Friday, May 31, 2019

NASA Selects 3 Companies to Build Commercial Lunar Landers Advancing Artemis Moon Landing Program


Commercial landers will carry NASA-provided science and technology payloads to the lunar surface, paving the way for NASA astronauts to land on the Moon by 2024.  Credits: NASA
Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 31 May 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced today the selection of the first 3 American companies contracted to build commercial robotic lunar landers carrying NASA science payloads to the Moon’s surface in support of and to  advance the agencies Artemis human lunar landing program #Moon2024 to return American astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024. 

“We are going to the Moon — to stay. Today, I am revealing the American companies who will deliver science & technology to the lunar surface. Congratulations to @Astrobotic, @Int_Machines & @OrbitBeyond!” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in a NASA TV broadcast and media briefing, today May 31. 

The first commercial lunar landing could place as soon as September 2020 by Orbit Beyond. Their Z-01 lander will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9.

The other two companies are targeting launches in June and July 2021. Intuitive Machines will launch their Nova-C lander also on a Falcon 9. The launcher for the Astrobotic Peregrine lander is yet to be determined.  

Each of the 3 private landers will carry science and technology payloads supplied and selected by NASA. 

“Our selection of these U.S. commercial landing service providers represents America’s return to the Moon’s surface for the first time in decades, and it’s a huge step forward for our Artemis lunar exploration plans.” 

”Next year, our initial science and technology research will be on the lunar surface, which will help support sending the first woman and the next man to the Moon in five years. Investing in these commercial landing services also is another strong step to build a commercial space economy beyond low-Earth orbit.”

The combined value of the contracts is about $250 million to carry up to 23 NASA payloads. 

The three companies selected to provide commercial Moon landing services will deliver NASA science and technology payloads under Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) as part of the Artemis program.
Orbit Beyond of Edison, New Jersey, has proposed to fly as many as four payloads to a lava plain in one of the Moon’s craters.  Credits: Orbit Beyond
CLPS represents a completely new way of doing business for NASA science and the agency hopes this commercial approach will vastly speed up the development process and deliver payloads to the lunar surface much quicker and for less money than under a solely NASA run program.

Under CLPS NASA is the customer for the commercial lunar launders which will be designed and built by the 3 companies not by NASA, although NASA will provide some oversight and help as the companies meet and achieve milestones to receive payments.

“These private partners will us get to the Moon. They will build the spacecraft,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, during the NASA webcast announcement from NASA Goddard In Maryland.

In fact NASA is just one of multiple customers for each of the commercial companies which will also include non-NASA US entities and international space agencies. 
Intuitive Machines of Houston has proposed to fly as many as five payloads to a scientifically intriguing dark spot on the Moon.  Credits: Intuitive Machines
Here are the selections as outlined by NASA including the contract amounts, landing sites and dates:


·        Astrobotic of Pittsburgh has been awarded $79.5 million and has proposed to fly as many as 14 payloads to Lacus Mortis, a large crater on the near side of the Moon, by July 2021.


·        Intuitive Machines of Houston has been awarded $77 million. The company has proposed to fly as many as five payloads to Oceanus Procellarum, a scientifically intriguing dark spot on the Moon, by July 2021.  

·        Orbit Beyond of Edison, New Jersey, has been awarded $97 million and has proposed to fly as many as four payloads to Mare Imbrium, a lava plain in one of the Moon’s craters, by September 2020. 
Astrobotic of Pittsburgh has proposed to fly as many as 14 payloads to a large crater on the near side of the Moon.  Credits: Astrobotic
“These landers are just the beginning of exciting commercial partnerships that will bring us closer to solving the many scientific mysteries of our Moon, our solar system, and beyond,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. 

“What we learn will not only change our view of the universe, but also prepare our human missions to the Moon and eventually Mars.”

NASA’s lunar orbiting  LRO spacecraft will provide high resolution imagery and spectral data to each company to assist them with their proposed landing sites.  

“Each partner is providing end-to-end commercial payload delivery services to NASA, including payload integration and operations, launch from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. These early missions will enable important technology demonstrations that will inform the development of future landers and other exploration systems needed for humans to return to the lunar surface. They also will help prepare the agency to send astronauts to explore Mars,” according to a NASA description.

NASA is preparing task orders for future lunar landing missions.

During the telecon I asked when will NASA send a probe to the lunar South Pole to sample and analyze the composition of the lunar water ice in the permanently shadowed craters.

NASA’s Steve Clarke, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s science mission directorate, responded that such a mission is upcoming possibly in 2022 or 2023.

It may by a NASA run mission and could perhaps also involve a sample return. 

Stay tuned.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
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Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events









Wednesday, May 29, 2019

SpaceX Thrice Flown and Landed 1st Stage from Starlink Sails into Port Canaveral: Photos


UpClose with Octagrabber arms grasping upright thrice flown/landed 
Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 standing upright on the OCISLY droneship from SpaceX Starlink 1 launch May 23, 2019 arrived in Port Canaveral, FL around noontime May 28. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 29 May 2019

PORT CANAVERAL/CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL –  SpaceX’s thrice flown and thrice landed Falcon 9 first stage from last weeks Starlink 1 launch sailed into Port Canaveral at lunchtime Tuesday basking in the glow of the Sunshine states bright sun – 4 days after it soared aloft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and successfully delivered the first 60 Starlink broadband satellites to LEO.

Standing fully upright and firmly grasped by the arms of the specially designed Octagrabber restraining device atop the “Of Course I Still Love You” (OCISLY) droneship upon which it accomplished a precision guided, rocket assisted smooth touchdown the recovered 156 foot tall spent booster with four fully deployed landing legs sailed into the mouth of Port Canaveral around 11:30 a.m. EDT.
SpaceX naval fleet towing thrice flown/landed Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 from Starlink 1 launch May 23 enters Port Canaveral at 1130 a.m. EDT May 28, 2019. Tug Hollywood towed the Falcon 9 landed upright on the OCISLY droneship as onlookers watch from Jetty Park Pier, FL.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
A crowd of onlookers and space media friends eagerly awaited the rockets triumphant arrival as the SpaceX naval fleet led by tug Hollywood towed the recycled Falcon 9 first stage erect on OCISLY past the port channels entryway at Jetty Park Pier.

Enjoy our Space UpClose photo gallery of the arrival and docking of Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 at the droneships normal berthing port.

Check back as our gallery grows.
SpaceX naval fleet towing thrice flown/landed Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 from Starlink 1 launch May 23 enters Port Canaveral at 1130 a.m. EDT May 28, 2019 in this overhead view from Exploration Tower. Tug Hollywood towed the Falcon 9 landed upright on the OCISLY droneship.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Liftoff of the Starlink 1 mission finally took place at 10:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, May 23 (0230 GMT Friday) from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.

Eight minutes later the Falcon 9 first stage successfully made a precision rocket assisted intact and upright touchdown on the ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ droneship prepositioned in the Atlantic Coast off the Carolinas. 

Falcon 9’s first stage for this mission previously supported the Telstar 18 VANTAGE mission in September 2018 and the Iridium-8 mission in January 2019. 
Tug Hollywood tows thrice flown/landed Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 from Starlink 1 launch May 23 entering Port Canaveral, FL at 1130 a.m. EDT May 28, 2019 as it sails by Jetty Park Pier.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
To my eyes the triply launched and landed first stage was NOT excessively charred compared to my prelaunch photos taken at launch pad 40.

The SpaceX workers had cleaned off much of the charry soot from the booster exterior core to create a regular series of nearly white rectangular boxes aligned on top of one another from top to bottom – that were easily visible in my last prelaunch photos.

The rectangular boxes were easily visible as the 1st stage was towed in and appeared to be only slightly darker following the third launch and landing.

Perhaps SpaceX engineers conducted an experiment to more easily measure the amount of new soot deposited via a side by side comparison using the cleaned vs uncleaned spots. 
SpaceX naval fleet towing thrice flown/landed Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 from Starlink 1 launch May 23 enters Port Canaveral at 1130 a.m. EDT May 28, 2019 in this overhead view from Exploration Tower. Tug Hollywood towed the Falcon 9 landed upright on the OCISLY droneship.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Overall it took about 30 minutes from Port arrival to docking of OCISLY at its normal berthing port. Everything appeared to go very well. 

Its quite possible that this Block 5 version booster will be launched a fourth time. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has stated that the Block 5 is designed for 10 or more recycled launches.
UpClose with Octagrabber arms grasping upright thrice flown/landed 
Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 standing upright on the OCISLY droneship from SpaceX Starlink 1 launch May 23, 2019 arrived in Port Canaveral, FL around noontime May 28 -in this overhead view from Exploration Tower. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
The jettisoned payload fairings were both recovered after parachute assisted splashdown, hauled out of the Atlantic Ocean and sailed into Port Canaveral, Sunday, May 26. See our story/photos.  

OCISLY docked nearby the fairings.
Tugboats towed recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 booster landed atop OCISLY into Port Canaveral and nudged it into berthing spot at Noon May 28, as yellow hoisting crane and BLLRD cap awaits ship to shore duty just hours later at 4 PM ET. From Starlink 1 launch May 23. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Watch for my follow-up articles and galleries about the craning and leg detachments. 

The landing legs were not retracted this time round- likely since the legs were recycled and not suited for retraction due to aerodynamic stresses as did occur last time on the CRS-17 mission earlier in May. 
UpClose with Octagrabber arms grasping upright thrice flown/landed 
Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 standing upright on the OCISLY droneship from SpaceX Starlink 1 launch May 23, 2019 arrived in Port Canaveral, FL around noontime May 28 -in this overhead view from Exploration Tower. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Thrice flown/landed Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 from Starlink 1 launch May 23 towed into Port Canaveral, FL at 11:30 a.m. EDT May 28, 2019 as onlookers observe in Jetty Park. Note the white rectangular boxes intentionally clean off prelaunch- appeared only somewhat more sooty post launch. Recovered SpaceX Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
SpaceX’s highly anticipated Starlink broadband constellation has begun with the 1st blastoff of the inaugural batch of 60 satellites on the firms Falcon 9  rocket on what turned out to be the third try on May 23 as the recycled Falcon 9 rocket soared to space. 

In the not to distant future the Starlink constellation will grow to many thousands of next generation satellites that could very will revolutionize the way the world accesses and uses the internet in the next few years by slashing prices and broadening coverage to hard to reach places across the globe.

At least that’s the hope and dream put forth by SpaceX CEO and billionaire founder Elon Musk for his planned network of Low Earth orbiting (LEO) Starlink satellites aiming  to provide global high speed broadband internet services to customers worldwide.

Up to 6 more Starlink launches could take place this year, Musk tweeted post launch. 

Developing and building the first 60 Starlink satellites “is one of the hardest engineering projects I’ve ever seen done [and SpaceX has ever undertaken],” Musk said as he outlined his first detailed vision of the firms Starlink broadband constellation in a prelaunch media conference call on May 15 - just hours prior to the original target launch date that eventually was scrubbed minutes before liftoff due to powerful upper altitude winds.
“The goal of the Starlink system is to provide high bandwidth, low latency connectivity, ideally throughout the world  that will offer an alternative to expensive services and also provide internet options to places where no connectivity is currently available.” 

Watch my SpaceX launch commentary and rocket photos at this Fox 35 Orlando report from May 16 launch attempt:


Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Starlink Broadband Constellation Begins with 1st Blast Off on SpaceX Falcon 9: Photo/Video Gallery


9 Merlin 1D engines and 1 Gripper arm + Fire & Ice - Up Close look at SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 1 launch on 23 May 2019 at 1030 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL that successfully delivered 1st 60 Starlink broadband satellites to LEO. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 26 May 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL –  SpaceX’s highly anticipated Starlink broadband constellation has begun with the 1st blastoff of the inaugural batch of 60 satellites on the firms Falcon 9  rocket on what turned out to be the third try on Thursday evening May 23 as the recycled Falcon 9 rocket soared to space. 

In the not to distant future the Starlink constellation will grow to many thousands of next generation satellites that could very will revolutionize the way the world accesses and uses the internet in the next few years by slashing prices and broadening coverage to hard to reach places across the globe.

At least that’s the hope and dream put forth by SpaceX CEO and billionaire founder Elon Musk for his planned network of Low Earth orbiting (LEO) Starlink satellites aiming  to provide global high speed broadband internet services to customers worldwide.

Up to 6 more Starlink launches could take place this year, Musk tweeted post launch.

Enjoy our Space UpClose gallery of photo and video imagery from the launch and prelaunch activities.

Check back as the gallery grows.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off with 1st batch of 60 SpaceX manufactured Starlink broadband satellites at 10:30 p.m. ET on May 23, 2019 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL on Starlink-1 mission.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Starlink 1 comsat launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 on 23 May 2019 from Cape Canaveral, FL.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Developing and building the first 60 Starlink satellites “is one of the hardest engineering projects I’ve ever seen done [and SpaceX has ever undertaken],” Musk said as he outlined his first detailed vision of the firms Starlink broadband constellation in a prelaunch media conference call on May 15 - just hours prior to the original target launch date that eventually was scrubbed minutes before liftoff due to powerful upper altitude winds.

“The goal of the Starlink system is to provide high bandwidth, low latency connectivity, ideally throughout the world  that will offer an alternative to expensive services and also provide internet options to places where no connectivity is currently available.” 
9 Merlin 1D engines and 1 Gripper arm + Fire & Ice - Up Close look at SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 1 launch on 23 May 2019 at 1030 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL that successfully delivered 1st 60 Starlink broadband satellites to LEO. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Liftoff of the Starlink 1 mission finally took place at 10:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, May 23 (0230 GMT Friday) from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.

The nighttime skies were mostly clear and offered a stunning spectacle for spectators as Falcon thundered off the launch pad and the engines roar crackled as loud as we’ve ever heard. 
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks to orbit with 1st batch of 60 SpaceX manufactured Starlink broadband satellites in this long exposure image after liftoff at 10:30 p.m. ET on May 23, 2019 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL on Starlink-1 mission.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Starlink 1 high speed internet comsat launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 on 23 May 2019 from Cape Canaveral, FL.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 ignited at 10;30 p.m. EDT right at the opening of the 90 minute long launch window with 1.7 million pounds of liftoff thrust spewing from the 9 Merlin 1D first stage engines fueled by liquid oxygen and RP-1 propellants.

Watch my launch video here:

Video Caption: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying maiden set of 60 SpaceX built Starlink high speed broadband satellites lifts off at 10:30 p.m. ET on May 23, 2019 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL on Starlink-1 mission - as seen in this video camera stationed at pad. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The Starlink 1 launch was scrubbed twice last week – first for excessive and powerful upper levels winds which could destroy the rocket on ascent through the atmosphere on the originally targeted date of May 15. And second to fix a pesky software issue that was only discovered several hours prior to the second attempt on May 16








The Starlink satellite deployments took place as planned approximately an hour after blastoff

“Starlink will connect the globe with reliable and affordable high-speed broadband services,” says SpaceX. 






The jettisoned payload fairings were both recovered after parachute assisted splashdown, hauled out of the Atlantic Ocean and sailed into Port Canaveral, Sunday, May 26. See our story/photos
1st recovered SpaceX payload fairing from Falcon 9 launch of 1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails back into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO NAVIGATOR vessel after crews hoisted it on board after ocean splashdown. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com



Watch my SpaceX launch commentary and rocket photos at this Fox 35 Orlando report from May 16 launch attempt:

http://www.fox35orlando.com/home/spacex-trying-again-for-launch-of-falcon-9-rocket
Dr. Ken Kremer/Space UpClose commentary about SpaceX Starlink-1 launch with Fox 35 WOFL Orlando TV News
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.


………….
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events