Archive
06/17/2021 – Ephemeris – Congress approves more money for NASA’s lunar lander
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, June 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, at first quarter tonight, will set at 2:18 tomorrow morning. | Tonight’s Moon will be almost exactly cut in half by the sunrise terminator, since the precise moment of first quarter will be at 11:54 this evening. Speaking of the Moon, Congress has approved NASA spending of 10 billion dollars over 5 years on the Human Lander System for the Artemis Moon program. This would allow more than one bidder to win the lander contract. SpaceX’s Lunar Starship was the only one to win a contract. NASA and Congress wanted two to win, but couldn’t afford more than SpaceX. Now comes the rub… Congress will have to appropriate the money out of the budget every year for this. The target date for the first landing is 2024, which I’m pretty sure is already out of reach.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT-4). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
First Quarter Moon with binoculars or low power telescope as it might appear tonight at 11 pm. Created using Stellarium.
Three Lunar Lander proposals. Credit Dynetics, SpaceX, and Blue Origin. Credit NASA.
Technical and Management Adjectival Ratings from https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/option-a-source-selection-statement-final.pdf
Also, SpaceX’s bid was the lowest by a wide margin. With the extra funds, it looks like Blue Origin will be the second successful bidder.
04/20/2021 – Ephemeris – SpaceX gets NASA contract for Human Landing System for the Artemis (Moon) Program
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 8:34, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:47. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 4:24 tomorrow morning.
Late last week NASA announced that it had selected SpaceX to provide the Human Lander System for the Artemis program. That lander is the lunar variant of the Starship SpaceX is currently testing near Boca Chica, Texas, just north of the mouth of the Rio Grande. A Starship consists of two stages: a booster called Super Heavy and the Starship upper stage. The Super Heavy returns to the launch site, while the Starship must be refueled several times in orbit to be able to head on out to the Moon. The astronauts would be launched as planned in an Orion capsule with the Space Launch System, then transfer the astronauts to the Starship waiting in lunar orbit or from the Lunar Gateway also in lunar orbit for the trip down to the lunar surface.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
NASA’s Source Selection Document (the rationale for their selection): https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/option-a-source-selection-statement-final.pdf
03/25/2021 – Ephemeris – NASA successfully tests the core stage of the Artemis Moon Rocket
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, March 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 25 minutes, setting at 8:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:34. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:57 tomorrow morning.
Last week’s 8-minute static fire test of the four Shuttle main engines of the core stage of the NASA’s Space Launch System or SLS rocket was an apparent success at the Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. This came after a failed test two months ago. The core stage will be refurbished and floated through the Gulf, around the tip of Florida to Cape Canaveral where the solid boosters are waiting to be mated to it in the Vertical Assembly Building. It will be used for the Artemis 1 mission to be launched late this year. That mission will take an uncrewed Orion Crew Capsule and European Service Module to the Moon for several orbits close and more distant from it before returning to the Earth. The entire mission could take nearly a month.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Views of the SLS Core Stage green run test. Credit NASA via scitechdaily.com.
02/22/2021 – Ephemeris – What’s happening with NASA’s Artemis Moon Program
This is Ephemeris for Monday, February 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 6:21, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:30. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 5:28 tomorrow morning.
It appears that the Artemis Moon Program is still on schedule despite a new administration and a setback when a few weeks ago an all up 8 minute firing of the 4 main engines of the Space Launch System Core Stage aborted after little over a minute. (NASA is scheduled to repeat this Green Run test this week) The first launch of the complete rocket is slated for later this year with an uncrewed lunar orbit mission. Recently NASA announced that Elon Musk’s SpaceX was awarded the contract to launch the first two lunar gateway modules on a single Falcon Heavy rocket. The two modules, Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) will be placed in low earth orbit. From there the PPE would use its ion engines to propel the two modules out to a near rectilinear halo orbit of the Moon over many months.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
SLS first green run of all 4 RS-25 engines mounted on the core stage for the Artemis-1 mission on a test stand at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Credit: NASA.
An artist’s depiction of the Lunar Gateway PPE and HALO modules in lunar orbit. The PPE module is the part with the solar panels. Credit: NASA.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 