Spacepoint @Spacepointorg

"There are only 4 places we know of in the entire Universe that have a thick atmosphere and solid surface like we do here on Earth. Those are Venus, Earth, Mars and Titan." - Dr Jason Barnes, Dragonfly Deputy Principle Investigator Full article here > x.com/Spacepointorg/…

Spacepoint @Spacepointorg

2 days ago

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Starting with some energy, and my inability to write brief updates, I am just extremely proud of the NASA crew, our industry, and our international partners. We are getting into a rhythm here at NASA. Earlier this year, setbacks put the Artemis II rocket back in the VAB for repairs, and we determined it was necessary to add another mission, Artemis III in 2027. Since then, we have unveiled the Ignition plans to build a Moon Base and nuclear-powered spaceships, launched a highly successful mission around the Moon, brought the crew home safely, and now watched the torch pass to Artemis III. There will be no shortage of major milestones to celebrate in the months ahead as we build the Moon Base and launch the Nancy Grace Roman telescope. I am beyond proud of the team and all the momentum and excitement around the space program. I do want to take this moment to address two of the questions I have been seeing since the crew announcement. Why are there no women assigned to Artemis III? I have seen reactions ranging from disappointment to outrage. I have personally been to space twice with 50% female crews. My closest advisors and some of the smartest engineers I know are women. In our latest NASA leadership organization, nearly 50% of the Center Directors and Mission Directorate leadership are women. The last astronaut candidate class selected under this Administration was majority female because they were the best of the best, including one astronaut I previously went to space with. In a world with so much controversy, I hope this can be a moment where we celebrate the astronauts selected, respect the integrity of the process, and recognize the extraordinary depth of talent across the entire corps. The crew selection does not involve any political appointees. The Astronaut Office assigns the crew that gives the mission the best chance of meeting its objectives, taking into account many factors, including the background and expertise of the astronauts, such as test pilot experience, development work on specific programs, and availability. For example, those raising this concern may not be aware of the pipeline of crews already preparing to launch to the Space Station, or those who have been undergoing lunar-specific training that would be a better fit for a future surface mission. The Artemis III astronauts are experienced, qualified, and deserve to be celebrated for the mission they have been assigned, just as the crews that follow will be celebrated when their time comes. We have an extraordinary astronaut corps, and every mission and every crew is part of a larger campaign to get America back to the Moon and to build the future we all dreamed about as children. What are the objectives for Artemis III if both landers will not be fully ready? Coming off a highly successful lunar mission like Artemis II, it is not surprising that the bar is set high for Artemis III. I think it is important to understand how difficult and dangerous it is to land astronauts on the Moon. We have not done it in a very long time, and we want to draw from a past playbook for success. That means getting into a cadence of launching, learning, and rolling improvements into the next mission. First and foremost, it is imperative for SLS to be flying with some frequency for operational currency and, honestly, safety. Earlier this year, it was very clear across NASA leadership that an additional mission was necessary in 2027. It is also imperative to gain interoperability data from rendezvous and docking with landers in Earth orbit. We do not need those landers that are still in development to be fully capable and certified for landing on the Moon on Artemis III, but we do need to test certain systems and controllability. Not to mention, we are moving quickly into a future where we do not require a single rocket to bring everything necessary for a mission to space, and as such, gaining experience with multi-launch campaigns and on-orbit assembly is directionally correct. The Blue Origin test lander for Artemis III will incorporate many of the most important systems and subsystems that have not previously been operated by the provider, including ECLSS in a crew cabin, and other avionics. With SpaceX, they have demonstrated many of those capabilities continuously on Crew Dragon, but other controllability tests are important based on the negative-X axis acceleration that will be necessary when Starship undertakes the TLI burn to the Moon with a docked Orion. After Artemis III, we will learn a lot and roll in further improvements, be that hardware, software, or procedural updates, as both providers undertake end-to-end uncrewed demonstrations to the surface in 2028, in advance of Artemis IV, where NASA astronauts will finally complete the grand return to the Moon. As I said in my remarks yesterday, when Gene Cernan left the lunar surface on Apollo 17, he said, “We leave as we came, and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.” We are returning, and we are doing so with the fire carried forward from Apollo, the lessons learned from Artemis II, the crew of Artemis III, and all those who will follow. NASA will send the very best crews for the right missions. If the composition of our astronaut corps and our latest class of candidates says anything, it is that we have exactly the talent required to get the job done. Godspeed Artemis III, and all those who will follow.

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Pretty exciting to be at @NASAKennedy today to hear the announcement of the Artemis III crew by @NASAAdmin in the rocket garden today! But hey, this place is an exciting place to be any day 🚀 #artemisIII #humanspaceflight

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@LaunchPhoto Special

Operation Advance-enough-so-aliens-don't-think-we're-lame. Future going to be awesome

Elon Musk @elonmusk

2 days ago

SpaceX AI Satellites

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Big tank. Big tests. Big milestone. Nova Stage 1 proto-qualification is complete. 46 structural objectives verified, plus key fluid systems, avionics, software, ground systems, and ops demos. (More detail in our linked blog post.) This is where new rockets often find the hard stuff; Nova (and the Stoke team) handled it. Our local partners at the @PORTOFMOSESLAKE , the Grant County Sheriff's Office and Public Works department, plus our vendor Norco made sure we had the support we needed every step of the way. Ad Astra.✨ stokespace.com/nova-stage-1-c…

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It's exciting to know the @NASARoman has officially set an August 30th launch date! 🚀 Soon, it will arrive at @NASAKennedy for final preparations for launch. 🛰️We will be watching this one closely. science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman/20…

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The last things Roman will "see" on Earth are the faces of some of the countless people who created it. ✨ The observatory’s primary mirror has passed its last inspection as it nears its final days @NASAGoddard before heading down to @NASAKennedy. go.nasa.gov/4uB91BF

"We go where we need to be," If we could humbly add... and "When we need to be," Leadership by example. Thank you.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin

2 weeks ago

We go where we need to be, and today that was @NASAKennedy. Some of my senior engineers and I spent time at @blueorigin with @JeffBezos and @davill, speaking with the workforce and seeing the damage at LC-36 firsthand. I appreciated the opportunity to hear directly from those

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@John_Winkopp @FelixSchlang @SpaceX Excellent

Every year, I share this video of French caretakers who take sand from Omaha Beach in Normandy, and scrub them into the letters to give them the gold coloring. They do this for all 9,386 US soldiers who died. France also gave us this land as American soil. #MemorialDayWeekend

Gotta love when a plan comes together. I am impressed it was centered at 55 seconds into flight. Starlink 10-47

Flight 12 Ship 39 & Super Heavy Booster 19 at Liftoff.

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@danhuot @bluemoondance74 We should.

Leadership by walking around… Great example day in day out.

Christian Davenport @SpaceDavenport

3 weeks ago

The dude is everywhere.

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Based Bezos is awesome