It is a sad day when false slurs from the White House could subject federal employees to harassment from the public.
ProPublica writes that NASA employees have been warned to be careful when out in public and not raise any attention to the fact that they work for the federal government.
Dr. James Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer, stated:
We are all very proud to work for the space program…But in the current environment, with a lot of negative rhetoric coming in our direction, I want you all to please use caution.
So now our proud NASA employees are expected to hide mission patches and other symbols related to their work? How about a U.S. flag patch? Can they still proudly support the national flag?
Image (Credit): Launch of Russia’s Progress MS-30 lifting off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (NASA)
While things are still unstable with the Russians here on Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions continue. Yesterday saw the launch of the Progress MS-30 cargo spacecraft from Kazakhstan. The supplies should be at the ISS by late tomorrow.
Whatever is happening between the US and Russia with regards to Ukrainian negotiations, it is good to see that space science is still taking place in the background.
Image (Credit): The launch of Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander (IM-2) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, February 26. (NASA)
Yesterday’s launch of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission carrying the Athena lander was a success. The private sector mission, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, is heading to the Moon to look for water at the lunar South Pole. The launch follows the less successful IM-1 mission from last year with the Odysseus lander.
Athena is expected to land on the lunar surface on March 6, about four days after the scheduled landing of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost spacecraft.
Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1): This experiment will explore the Moon’s subsurface and analyze where lunar resources may reside. The experiment’s two key instruments will demonstrate the ability to extract and analyze lunar soil to detect volatile chemical compounds that turn into gas. The two instruments will work in tandem: The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrains will drill into the Moon’s surface to collect samples, while the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations will analyze these samples to determine the gas composition released across the sampling depth. The PRIME-1 technology will provide valuable data to better understand the Moon’s surface and how to work with and on it.
Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA): This collection of eight retroreflectors will enable precision laser ranging, which is a measurement of the distance between the orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander. The LRA is a passive optical instrument and will function as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come.
Micro Nova Hopper: Funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate Tipping Point initiative, Intuitive Machines’ Micro Nova hopper, Grace, is designed to enable high-resolution surveying of the lunar surface under its flight path. This autonomous propulsive drone aims to deploy to the surface and hop into a nearby crater to survey the lunar surface and send science data back to the lander. It’s designed to hop in and out of a permanently shadowed region, providing a first look into undiscovered regions that may provide critical information to sustain a human presence on the Moon.
Nokia Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS): Also developed with funding from NASA’s Tipping Point initiative, Nokia’s LSCS 4G/LTE communications system will demonstrate cellular communications between the Intuitive Machines lander, a Lunar Outpost rover, and the Micro Nova hopper. Engineered to transmit high-definition video, command-and-control messages, and sensor and telemetry data, the LSCS aims to demonstrate an ultra-compact advanced communication solution for future infrastructure on the Moon and beyond.
Let’s hope the second mission goes without a hitch. We need a win for NASA and its efforts to expand the commercial space industry.
His venture may seem far out, but asteroid mining CEO Matt Gialich has no illusions. The engineer cofounded the bold California startup AstroForge in 2022 with the aim of hunting for precious metals in space, and he is all too aware that success is not guaranteed…The probe is set to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 26. AstroForge’s spacecraft will ride alongside Athena, a lunar lander developed by the startup Intuitive Machines, until it breaks off on its own.
NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission is led by Caltech’s Bethany Ehlmann, professor of planetary science and the Allen V. C. Davis and Lenabelle Davis Leadership Chair and director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies, and the mission is operated by IPAC at Caltech. The Lunar Trailblazer small satellite, or smallsat, will orbit the Moon to understand the nature of water on the Moon’s surface, providing maps to guide future robotic and human explorers. Prior missions have seen hints of ice and other forms of water that could be used in a variety of ways, from purifying it for human use, to processing it for fuel and breathable oxygen for future human Moon landings.
NASA and Intuitive Machines are gearing up for a Wednesday evening liftoff, and one of the payloads will test a moon-based cell network. Researchers with Nokia Bell Labs Solutions Research developed the network and say it’s the same tool that we use here on Earth when we pick up our phones and make a call. But they had to make a cell tower much smaller so it could fit in a rocket and land on the moon.
Image (Credit): European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen (Twitter/X)
“You know as well as I do, that Butch and Suni are returning with Crew-9, as has been the plan since last September. Even now, you are not sending up a rescue ship to bring them home. They are returning on the Dragon capsule that has been on ISS since last September.”
–Comments by Andreas Mogensen, a Danish astronaut who commanded the ISS between September 2023 to early 2024, in response to Elon Musk’s constant tweets about his efforts to “rescue” the two Starliner astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). NASA already resolved the issue, yet Mr. Musk seems to need the attention given that otherwise the media keeps ignoring his actions (such as harassing federal employees, including those at NASA).
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