Moon Archives - SpaceFlight Insider

Moon Dialogs bring together stakeholders in near-future lunar activity

Laurel KornfeldJanuary 12th, 2021

Moon Dialogs, a partnership that seeks to bring together a wide variety of stakeholders to brainstorm about near-future lunar activity, organized Zoom sessions throughout 2020 exploring the wide range of topics pertinent to policy and governance on the Moon.

NASA announces “Artemis Team” of 18 astronauts

Cullen DesforgesDecember 11th, 2020

In a somewhat unannounced and surprising fashion, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced the 18 astronauts that will be focused on advancing the Artemis program, including those who will be first to fly aboard the Orion capsule as early as 2023.

NASA seeking commercial proposals for lunar sample collection

Theresa CrossSeptember 16th, 2020

Over the next four years, NASA will pay for private companies to harvest rocks and soil from the moon, as the agency takes the initial steps to field sustainable lunar exploration.

Commercial spaceflight advocate outlines revolution in the field

Laurel KornfeldJuly 7th, 2020

Bruce Pittman of NASA’s Space Portal Office, a 35-year advocate for commercial spaceflight, outlined his vision of the endeavor over the next 42 months in a June webinar run by NASA’s Night Sky Network.

NASA selects three companies to develop lunar landers

Cullen DesforgesMay 1st, 2020

NASA announced on April 30, 2020 that it had selected three companies to develop lunar landers for its Artemis program.

Artemis I Orion spacecraft advancing through tests at Plum Brook Station

Michael ColeJanuary 31st, 2020

SANDUSKY, OHIO -- Testing is fully underway on the Orion spacecraft for the upcoming Artemis I test flight mission at NASA's Plum Brook Station testing facility in Sandusky, Ohio. The Orion crew capsule, integrated with its European Service Module, is currently inside the facility's Space Environments Complex undergoing thermal vacuum tests in the largest thermal vacuum chamber in the world.

Launch of Shijian 20 lights up Chinese skies and exploration ambitions

SpaceFlight InsiderDecember 28th, 2019

China has big plans for its space program. But before it can achieve them, it needed to make sure a key launch vehicle was up to the task. A recent mission suggests that it is.

NASA to send VIPER to prowl Moon’s South Pole

Jason RhianOctober 28th, 2019

If humanity is going to establish a long-term presence on the Moon, it's going to need water. This precious substance can be found on the lunar surface and a newly-announced robotic explorer is being readied to seek out significant concentrations of ice. If all goes according to plan, this mission marka critical first step for planned crewed missions.

NASA teaming up with commercial companies for return to the Moon

Laurel KornfeldAugust 5th, 2019

To achieve the goal of returning humans to the Moon by 2024, NASA announced it is teaming up with commercial companies to develop new technologies for landing on and taking off from the lunar surface.

Inside the SIRIUS-19 lunar mission simulation: preparing for the next leap

Paul KnightlyJuly 19th, 2019

As the world prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, a 4-month long international lunar mission simulation is preparing to conclude in Russia. SIRIUS, which stands for Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station, aims to study human psychology and performance under a simulated lunar mission scenario in order to […]

Doubters, difficulty and distance – Apollo 11’s LRR experiment

Jason RhianJuly 18th, 2019

To hear Moon landing conspiracy theorists tell it, the U.S. never sent men to the Moon during the Apollo Program of the 60s and 70s. A recent SpaceFlight Insider interview about a remote facility suggests otherwise.

Was Apollo 11 faked? USSR: ‘Nyet’

Jason RhianJuly 16th, 2019

Anyone who has ever had a disagreement with anyone else can expect their 'opponent' to paint them as the worst person on the planet and to point out every failure, every falsehood (real or imagined) you've ever had or uttered. In terms of lunar conspiracy theorists this consideration, seems to have eluded them. There were people who would have loved to have proved Apollos 11-17 were faked - a whole nation's worth.