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

Boeing / John Grant Starliner Fueled for Crew Flight Test (News Release) With propellant loading complete, the Boeing spacecraft will soon be transported to the launch site. The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is fully-fueled for the Crew Flight Test (CFT), now targeted to launch to the International Space Station on May 6. Over the past two weeks, specially-trained technicians loaded five different commodities into the spacecraft. Each commodity goes in individually and in sequential order under the careful direction of Starliner’s test team. “Samples were taken and specialized test ..read more

NASA / Danny Nowlin NASA Achieves Milestone for Engines to Power Future Artemis Missions (News Release) NASA achieved a major milestone on April 3 for production of new RS-25 engines to help power its Artemis campaign to the Moon and beyond with completion of a critical engine certification test series at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The 12-test series represents a key step for lead engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, to build new RS-25 engines, using modern processes and manufacturing techniques, for NASA’s SLS (Space La ..read more

Lunar Outpost NASA Selects Companies to Advance Moon Mobility for Artemis Missions (News Release) NASA has selected Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab to advance capabilities for a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) that Artemis astronauts will use to travel around the lunar surface, conducting scientific research during the agency’s Artemis campaign at the Moon and preparing for human missions to Mars. The awards leverage NASA’s expertise in developing and operating rovers to build commercial capabilities that support scientific discovery and long-term human exploration on th ..read more