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NASA To Lead Way With Lunar Robotics, Mining? April 7, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : lunar mining, NASA, Post-Constellation, robotics, rover , 2comments

The Google Lunar X PRIZE features a bonanza of robotic rover concepts (and companies with plans to continue working on the moon with robotics), but a Space.com article today notes NASA’s plans to blaze the path with their own post-Constellation rover missions:

“”The area where NASA could perhaps lead — an area which could affect society greatly — is robotics.” – Robert Braun, NASA Chief Technologist;’ NASA Plans New Robot Generation to Explore Moon, Asteroids’, Space.com

The article cites the 2011 NASA Budget Proposal as planning two lunar  robotics missions, starting next year. (See Page 8 of the Proposal Overview [PDF]). One mission would test remote control of robotics from Earth or even the ISS, and the other could be a mission to test mining techniques for water and other in-situ resources. The proposal overview elaborates a little on the latter—saying missions could include “demonstrating a factory to process lunar or asteroid materials…”.

These missions sound like they’d go a long way towards NASA’s new role in supporting private space. By demonstrating and testing both control and method for utilizing lunar resources, they could really spur along companies that otherwise might not want to take on the risk or cost of figuring out the initial techniques.

Check out the article for an interesting quote from Peter Diamandis on the Google Lunar X PRIZE’s goal re: NASA, and the full skinny of details :)

Tons Of Water Ice Found at Lunar North Pole! March 1, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Chandrayaan, Chandrayaan-1, NASA, Odyssey Moon, Polar ice, water , 1 comment so far

NASA’s Mini-RF instrument on India’s Chandryaan-1 orbiter has revealed, like the LCROSS ‘moon bombing’ and NASA’s other Chandrayaan probe (the M3) before it, evidence of water on the moon.

This time, it’s at least 600 million metric tons (!!) of ice deposits in craters at the lunar north pole—an enormous number! By comparison, the LCROSS impact turned up about 100kg of water (~22 gallons). Essentially this means that like Cabeus in the South, the ‘40 or more‘ permanently-shadowed craters investigated at the lunar north pole harbor that kind of ice.

“The new discoveries show the moon is an even more interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and operational destination than people had previously thought.”- Paul Spudis, principal investigator of the Mini-SAR experiment at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (and chief lunar scientist of Google Lunar X PRIZE team Odyssey Moon); “Tons of Water Ice Found on the Moon’s North Pole”, Space.com

This should mean that the North Pole—and any permanently-shadowed crater—should have any lunar prospectors (human, robotic, or otherwise) salivating.

Santa (as reported by Apollo 8) better like company… :)

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #9 February 6, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Commercial Crew Development [CCDev], Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup, NASA , 2comments

With the cancellation of NASA’s Constellation program this week—and subsequent shift to a focus on private space—the Google Lunar X PRIZE has taken on greatly added significance, especially to Americans, as private space essentially is becoming our program. What role America plays in the integration and colonization of the Moon, will now be driven by what our private companies and citizens can accomplish.

Keep an eye here this coming week for a special look at the American Google Lunar X PRIZE efforts, and what they’re up to as they (along with companies like SpaceX) take on the mantle :)

But, without further ado, here’s your two-week edition of the GLXP Roundup!:

The X PRIZE Foundation held their third Google Lunar X PRIZE team summit! A recap:

All the other news and bits from across the spectrum:

Phew! Tons of big stuff for that one, and virtually all of it was in only one of the two weeks. Pace should only continue with NASA’s new mandate :) Keep an eye out this week for my posts on the American GLXP efforts and on those big CCDev contracts!

Reactions to Cancellation of Constellation February 3, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : NASA, Obama, private sector, Sen. Bill Nelson, Senate , add a comment

The Obama administration’s cancellation of the Constellation program (and its plan to return to the Moon) has understandably sparked quite a, ah, constellation of reactions and commentary. Here’s a quick look at the spectrum:

First and foremost, and most telling, is what current NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said about the decision:

“The truth is that we were not on a path to get back to the moon’s surface.” -Charles Bolden

That suggests there were far deeper issues at hand than just Ares and various delays, and that Constellation’s future had developed into a black hole. That complicates the efforts of many in Congress (usually from constituencies with many NASA jobs) to fire ‘salvos‘ back and keep the program:

“We’re going to have to get the president to do more for NASA. America’s global leadership in science and technology is at stake if we don’t maintain a more robust space exploration program.” -Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL)

“The cancellation of Orion is especially troubling and goes against the recommendations of the Augustine Commission.  The State of Florida has made significant investments to prepare KSC facilities for Orion, and the Space Coast anticipated, invested in, and planned for the commitment to be fulfilled in order to help preserve jobs.” -Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL)

While Congress is clearly not thrilled (unless you’ve got a private spaceport developing in your backyard), private space is happy to take on the mantle:

“President Obama has given NASA a bold and exciting new mission: to once again push the limits in technology and exploration, promote innovation, and foster a vibrant commercial spaceflight sector…This initiative is on par with the government Airmail Act that spurred the growth of early aviation and led to today’s passenger airline industry, which generates billions of dollars annually for the American economy.” -Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

All of this, Bolden’s quote in particular, is, I think, neatly bookended by the expression today from a certain lunar authority:

“Thank you, Mr. President.” -Buzz Aldrin

It's Official: Constellation Cancelled, No NASA Return to Moon; Shift Towards Private Space February 1, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Constellation, NASA, Norm Augustine, Obama, SpaceX, U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, Vision for Space Exploration , 7comments

With the release of its 2011 budget proposal, the Obama administration has concurrently announced, in no uncertain terms, that the current NASA Constellation program is cancelled.

“The President’s Budget cancels Constellation and replaces it with a bold new approach that invests in the building blocks of a more capable approach to space exploration…” -Official White House website, 2011 Budget fact Sheet

The fact sheet goes on to explain the new direction focusing on private space, including some significant funds:

“Entire new industries”, “catalyzing new businesses” and jobs…As hinted at in his campaign space plan (and by his initial Commerce Secretary appointment of NM Gov. Bill Richardson), Obama clearly believes in the economic potential of an industry-focused NASA. Note that the ISS contract mentioned there is already awarded—SpaceX just needs to prove its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule are human-ready for the option to vest, and both Orbital and SpaceX are already the new ISS cargo suppliers.

What does this mean for moon colonization? It means that NASA itself won’t be landing anyone on the moon.

There is a lot of ‘doom and gloom’ out there about how there won’t be humans on the Moon anytime soon, which is a false assertion—the Chinese program is full-steam-ahead, and if private space can be trusted with the ISS contracts at this early stage, then they’re on a course to be putting men on the Moon before long; perhaps even before NASA would have landed men anyways.

Americans will be on the Moon again soon; they’ll just have to hitch a ride with a company or an international effort to get there. And the U.S. will remain a major lunar player, with many private companies and Google Lunar X PRIZE efforts being American.

The fact sheet doesn’t say anything about new human exploration options, such as the ‘Flexible Path‘ suggested by the Augustine panel, so word remains to be seen regarding that, and whether NASA will shift to a manned asteroid mission or mission to Mars’ moons.

Widespread Reports: No Funding for NASA Return to Moon; $6 Billion for Private Space January 27, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Constellation, NASA, Obama, private sector , 1 comment so far

Ahead of Obama’s 2011 budget proposal in February (which officials have said will be where he reveals his direction for NASA), widespread reports have surfaced confirming that there will not be funding for NASA’s plans to return to the moon, effectively ending any attempt by NASA to establish a lunar base without international or private cooperation.

At the same time, there’s word that Obama has authorized that NASA’s budget actually be increased over the next few years, namely with a $6 billion project to spur the development of commercial rockets (e.g., SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 and Lockheed/Boeing‘s Atlas V and  Delta IV):

“We do believe it is time for American companies to come into this program. The investment in that will be $6 billion over five years. This is serious, serious investment that we believe will reduce that gap [in human spaceflight] from what it would have been with the program of record between shuttle retirement and the Ares I and Orion [capsule] coming on line.”- An unspecified administration official; “Obama officials: NASA to get $6 billion for commercial rockets“, Orlando Sentinel

This was foreshadowed back in Obama’s 2008 campaign space plan—where he planned to “amplify NASA’s reach” with the private sector.

With the Ares 1 rocket facing cancellation and Constellation seeing severe delays as a result of that, private space may have managed to land a man on the Moon long before NASA got there, even with full budgeting. So I see this as acknowledgement of that inevitability–and of the economic benefit of taking all those billions and directing them back into the economy (via private space), while effectively accomplishing the same thing.

Sister Blog to Luna C/I Launched: Astronauts on 'Roids! January 20, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Astronauts on Roids, NASA, Obama , 1 comment so far

I’ve now launched an additional space blog: Astronauts on ‘Roids!

With NASA and President Obama reportedly looking very seriously at making a manned asteroid mission NASA’s new mandate, I’ve launched a new blog at http://www.asteroidmission.com to cover all the developments :) It’ll run concurrently with Luna C/I, as even if NASA doesn’t itself build a moon base after all, there’s all kinds of other nations and private efforts going full steam ahead.

To see how this potential manned asteroid mission came about, keep an eye on ‘Roids as I’ll be detailing the story as Obama’s State of the Union address (January 27th) and 2010 budget (early February) approach, with NASA’s future direction to be set by one of the two :) And stay tuned here as the Google Lunar X PRIZE and other private and international efforts heat up to full swing…

Orbiting Atlas #2: Cabeus December 21, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Cabeus, LCROSS, NASA, Orbiting Atlas , add a comment

For our second exploration of notable locations on the Moon, we look at the site of NASA’s famous “Moon Bombing” with its LCROSS craft…

Cabeus

A crater enveloped in deep shadow, about 80 miles north of Shackleton and the lunar South Pole (and ~1,000 miles south of the nearest Mare), Cabeus  had drawn a lot of attention because that permanent shadow meant a possibility of valuable water ice.

In October 2009, NASA proceeded to explore the possibility by crashing an LCROSS payload and its spent Centaur rocket into the darkness of Cabeus to try and stir up some of that ice. Turns out that “moon bombing” was successful—water was found in impressive quantities.

This makes the lunar south pole, already a prime target for colonial efforts, even more valuable a location. With only that short 80 miles seperating the solar-rich Shackleton rim and Cabeus’ water holdings, this region could rapidly become one of the most well-developed areas of the colonial Moon—the next New England? :)

Here’s a video of the moon bombing (embedded below), enhanced by Zebonka on Youtube to show the impact flash; and also, check out this brief video that gives a great feel of the location of Cabeus!

Report: Obama Decides on $1 Billion NASA Budget Boost and New Heavy-Lift Launcher? December 20, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Ares I, Augustine Panel, Base Race, Constellation, NASA, Norm Augustine, Obama, U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee , add a comment

A report by the blog ScienceInsider quotes sources as saying that Obama last week decided, in a meeting with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, on his immediate direction for NASA: an additional $1 Billion in budget, a new heavy lift launcher to replace the Ares 1, and potentially a shift in mission destinations away from the Moon (!).

The Augustine Report (PDF) recommended as an option a manned flight to an asteroid instead of the Moon—as soon as the early 2020s–an option that, according to this new ScienceInsider report, has the White House “more intrigued” than a return to the Moon (which, with a scrapping of the Ares 1 rocket, would be delayed until at least the mid 2020s…much later than the potential manned asteroid landing, or even a landing on a moon of Mars).

With the Moon well within the sights of private space and numerous other nations, it would be perhaps redundant for NASA to have it’s own full-fledged lunar program. NASA skipping the moon, then, is not a death knell to moon colonization, and could be a shrewd choice with many major private space firms (SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, etc.) being American anyways.

Check out the ScienceInsider blog’s report for the full details. An announcement reportedly could come as soon as this week and as late as February, so stay tuned…

NASA Administrator Bolden—Announcements at Public Lunch Event? November 28, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Charles Bolden, NASA , add a comment

NASA Watch reports that NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden is not only going to be speaking at a public luncheon for Women in Aerospace, but that there could be major announcements at the event.

It’s $70 a ticket for the two-hour lunch event on Wednesday, December 9th from 11:30am to 1:30pm, and will be at the Ritz-Carlton by the Pentagon in Arlington, VA (map). So if you’re a space enthusiast along the Beltway who’d like to be there (and perhaps even shoot him a question or two during the Q+A), check out the WIA event page :)