SpaceX Work Underway on Large Cargo Landers for NASA’s Artemis Moon Missions (News Release - April 19) Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency and its partners will send large pieces of equipment to the lunar surface to enable long-term scientific exploration of the Moon for the benefit of all. NASA’s human landing system providers, SpaceX and Blue Origin, are beginning development of lunar landers for large cargo deliveries to support these needs. NASA has contracted SpaceX and Blue Origin to provide landing systems to take astronauts to the Moon’s surface from lunar orbit, beginning wi ..read more

NASA Slovenia Signs Artemis Accords, Joins Pursuit of Safer Space (Press Release - April 19) NASA and Slovenia affirmed their cooperation in future space endeavors on Friday as Slovenia became the 39th country to sign the Artemis Accords. The signing certified Slovenia’s commitment to pursue safe and sustainable exploration of space for the benefit of humanity and took place during a U.S.-Slovenia strategic dialogue in Ljubljana, Slovenia, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Offices. “NASA welcomes Slovenia to the Artemis Accords,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Today, the partnershi ..read more

NASA NASA Embraces Sweden as Newest Member of Artemis Accords Family (Press Release - April 16) On Tuesday, April 16, NASA welcomed Sweden as the 38th country to sign the Artemis Accords and commit to peaceful and safe space exploration. Minister for Education Dr. Mats Persson signed the accords on behalf of Sweden at an event in Stockholm. “NASA welcomes Sweden to the Artemis Accords family,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Our nations have worked together to discover new secrets in our Solar System, and now, we welcome you to a global coalition that is committed to exploring the he ..read more

NASA / Mehdi Benna NASA Goddard to Build Quake Detector for Artemis III Moon Landing (News Release - April 16) NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will build a moonquake detector for astronauts to deploy on the Moon in 2026 during the Artemis III mission, which will return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years. NASA selected the instrument, the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) as one of the first three potential payloads for Artemis III. LEMS is a compact, autonomous seismometer designed to carry out continuous, long-term ..read more

NASA NASA Welcomes Switzerland as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory (Press Release - April 15) Switzerland became the 37th country to sign the Artemis Accords at NASA Headquarters in Washington on Monday, April 15, affirming Switzerland’s commitment to the sustainable and beneficial use of space for all humankind. “Today, we marked a giant leap forward in the partnership between the United States and Switzerland,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “As we welcome you into the Artemis Accords family, we expand our commitment to explore the unknown openly and peacefully. Discovery strengthe ..read more

Boeing Starliner Rollout to Space Launch Complex-41 Complete (News Release) The spacecraft now sits atop an Atlas V rocket The first CST-100 Starliner to fly astronauts rolled out of its factory early in the morning on Tuesday, April 16, with teammates and astronauts there to wish the spacecraft farewell. The spacecraft emerged from the back of the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility on a transport vehicle and left the parking lot at about 5 a.m. Eastern Time. It then made a slow, carefully orchestrated, 10-mile (16-kilometer) trek to United Launch Alliance’s Vertical Integratio ..read more

Boeing Starliner Rollout Preparations Continue (News Release) Weight and center-of-gravity operations complete Following fueling and checkout operations, the Boeing team moved the Crew Flight Test spacecraft out of the Starliner facility’s hazardous processing area to a machine that weighs and measures the center of gravity (CG) of the spacecraft. Using the high bay crane, the engineers and technicians lifted Starliner into place and secured it onto the machine. Previous weigh-ins of the Crew Module and Service Module, where the weight and CG machine tilts the elements up to 30 degrees al ..read more

David Wellendorf Artemis II Orion Inside Altitude Chamber (Photo Release - April 10) On April 10, 2024, the Artemis II Orion spacecraft is seen inside the west altitude chamber in the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will undergo electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing. Source: NASA.Gov **** Inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion #Artemis II capsule is lifted into a vacuum chamber...where the Moon-bound spacecraft will undergo electromagnetic compatibility and int ..read more

NASA, Japan Advance Space Cooperation, Sign Agreement for Lunar Rover (News Release) NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Masahito Moriyama have signed an agreement to advance sustainable human exploration of the Moon. Japan will design, develop and operate a pressurized rover for crewed and uncrewed exploration on the Moon. NASA will provide the launch and delivery of the rover to the Moon as well as two opportunities for Japanese astronauts to travel to the lunar surface. Today, President Biden and Prime Ministe ..read more

NASA White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Releases Celestial Time Standardization Policy (Press Release - April 2) Knowledge of time in distant space-operating regimes is fundamental to the scientific discovery, economic development and international collaboration that form the basis of U.S. leadership in space. Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is releasing the first-ever U.S. government policy memorandum on time standards at and around celestial bodies other than Earth, building upon the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Cislunar Sci ..read more