thrust at launch for the first in a series of Artemis missions.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., August 25, 2022 (Redwire PR) — Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW), a leader in space infrastructure for the next generation space economy, announced today that its critical sun sensor components and advanced optical imaging technologies will be launching on NASA’s Orion spacecraft, as a part of NASA’s Artemis I mission. The Artemis I mission will enable humanity’s return to the Moon in preparation for future crewed missions to Mars, and is set to launch no earlier than August 29, 2022 at 8:33 a.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“We are proud to support NASA’s flagship exploration program as our technology serves as the eyes of Orion, seeing America return to the Moon in preparation for more ambitious space exploration missions in the decades to come,” said Andrew Rush, Redwire President and COO. “Our technical contributions to this historic mission are emblematic of the innovation and strength of the American industrial supply base that anchors our nation’s space program. Redwire technology has supported over 50 years of NASA exploration and we are excited to build on that legacy in this new era of discovery.”

“There’s no such thing as bad weather…”

PARIS (ESA PR) — The Artemis I mission, set to launch on 29 August, will mark a significant step in humankind’s return to the Moon.

While there are no human passengers on board this test flight, future missions will once again cast space explorers beyond the protective environments of Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field and into the realm of unimpeded space radiation.

Rendered into English by Google Translate

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — Russian Space Systems Holding (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) presented complex solutions based on satellite navigation and Earth remote sensing services for the development of unhindered navigation along the Northern Sea Route at the Army-2022 International Military-Technical Forum.

BOEING MISSION UPDATE

NASA and Boeing are targeting an early February 2023 launch for the first CST-100 Starliner flight with astronauts to the International Space Station.

Preparations are underway for the launch of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT) as teams work to ready the hardware, crew, and mission support teams for flight as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

NASA’s innovative Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission is in the midst of a four-month long voyage to the moon after launch aboard a Rocket Lab rocket from New Zealand on June 28. There was a presentation earlier this month that provided more information about the mission and its progress at the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., August 25, 2022 (CASIS PR) – A next-generation vest will launch onboard NASA’s next-generation spacecraft intended to send astronauts back to the Moon. The purpose of this vest? To protect astronauts from the enhanced radiation they will be exposed to when they travel beyond low Earth orbit. Radiation exposure is a primary concern for space exploration, and ensuring that astronauts have the ability to live and work effectively—and safely—during future Moon missions is crucial.

BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 26, 2022 – Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries, has concluded final launch preparations for LunIR. The groundbreaking lunar satellite will launch aboard NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) as part of the Artemis I mission. The rocket is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center on August 29 at 8:33 a.m. E.T. LunIR willtake images of the lunar surface with a new infrared imager that could be useful in supporting future NASA planetary and lunar exploration efforts.

• Companies share their vision to provide truly universal coverage, pairing SpaceX’s breakthrough satellite constellation with T‑Mobile’s industry‑leading wireless network
• New service aims to connect vast majority of smartphones already on T‑Mobile’s network to Starlink satellites
• Companies issue invitation to world’s carriers to expand globally with reciprocal roaming

BROWNSVILLE, Texas, August 25, 2022 (T-Mobile/SpaceX PR) — In a live event today, T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) CEO and President Mike Sievert and SpaceX Chief Engineer Elon Musk announced Coverage Above and Beyond: a breakthrough new plan to bring cell phone connectivity everywhere. Leveraging Starlink, SpaceX’s constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, and T-Mobile’s industry-leading wireless network, the Un-carrier plans to provide near complete coverage in most places in the U.S. – even in many of the most remote locations previously unreachable by traditional cell signals.

By Karl B. Hille
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

GREENBELT, Md. — Finding water on the Moon could be easier with a Goddard technology that uses an effect called quantum tunneling to generate a high-powered terahertz laser, filling a gap in existing laser technology.

Locating water and other resources is a NASA priority crucial to exploring Earth’s natural satellite and other objects in the solar system and beyond. Previous experiments inferred, then confirmed the existence of small amounts of water across the Moon. However, most technologies do not distinguish among water, free hydrogen ions, and hydroxyl, as the broadband detectors used cannot distinguish between the different volatiles.

Goddard engineer Dr. Berhanu Bulcha said a type of instrument called a heterodyne spectrometer could zoom in on particular frequencies to definitively identify and locate water sources on the Moon. It would need a stable, high-powered, terahertz laser, which was prototyped in collaboration with Longwave Photonics through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

By David Bullock
Staff Writer

There are mentorship and coaching programs for people who want to boost their space career, start a new company, or simply break into the industry. Below, we look at three people who offer these services.