Saturday, February 27, 2021

Tour the Perseverance Mars Rover’s New Home with Mission Experts

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

NASA Awards Gateway Launch to SpaceX

NASA announced it has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) to launch the foundational elements of the Gateway,a lunar orbital waystation to facilitate deep space missions, including the Artemis human exploration missions to the Moon.On the Gateway, which is 1/6th the size of the ISS,astronauts will prepare for landing on the lunar surface and NASA,its international and commercial partners will conduct unprecedented deep space science and technology investigations. The foundational elements of this small space station are the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE),built by Maxar Technology, and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), built by Northrop Grumman Space Systems. The PPE is a solar electric propulsion spacecraft that provides power,high speed communications, attitude control and propulsion that enables Gateway to reach various lunar orbits for maximum access to the lunar surface. The HALO is the pressurised living quarters for visiting astronauts, providing command and control and docking ports.As well,it supports science investigations;distributes power;provides communications to visiting vehicles and lunar surface expeditions, while supplementing Orion's life support systems. The Orion spacecraft will carry astronauts up to the Gateway, which will orbit the Moon at a maximum distance of tens of thousands of miles from the Moon.* The SpaceX Falcon-9 Heavy rocket will be used to launch the Gateway elements for around 331.8 million dollars.The launch will be no sooner than May 2024.* Maxar Technology Inc (MAXR), Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC)

Monday, February 8, 2021

Biden Greenlights Artemis Missions

President Joe Biden has approved the Artemis missions of human exploration of the Moon, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed in answer to a reporter's query last week.Artemis 1,an uncrewed test of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket,is to be launched later this year.This isn't really a surprise, given the White House request for a NASA Moon rock to display in the Oval Office-which was granted.* Artemis 2 will be the first crewed mission on Orion, taking humans farther into space than ever before in a high lunar orbit-tens of thousands of miles past the Moon.It will prepare the way for the first crewed landing on the Moon since the 1970s.Eventually, the Artemis missions could enable a voyage to Mars in the 2030s.* Lockheed Martin (LMT), Boeing (BA),Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings (AJRD)

U.S. Embassy Statement | U.S. Embassy in Belarus

U.S. Embassy Statement | U.S. Embassy in Belarus: February 7, 2021 Every day but especially today, “The Day of Solidarity with Belarus,” the United States stands with the Belarusian people in their yearning for democracy, liberty, and justice. Fundamental freedoms inherently belong to the people of all nations and are long overdue in independent, sovereign Belarus. In December, the United States Congress passed ...