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      In exchange for a lunar rover, Japan will get seats on Moon-landing missions

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 11 April - 12:30

    Artist's illustration of a pressurized lunar rover design conceived by Toyota and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

    Enlarge / Artist's illustration of a pressurized lunar rover design conceived by Toyota and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. (credit: Toyota/JAXA )

    On the sidelines of the state visit by the Japanese prime minister to Washington this week, US and Japanese officials have signed an agreement to cement a partnership that will pave the way for a Japanese astronaut to walk on the Moon.

    The Japanese astronaut, still unnamed, will become the first international astronaut to walk on the Moon under the auspices of the NASA-led Artemis program. Astronauts from NASA's other major partners on Artemis—the European Space Agency (ESA), Canada, and the United Arab Emirates—will also get a chance to fly to the Moon, either to the planned Gateway space station in lunar orbit or on trips to the surface.

    But Japan will get the first international seat on a lunar landing mission, President Biden announced Wednesday during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Other topics on the agenda for the official visit included deepening economic, military, scientific, and educational ties between the two nations.

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      Space experts foresee an “operational need” for nuclear power on the Moon

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 4 April - 13:36

    Engineers from NASA and the National Nuclear Safety Administration lower the wall of a vacuum chamber around the KRUSTY experiment, the Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling Technology.

    Enlarge / Engineers from NASA and the National Nuclear Safety Administration lower the wall of a vacuum chamber around the KRUSTY experiment, the Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling Technology. (credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory )

    In February, NASA celebrated the arrival of the first US-made lander on the Moon in more than 50 years, an achievement that helps pave the way for the return of American astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade. But the clock was ticking for Intuitive Machines' Odysseus spacecraft after touching down on February 22 near the Moon's south pole.

    Each day and night on the Moon lasts two weeks. When the Sun sets, a solar-powered lunar lander like Odysseus is starved of energy. Temperatures during the lunar night plummet, bottoming out at around minus 280° Fahrenheit (minus 173° Celsius).

    Over the course of two weeks, these cold temperatures can damage sensitive spacecraft equipment, killing a lander even if it could start generating power again at lunar sunrise. Surviving the night requires heat and electricity, and NASA officials say nuclear power is one of the most attractive solutions to this problem.

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      La Lune pourrait avoir son propre réseau de chemin de fer

      news.movim.eu / JournalDuGeek · Friday, 22 March - 12:34

    Train Lune

    Construire des trains sur la Lune pourrait permettre de transporter des astronautes et de grandes quantités de ressources, afin de faciliter la colonisation de notre satellite.
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      Rocket Report: A new estimate of Starship costs; Japan launches spy satellite

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Friday, 19 January - 12:00 · 1 minute

    An H-IIA rocket lifts off with the IGS Optical-8 spy satellite.

    Enlarge / An H-IIA rocket lifts off with the IGS Optical-8 spy satellite. (credit: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)

    Welcome to Edition 6.27 of the Rocket Report! This week, we discuss an intriguing new report looking at Starship. Most fascinating, the report covers SpaceX's costs to build a Starship and how these costs will come down as the company ramps up its build and launch cadence. At the other end of the spectrum, former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has a plan to get astronauts back to the Moon that would wholly ignore the opportunities afforded by Starship.

    As always, we welcome reader submissions , and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

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    The problem at America's military spaceports. The Biden administration is requesting $1.3 billion over the next five years to revamp infrastructure at the Space Force's ranges in Florida and California, Ars reports . This will help address things like roads, bridges, utilities, and airfields that, in many cases, haven't seen an update in decades. But it's not enough, according to the Space Force. Last year, Cape Canaveral was the departure point for 72 orbital rocket launches, and officials anticipate more than 100 this year. The infrastructure and workforce at the Florida spaceport could support about 150 launches in a year without any major changes, but launch activity is likely to exceed that number within a few years.

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      C’est fichu pour Peregrine, mais d’autres alunisseurs arrivent en force en 2024

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Monday, 15 January - 15:40

    OrbitBeyond rover

    L'échec de la mission Peregrine ne met pas un terme aux ambitions américaines sur la Lune. Plusieurs autres atterrisseurs doivent être envoyés sur le satellite en 2024.

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      La mission lunaire Peregrine va revenir sur Terre pour y mourir

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Monday, 15 January - 09:49

    Terre Lune

    La mission Peregrine ne touchera jamais le sol lunaire. Aujourd'hui, l'alunisseur est en route pour revenir vers la Terre. Il entrera bientôt dans l'atmosphère pour s'y consumer. Ce sera alors la fin du voyage.

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      Après deux explosions, la fusée gigantesque de SpaceX va retenter sa chance

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Friday, 12 January - 09:36

    starship

    Le nouvel essai du Starship surviendrait dès février, selon SpaceX. La fusée est pratiquement prête. Il ne reste qu'à décrocher l'approbation du régulateur américain.

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      L’échec de Peregrine remet-il en cause les projets de la NASA ?

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Thursday, 11 January - 11:55

    Peregrine n'a pas réussi à atteindre la Lune. Premier né des programmes CLPS de la NASA, cet échec de l'atterrisseur remet à plus tard le retour des Etats-Unis sur la Lune via les compagnies privées.

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      C’est fichu : il n’y aura pas d’astronautes autour de la Lune en 2024

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Wednesday, 10 January - 09:23

    Artémis II Crew

    La Nasa a annoncé une révision de son calendrier concernant le programme Artémis. Le retour d'astronautes américains sur la Lune est reporté à 2026. Idem pour la mission consistant à survoler le satellite naturel avec un équipage.