Tag: Astronautics

Artemis II Crew Nears Moon as Spacecraft Enters Lunar Orbit Phase

The New York Times reports, “Early on Monday morning Eastern time, the astronauts of Artemis II will enter the lunar sphere of influence, when the pull of the moon’s gravity becomes stronger than Earth’s. That is when their spacecraft will start speeding up for the main event of the 10-day mission, swinging around the moon for a first close-up look by astronauts in more than 53 years.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)

Artemis II Crew Sets Course for the Moon

The Washington Post reports, “The Artemis II astronauts blasted out of Earth’s orbit Thursday evening and on to the next phase of their mission — a four-day journey toward the moon. NASA officials gave the okay to the ‘translunar injection’ maneuver Thursday afternoon, after extensive checks of life-support systems and other operations gave them confidence that the Orion spacecraft, which the crew named Integrity, was ready to go.”
Full Story (Washington Post – Subscription Publication)

SpaceX Secures SDA-4 Launch Task Order from U.S. Space Force

Defense Daily reports, “SpaceX has received a more than $178 million task order from U.S. Space Force’s Systems Command (SSC) for two National Security Space Launch Phase 3, Lane 1 launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., and Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., for the Space Development Agency-4 (SDA-4) mission in fiscal 2027. The latter includes ‘dozens of missile tracking satellites’ by Sierra Space, SSC said on Tuesday.”
Full Story (Defense Daily)

NASA Prepares 322-Foot SLS Rocket for Artemis II Moon Flyby

The Wall Street Journal reports, “NASA’s Artemis II mission is designed to power a crew of four astronauts out to the moon, zip them around it and safely bring them back to Earth. It is a big test for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and a swarm of contractors, including Boeing, which developed the core stage of Artemis’s towering Space Launch System rocket, and Lockheed Martin, the company behind the Orion crew capsule.”
Full Story (Wall Street Journal – Subscription Publication)

AIAA Anticipates Artemis II Launch with Collection of Technical Papers

As NASA counts down to the Artemis II launch, AIAA is pleased to release the most recent technical content published on the Artemis program from the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets and meeting papers at AIAA SciTech Forum (2024–2026). These original research results and technological progress on Artemis have been published in AIAA’s Aerospace Research Central (ARC). The Artemis II collection is complimentary this year as we celebrate the Artemis II mission.