Cone penetration testing is a standard geotechnical method on Earth, in which a cone shaped penetrometer is pushed into the ground to measure resistance and derive soil strength, stiffness and other key parameters. For lunar applications, however, existing calibration chambers are not designed for extraterrestrial materials or for the harsh vacuum and extreme temperatures at the Moon's surface, making it difficult to obtain trustworthy measurements for design work.

The new Environment Controlled Calibration Chamber for CPT Testing on Extra Terrestrial Soils is tailored specifically to replicate lunar conditions in the laboratory using lunar soil simulants. Its design enables controlled testing of cone penetration tools under relevant thermal and vacuum environments, so that measurements can be directly related to what future missions will encounter on the Moon.

Most of the current knowledge of lunar soil properties comes from Apollo missions, which were limited to equatorial regions. There is almost no in situ data for the lunar poles, yet these areas are expected to host many future missions and infrastructure, making improved understanding of polar regolith and its mechanical behaviour a priority.

The Apollo 15 mission highlighted contradictions between field observations and numerical simulations of lunar soil, underlining the need for better calibrated data. Project lead Dylan Mikesell of NGI notes that robust lunar infrastructure demands a clear grasp of properties such as stiffness, cohesion and the strength of both the regolith and the materials used to build on it, and that accurate instrument calibration is a prerequisite for this understanding.

In the ESA funded activity, NGI designed the chamber together with APVacuum, which contributed to the vacuum and cooling system needed to reproduce the Moon's extreme environment. The system is conceived with flexibility so that other geotechnical tools, sensors and data acquisition systems can be integrated, enabling a broad range of tests beyond cone penetration instruments alone.

ESA Discovery and Preparation Officer Moritz Fontaine describes the chamber design as a key step toward reliable geotechnical data for lunar construction. By creating an environment in which instruments can be tested and calibrated before deployment, the project aims to ensure that future lunar soil investigations yield data engineers can trust when designing landers, habitats and other infrastructure.

Beyond the Moon, the calibration chamber concept could support technology development for other planetary bodies such as Mars by enabling testing of different soil simulants under appropriate conditions. The resulting data may contribute to scientific missions, exploration initiatives and potential commercial activities that depend on accurate geotechnical assessments of extraterrestrial surfaces.

The project emerged from ESA's Open Space Innovation Platform, which invites new ideas for space research and technology. Funded through the Discovery element of ESA's Basic Activities, the collaboration allowed NGI and ESA to explore risks, refine requirements and shape a practical tool for future missions. According to Mikesell, proposing the activity through the platform and working with ESA brought clear benefits in terms of feedback and identification of challenges early in the design process.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:05:06 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 06, 2026 - The countdown for NASA's Artemis II wet dress rehearsal is underway at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking a key test before the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft in the Artemis campaign to return astronauts to the Moon.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, will support a test that runs the integrated launch team and supporting centers through a full range of launch day operations, including loading cryogenic propellants, executing terminal countdown sequences, recycling the clock, and draining the tanks to practice scrub procedures. NASA's Artemis II test flight will carry Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, along with Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, on a mission around the Moon and back to Earth no later than April 2026.

The wet dress rehearsal countdown clock began at 8:13 p.m. EST at L-48 hours, 40 minutes before the opening of a simulated launch window at 9 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 2, with the test expected to continue until approximately 1 a.m. on Feb. 3. The exercise is designed to verify launch vehicle and ground systems performance and to ensure the launch team is fully prepared for the actual Artemis II liftoff.

During the rehearsal, controllers at Kennedy, mission control teams at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and personnel at other supporting NASA centers will conduct a detailed countdown sequence to two separate terminal count holds. The team will first pause at T-1 minute 30 seconds for up to three minutes, resume the count to T-33 seconds before launch, then recycle the clock back to T-10 minutes and perform a second terminal countdown to approximately T-33 seconds before ending the sequence.

A continuous live stream is following the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft at the pad, and NASA is providing a separate feed during tanking operations along with real-time blog updates as the fueling day progresses. The test includes loading liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) into the core stage and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS), along with chilling, slow fill, fast fill, topping, and replenish operations that mirror launch day procedures.

The countdown is structured around both L-minus and T-minus times. L-minus time tracks the overall time remaining before the planned liftoff window, while T-minus time governs the event-driven sequence of operations built into the countdown. The plan includes built-in holds during which the T-minus clock is intentionally stopped while L-minus time continues to advance, allowing teams to synchronize with the target launch window and manage tasks without affecting the larger schedule.

Key early milestones include launch team arrival on console and start of countdown at about L-49 hours 15 minutes, filling the sound suppression system water tank, and preparing LOX and LH2 systems for vehicle loading between roughly L-48 hours 45 minutes and L-39 hours 45 minutes. The core stage and ICPS are powered up in the L-39 hour to L-38 hour range, followed by final preparations of the four RS-25 core stage engines.

Later in the flow, technicians power down the ICPS temporarily, charge Orion and core stage flight batteries, and then power the ICPS back up for launch operations while leak checks are conducted on Orion crew suit regulators. As the timeline advances toward L-15 hours, all non-essential personnel depart Launch Complex 39B, the Ground Launch Sequencer is activated, and air systems transition to gaseous nitrogen to inert vehicle cavities in preparation for cryogenic tanking.

Around L-11 hours 40 minutes, a built-in 2-hour 15-minute hold begins, during which the launch team conducts weather and tanking briefings and decides whether they are go or no-go to begin fueling the rocket. Subsequent steps include chilldown of core stage LOX and LH2 transfer lines, chilldown of the core stage main propulsion system, initiation of slow and fast fills for both propellants, and cold soak operations for Orion to condition the spacecraft for the cryogenic environment.

As the propellant loading sequence progresses, the core stage and ICPS tanks transition from fast fill to topping and then to replenish modes to maintain proper levels and pressures through the remainder of the countdown. ICPS LH2 and LOX lines are chilled and vent and relief tests are performed, while Orion communications systems are activated and checked with mission control via radio frequency links.

In the L-6 hour to L-4 hour window, ICPS LOX fast fill operations are completed, core stage LOX replenishment continues, and ICPS LOX topping and replenish activities begin. NASA teams also conduct stage pad rescue readiness checks, assemble the closeout crew, and start a 40-minute built-in hold at L-4 hours 40 minutes, during which the closeout crew moves to the white room at the pad.

During this period, technicians complete Orion crew module hatch preparations and closure, perform counterbalance mechanism hatch seal pressure decay checks, and install and close out the crew module service panel. The Launch Abort System (LAS) hatch is then closed for flight, ensuring the integrated Orion spacecraft is sealed for the simulated launch configuration.

As the final phases approach, the launch director receives briefings on the integrated flight vehicle and thermal protection system scan results, while the closeout crew departs Launch Complex 39B roughly 1 hour 45 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes before the simulated liftoff. A built-in 30-minute countdown hold begins at L-40 minutes, which is used to finalize configuration and communications loops.

At L-25 minutes, teams transition to the Orion-to-Earth communication loop following the final NASA Test Director briefing, and at L-16 minutes the launch director polls the team to confirm they are go for launch. At T-10 minutes, the Ground Launch Sequencer initiates the terminal count, beginning a tightly choreographed series of automated events.

During the terminal count, the crew access arm retracts at T-8 minutes, and the Ground Launch Sequencer gives the go for core stage tank pressurization at T-6 minutes, when Orion is also switched to internal power. Core stage LH2 replenish is terminated at T-5 minutes 57 seconds, followed by a go for core stage auxiliary power unit start at T-4 minutes, at which time the auxiliary power units start and core stage LOX replenish terminates.

As the sequence continues, ICPS LOX replenish ends at T-3 minutes 30 seconds, and the Ground Launch Sequencer issues a go for purge sequence 4 at T-3 minutes 10 seconds. ICPS switches to internal battery power at T-2 minutes 2 seconds, followed by the boosters switching to internal power at T-2 minutes, while a planned hold at T-1 minute 30 seconds of up to three minutes is used to verify core stage certification hold time and confirm vehicle readiness.

At T-1 minute 30 seconds, the core stage transitions to internal power, and ICPS enters terminal countdown mode at T-1 minute 20 seconds. ICPS LH2 replenish terminates at T-50 seconds, and at T-33 seconds the Ground Launch Sequencer sends the go for automated launch sequencer command before issuing a cutoff and recycle at the same mark to conclude the rehearsal with the clock paused just before the point at which the automated system would take over for an actual launch.

Inside the terminal countdown, teams have several options to hold the clock if needed. They can stop at T-6 minutes for the duration of the launch window, less the six minutes required to launch, without recycling back to T-10 minutes. If an issue arises between T-6 minutes and T-1 minute 30 seconds, they can hold for up to three minutes and then resume the count; any longer delay in that range requires recycling to T-10 minutes.

If the clock stops after T-1 minute 30 seconds but before handover to the automated launch sequencer, teams can recycle back to T-10 minutes and attempt another run, provided sufficient launch window remains. On an actual launch day, once control passes to the automated launch sequencer, any problem that would halt the countdown would end the launch attempt for that day.

While the Artemis II astronauts are not directly participating in the wet dress rehearsal, key crew-related milestones that will occur on launch day are built into the test timeline. The Artemis closeout crew is using this opportunity to rehearse their closeout operations, including closing and securing the Orion crew module and launch abort system hatches, which are critical steps in preparing the spacecraft for its mission around the Moon.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:05:06 AEST New York NY (SPX) Jan 31, 2026 - As NASA counts down toward humanity's first crewed lunar mission in more than half a century, a question beyond engineering is taking shape: Can a flight that never touches the surface still define who "wins" the Second Moon Race?

The answer lies not in propulsion equations or landing dynamics, but in the realm where space programs have always competed most fiercely-perception, prestige, and the stories nations tell about themselves.

On Friday, NASA pushed back Artemis II's earliest launch window to February 8 due to freezing weather at Cape Canaveral, delaying a critical fueling test of the 322-foot Space Launch System rocket. The slip narrows the available launch opportunities in February to just three days, with four astronauts-Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada's Jeremy Hansen-waiting in quarantine in Houston. If weather or technical issues push the mission later, April 2026 remains the formal planning backstop.

But as the countdown clock approaches zero, Artemis II is becoming something more consequential than a test flight. It is emerging as a geopolitical hinge moment-one that could reshape the narrative of lunar competition before anyone sets foot on the Moon again.

The Race No One Wants to Acknowledge

What neither side acknowledges openly is that space accomplishments have never been judged purely on technical merit. They are judged by visibility, timing, and the stories they generate. The first nation to visibly demonstrate human presence beyond low Earth orbit in the 21st century will claim a symbolic victory that technical nuance will struggle to dislodge.

This is where Artemis II matters-because it arrives first, carries humans, and operates in full view of the world.

The Perception Wedge

Yet in the court of global public perception, that distinction may collapse into irrelevance.

Consider what Artemis II will accomplish in terms of narrative:

First, it marks the first crewed deep-space mission since 1972. A generation that has never seen humans beyond Earth orbit will watch four astronauts travel to the Moon.

Second, it demonstrates operational lunar infrastructure-communications, life support, navigation, and reentry systems operating at lunar distance with crew aboard.

Third, it delivers visible commitment to lunar exploration through launch countdowns, crew quarantines, fueling operations, mission control coverage-the full spectacle of human spaceflight.

For much of the world-media, policymakers, the general public-the message will be unambiguous: America is back at the Moon.

China's program, meanwhile, remains robotic and developmental. The Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket has not flown. The Mengzhou crew spacecraft and Lanyue lunar lander are in prototype development. Ground facilities are under construction. The timeline extends to 2030-still four years away.

If Artemis II succeeds in early 2026, the United States will have reestablished human lunar-class operations years before China flies its first crewed mission. That perception gap matters enormously, even if the surface landing comes later.

How Orbital Missions Shape History

Similarly, the Apollo 8 circumlunar mission in December 1968-NASA's first crewed flight around the Moon-shifted global perception dramatically, even though it was not a landing mission. The crew's "Earthrise" photograph and Christmas Eve broadcast became cultural touchstones that overshadowed the fact that Apollo 11 was still seven months away.

Artemis II occupies a comparable position. It is not the end goal, but it is the visible return. And in the contest of perceptions, visible often trumps technical.

China's Methodical Approach-And Its Perception Vulnerability

This is sound engineering. But it also means China's timeline is less flexible. The mission requires a fully-qualified heavy-lift rocket, a demonstrated crew vehicle, and a validated lunar lander. None have flown yet. The program's 2030 target reflects confidence, but it offers little room to accelerate if geopolitical pressure mounts.

If Artemis II succeeds-and especially if Artemis III manages a crewed landing by 2028 or 2029-China will find itself in the uncomfortable position of arriving second to a destination it has invested decades preparing to reach. That outcome would carry symbolic weight in Beijing, regardless of official rhetoric about "no race."

The Muddied Finish Line

2026: U.S. flies crewed lunar flyby (Artemis II)

2027-2029: U.S. attempts crewed lunar landing (Artemis III)

2030: China lands crew on the Moon

In that scenario, who "wins"? The answer depends entirely on framing.

American officials will argue the United States returned humans to the lunar vicinity first, demonstrating operational deep-space capability years before China. Chinese officials will counter that their mission represents the first human lunar landing of the 21st century, the true measure of accomplishment.

Both narratives will be technically accurate. Both will serve domestic political purposes. And both will shape international perception based on which story resonates more powerfully.

This is the perception war Artemis II initiates. It does not settle the competition-but it fundamentally changes the terms under which the competition will be judged.

The Real Stakes

The United States has historically excelled at the latter. International partnerships through Artemis Accords, commercial lunar payload services, sustained budgets for lunar Gateway and surface systems, and decades of experience managing long-duration human spaceflight missions position NASA for a durable lunar program.

China's approach emphasizes national control, rapid infrastructure deployment, and integration with international partners outside traditional Western alliances. Its methodical timeline suggests confidence in execution, and its record with robotic lunar missions (Chang'e 3, 4, 5, 6) demonstrates technical maturity.

But before that long-term competition unfolds, there is this moment-the countdown to Artemis II, the first crewed mission to lunar distance in a generation. If it succeeds, it will not "win" the race in any formal sense. But it will reclaim the narrative, establish the perception of American lunar leadership, and fundamentally alter how the world interprets the missions that follow.

That is not a technical victory. But in the realm of space exploration, where symbols and stories have always mattered as much as hardware, it may be the victory that counts most.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:05:06 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 04, 2026 - Voyager Technologies has launched a strategic lunar initiative designed to align with the White House Securing American Space Superiority executive order and to reinforce United States leadership beyond low Earth orbit. The initiative is framed as a long-term effort to support exploration, national security and commercial activity on and around the Moon by focusing on durable infrastructure rather than one-off missions.

Company chairman and CEO Dylan Taylor said the new strategy is about turning high-level policy into sustained capability that can last over time. "History shows us that American leadership in space is secured when vision is matched by execution," Taylor said. "The White House has laid out a clear vision for the next era of American space achievement, and we are launching a lunar strategy focused on turning that vision into durable capability. That requires infrastructure that supports human life, moves power and data, enables autonomous operations and endures over time."

Voyager plans to concentrate its lunar efforts on what it describes as foundational infrastructure for both human and robotic operations. That includes systems to support crews, distribute power, build communications backbones, provide on-orbit and surface computing, and enable automated logistics needed for continuous operations rather than short-duration visits.

The company is positioning its existing mission-ready portfolio as a core asset for the initiative, highlighting experience in designing, integrating and operating complex space systems for government and commercial customers. Voyager emphasizes dual-use technologies, scalable architectures, interoperability and early risk retirement as key design principles that it believes will help lower technical and programmatic risk for future lunar campaigns.

As part of its lunar focus, Voyager points to its work with NASA on the Moon to Mars Oxygen and Steel Technology program. That integrated system concept is intended to produce metallic iron or steel and oxygen from lunar regolith, supporting in-situ resource utilization that could eventually reduce dependence on supplies launched from Earth for construction and life support on the Moon.

Voyager also cites its Clear Dust-Repellant Coating, or CDRC, as an example of enabling technology already flown in a relevant environment. The coating is designed to significantly reduce the accumulation of lunar simulant dust on glass, metals and a variety of fabrics, addressing a well-known challenge for hardware longevity and performance on the Moon. The CDRC technology flew to the lunar surface aboard Fireflys Blue Ghost lander in March 2025, providing an early demonstration on a commercial lunar mission.

Beyond internal research and existing intellectual property, Voyager says it will pursue additional partnerships, investments and phased development activities to match evolving government and commercial timelines. The company states that its objective is to be a leading player in the emerging lunar ecosystem by the end of the decade, positioning itself across civil, defense and commercial markets that view the Moon as a strategic domain.

Voyager describes itself as a defense and space technology company focused on delivering mission-critical solutions across a range of applications. The firm links its lunar strategy to a broader commitment to tackle complex technical challenges, strengthen national security and protect critical assets from the ground to space as the United States expands its presence beyond low Earth orbit.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:05:06 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 30, 2026 - NASA is preparing a pair of global communications networks to keep the four-person Artemis II crew connected with Earth as they travel from low Earth orbit to a loop around the Moon and back. The mission will fly astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as part of the agency's broader effort to build a sustained human presence in deep space and eventually send crews to Mars.

Artemis missions use both the Near Space Network and the Deep Space Network, which operate under the oversight of NASA's Space Communications and Navigation, or SCaN, Program. These networks combine ground antennas distributed around the world with relay satellites in orbit to maintain continuous links with Orion as it launches, orbits Earth, performs its translunar injection, travels to the Moon, and returns to splashdown. Their role is to route astronaut voice, images, video, and critical spacecraft telemetry across thousands and then hundreds of thousands of miles between the crew and controllers on the ground.

Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate and a former astronaut, emphasized that dependable communications are central to crewed missions. "Robust space communications aren't optional; they're the essential link that unites the crew and the exploration team on Earth to ensure safety and mission success, as I learned firsthand living and working aboard the International Space Station," he said. He noted that real-time conversations, data that informs key decisions and science, and even personal calls home all depend on these links as crews push farther into deep space.

Flight controllers will operate the Near Space Network and Deep Space Network in a tightly coordinated fashion throughout Artemis II. NASA's Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will track the Space Launch System rocket, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, and the Orion spacecraft as the mission progresses. Control teams will hand off communications and tracking responsibilities between multiple antennas and relay nodes on Earth and in space to ensure there are no gaps in coverage during critical phases of flight.

The Near Space Network, managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will provide communications and navigation services during several mission stages close to Earth. Using a global collection of ground stations and a fleet of relay satellites, this network carries forward a long legacy of supporting human spaceflight operations in near-Earth orbit. It will handle communications while Orion is in low Earth orbit and during early parts of the translunar trajectory.

After Orion completes its translunar injection burn, its primary communications path will shift to the Deep Space Network, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. This network consists of large radio antennas located in California, Spain, and Australia, arranged so that at least one complex can see spacecraft in deep space at all times as Earth turns. The array will provide nearly continuous coverage for Orion and its crew as they travel to and around the Moon and on the return leg to Earth.

Network planners highlight that Artemis II will also showcase how traditional radio systems and new optical links can work together. Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for the SCaN Program, described reliable communications as the lifeline of human spaceflight and stressed that future missions will demand even more capable and resilient networks. He pointed to strong collaboration with commercial partners as a key factor in advancing space communications infrastructure and enabling increasingly ambitious exploration campaigns.

Onboard Orion, NASA will fly the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System, known as O2O, to test high-bandwidth laser links with real mission data from the crewed flight. The demonstration builds on experience from the Deep Space Optical Communications payload, which showed that optical systems can transmit more than 100 times the data volume of comparable radio systems even at distances of millions of miles. Although laser communications will not be part of Artemis III operations, the O2O demonstration is intended to pave the way for future optical terminals near the Moon and on Mars missions.

The optical payload is one element of a broader drive to improve communications and navigation for lunar and deep space missions. Orion will still experience a communications blackout of about 41 minutes when it passes behind the Moon, where the lunar body blocks radio frequency signals to and from Earth. Similar loss-of-signal periods occurred during Apollo missions and remain inherent when missions rely solely on Earth-based antennas to reach vehicles operating near the Moon's far side.

Once Orion emerges from behind the Moon, the Deep Space Network will quickly reacquire the spacecraft's signal and restore full communications with mission control. NASA expects such planned blackouts to remain part of operations for missions that rely on direct-to-Earth links. However, the agency is already working on architectures that would eventually eliminate these gaps and provide more robust coverage for surface and orbital assets on the lunar far side.

Looking ahead, the Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Systems project is partnering with industry to deploy relay satellites in lunar orbit that can support both communications and precision navigation. A constellation of such satellites would provide persistent, high-bandwidth services for astronauts, landers, and orbiters operating on and around the Moon. In 2024 NASA selected Intuitive Machines to develop the first set of lunar relay spacecraft for a demonstration planned in conjunction with the Artemis III lunar surface mission.

Each Artemis flight will expand the networks' capabilities and refine how mission data is processed and managed. For Artemis II, data from Orion will be compressed after it reaches Earth to handle the large flow of information, with priority given to crew communications and mission-critical telemetry while still transmitting images and video at reduced quality. These upgrades and operational choices illustrate how the networks will evolve alongside the missions they support.

From liftoff through translunar cruise, lunar flyby, and splashdown, NASA's communications and navigation infrastructure will act as the crew's continuous link back to Earth. The combination of the Near Space Network, the Deep Space Network, and emerging optical and relay technologies is designed to keep Artemis II connected at every feasible step, while laying the groundwork for sustained human activity in deep space in the decades ahead.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:05:06 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 29, 2026 - Two Northrop Grumman five segment solid rocket boosters are taking their place on the launch pad as NASA prepares for the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System rocket under the Artemis II mission from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, targeted for early February 2026.

The twin solid rocket boosters stand 177 feet tall and each produces 3.6 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making them the largest and most powerful solid rocket boosters ever flown on a human spaceflight mission. Evolved from the four segment boosters flown during the space shuttle era, the upgraded design provided more than 75 percent of the SLS rocket thrust during the Artemis I test flight and will again operate as a matched pair for the first crewed mission of the system.

Northrop Grumman has also supplied key elements of the Launch Abort System for the Orion spacecraft that will ride atop SLS. The company manufactures both the attitude control motor and the abort motor, which together are designed to pull Orion and its crew away from the rocket in the event of an emergency during launch or ascent. For Artemis II, this abort capability will be fully active to provide an additional safety layer for the four astronaut crew.

Company officials describe the booster contribution as central to the overall launch performance of SLS. Jim Kalberer, vice president of propulsion systems at Northrop Grumman, said the team has applied its manufacturing experience and solid rocket motor expertise to deliver 7.2 million pounds of the rocket's total 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. He said the power and performance of the solid rocket boosters are critical to enabling a new phase of American deep space exploration and to building a sustainable human presence beyond low Earth orbit in preparation for future missions to Mars.

Artemis II will be the first mission to send humans into deep space in more than half a century. The four astronauts will spend about 10 days on a mission around the Moon, using the flight to confirm the integrated performance of the SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, and associated systems and hardware under operational conditions. Data and experience collected during the mission are expected to form a foundation for subsequent lunar landing flights and longer duration crewed expeditions into deep space.

Beyond the immediate launch campaign, Northrop Grumman is positioning its space hardware across multiple elements of the Artemis architecture. The company is building the Habitat and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, module for the planned Gateway station that will orbit the Moon as a deep space habitation and logistics node. HALO is intended to support astronaut crews living and working on extended missions to the lunar vicinity and to serve as a stepping stone for eventual Mars missions.

To support future deep space exploration beyond Artemis II, Northrop Grumman is also developing a next generation solid rocket booster. This system is described as the largest and most powerful segmented solid rocket booster the company has ever manufactured and is aimed at providing additional lift capability for future heavy lift missions into deep space. Together with the current SLS booster fleet and abort system motors, these developments underline the company's continuing role in U.S. human spaceflight and deep space transportation planning for years ahead.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:05:06 AEST Washington DC (SPX) Jan 20, 2026 - A long-standing idea in planetary science proposes that water rich meteorites arriving late in Earth history delivered a major share of the planet's water inventory. A new study led by researchers at Universities Space Research Association and the University of New Mexico uses the Moon's surface record to impose strict limits on that scenario, concluding that impacts over the last 4 billion years could only have supplied a small fraction of Earth's water.

The team focused on lunar regolith, the loose layer of impact generated debris that blankets the Moon and preserves a continuously accessible archive of bombardment over billions of years. Unlike Earth, which has erased most of its early impact record through tectonics and constant crustal recycling, the Moon retains a time integrated record that can be probed directly with returned samples.

Earlier efforts to read this archive relied heavily on siderophile, or metal loving, elements that are abundant in meteorites but scarce in the Moon's silicate crust. Those tracers have proven difficult to interpret because impacts can repeatedly melt, vaporize, and rework material, while post impact geological processes can separate metal from silicate and obscure the original impactor signature.

The new work instead uses high precision triple oxygen isotope measurements on a large suite of Apollo lunar regolith samples. Oxygen is the dominant element by mass in most rocks, and its triple isotope "fingerprint" lets researchers separate two signals that are normally entangled in regolith: the addition of meteorite material and the isotopic effects of impact driven vaporization.

From small but resolvable offsets in the oxygen isotope composition of lunar soils, the team infers that at least about 1 percent by mass of the regolith reservoir consists of impactor derived material. The data are best explained by the addition of carbon rich meteorites that were partially vaporized on impact, leaving behind a characteristic oxygen isotope signature in the mixed regolith.

The researchers translated these impactor fractions into bounds on water delivery to both the Moon and Earth, expressed in units of Earth ocean equivalents for context. For the Moon, the implied water delivered since roughly 4 billion years ago is tiny when scaled to an Earth ocean, yet it may still be important locally because lunar water is concentrated in small, cold trapped reservoirs that are highly relevant to future human exploration.

Because water is a critical resource for life support, radiation shielding, and propellant production, even a slow trickle of impact delivered water can matter for sustaining a long term human presence on the Moon. The study therefore suggests that carbon rich impactors have contributed meaningfully to the Moon's accessible water budget, even if their global contribution is negligible by Earth standards.

The team then applied a commonly used scaling in which Earth receives substantially more impactor material than the Moon, reflecting its larger size and stronger gravity. Even if Earth experienced roughly 20 times the impactor flux recorded by the Moon and even under extreme assumptions about a deeply processed "megaregolith" end member, the cumulative water delivery from these impactors amounts to at most a few percent of a single Earth ocean.

Independent geochemical and geophysical estimates indicate that Earth hosts several ocean mass equivalents of water in total, both at the surface and in its interior. The new lunar based constraints therefore make it difficult to reconcile late delivery of water rich meteorites as the dominant source of Earth's oceans, pointing instead to earlier or alternative sources of Earth's water.

"The lunar regolith is one of the rare places we can still interpret a time integrated record of what was hitting Earth's neighborhood for billions of years," said lead author Tony Gargano of USRA's Lunar and Planetary Institute and the University of New Mexico. "The oxygen isotope fingerprint lets us pull an impactor signal out of a mixture that's been melted, vaporized, and reworked countless times."

"Our results don't say meteorites delivered no water," added co author Justin Simon of NASA's Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division. "They say the Moon's long term record makes it very hard for late meteorite delivery to be the dominant source of Earth's oceans."

Gargano emphasized that the study extends a scientific legacy that began with the Apollo program. "I'm part of the next generation of Apollo scientists people who didn't fly the missions, but who were trained on the samples and the questions Apollo made possible," he said. "The value of the Moon is that it gives us ground truth real material we can measure in the lab and use to anchor what we infer from meteorites and telescopes."

"Apollo samples are the reference point for comparing the Moon to the broader solar system," Gargano said. "When we put lunar soils and meteorites on the same oxygen isotope scale, we're testing ideas about what kinds of bodies were supplying water to the inner solar system, why Earth became habitable, and how the ingredients for life were assembled here in the first place."

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:05:06 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 15, 2026 - NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy have renewed their long standing partnership to develop a fission surface power system that can operate on the Moon as part of the Artemis campaign and future missions to Mars. The agencies plan to deploy a lunar surface reactor by 2030 to support sustained human and robotic activities and to advance U.S. leadership in space exploration and commerce.

A new memorandum of understanding between NASA and the Department of Energy formalizes this collaboration and aligns it with President Trump's goal of American space superiority through the use of nuclear reactors on the Moon and in orbit. The agreement calls for the two agencies to work together on developing, fueling, authorizing, and readying a fission surface power system for launch and deployment on the lunar surface.

NASA and DOE expect the reactor system to provide safe, efficient, and abundant electrical power for years without refueling, enabling continuous operations regardless of local lighting or temperature conditions. Such a power source is intended to support long duration surface missions, habitation, science payloads, and infrastructure that will not be limited by the availability of solar power or batteries.

Under the national space policy set by President Trump, NASA is charged with returning astronauts to the Moon, building infrastructure that allows them to remain there, and preparing for human missions to Mars and beyond. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that achieving these objectives requires the use of nuclear power and that the new agreement will help deliver the capabilities needed for what he described as a Golden Age of space exploration and discovery.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright linked the effort to historic examples where American science and innovation opened new frontiers, from the Manhattan Project to the Apollo program. He said the agreement continues that legacy and that, under the America First Space Policy, the Department of Energy is working with NASA and commercial space companies on what he characterized as one of the greatest technical endeavors in the history of nuclear energy and spaceflight.

The collaboration builds on more than half a century of joint work between NASA and the Department of Energy in space exploration, technology development, and areas related to national security. Their past cooperation includes the provision of radioisotope power systems and other nuclear technologies that have enabled missions to operate far from the Sun or in extreme environments.

By pursuing a lunar surface reactor, the agencies aim to create a power system that can be adapted for future Mars missions and other deep space activities. The work supports NASA's broader Moon to Mars architecture, which seeks to establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon as a stepping stone to sending crews to the Red Planet.

NASA has identified fission surface power as a key technology for maintaining surface operations during the long lunar nights and in shadowed regions where solar power is not practical. A reliable nuclear power plant on the Moon could supply energy for habitats, in situ resource utilization systems, communications, and scientific instruments for many years.

The Department of Energy will contribute its expertise in nuclear fuel, reactor design, safety, and authorization processes to ensure the system meets performance and regulatory requirements. NASA will integrate the power system with its lunar architecture, including landers, surface systems, and potential commercial partners that may provide additional infrastructure.

In addition to enabling sustained lunar exploration, the agencies frame the effort as a strategic component of U.S. leadership in space commerce and technology. A proven lunar fission system could drive innovation in compact reactors, materials, and space qualified power systems that may also have applications on Earth.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:05:06 AEST Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 13, 2026 - For decades scientists have puzzled over why the moons two hemispheres look so different despite sharing a common origin in the early solar system.

The near side that always faces Earth is dominated by dark flat volcanic plains called maria that create the familiar man in the moon pattern seen with the naked eye. In contrast the far side has a much thicker crust and appears as a rugged heavily cratered highland region with very little sign of large scale lava flooding.

New research published Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences points to a giant impact early in lunar history as a key driver of this stark dichotomy. A team from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed microscopic samples returned by Chinas Chang'e 6 mission from the moons far side.

Chang'e 6 achieved the first sample return from the lunar far side by landing within the vast South Pole Aitken basin one of the largest known impact structures in the solar system. The mission returned tiny grains weighing only about as much as a few grains of salt yet they preserve detailed chemical records of ancient events in the lunar crust and mantle.

Led by professor Tian Hengci the researchers focused on potassium a moderately volatile element that occurs in multiple isotopes with different atomic masses. During extremely high temperature events such as a giant asteroid impact lighter potassium isotopes tend to evaporate and escape more readily than heavier ones leaving behind material that is enriched in the heavy isotopes.

Laboratory measurements showed that the Chang'e 6 samples from the South Pole Aitken basin are unusually rich in heavy potassium isotopes compared with typical lunar rocks. The team interprets this enrichment as a chemical fingerprint of an enormous impact that generated intense heat capable of driving off lighter isotopes of potassium as well as other volatile elements such as zinc and sulfur.

According to the study this large scale loss of volatile elements fundamentally altered the thermal and chemical evolution of the moons far side. Volatile components help lower the melting point of rocks deep inside a planetary body making it easier for magma to form and rise to the surface to fuel volcanic eruptions.

With fewer volatiles remaining after the South Pole Aitken impact the far side interior stayed comparatively rigid and resistant to melting. As a result it produced far less magma over time than the near side which retained more volatile rich material and continued to generate large volcanic plains well after the impact era.

The findings offer a physically grounded explanation for why the near side developed extensive mare volcanism while the far side remained dominated by ancient highlands. They suggest that violent impacts do more than excavate craters on planetary surfaces and can instead reshape the deep interior by stripping away critical ingredients that control how easily rocks melt.

"The findings suggest that asteroid impacts do more than just leave a dent on the surface; they can fundamentally change the chemistry of a planet's guts," Tian said. He noted that this mechanism may operate not only on the moon but also on other rocky bodies whose histories include giant collisions.

Tian added that other hypotheses for the moons two faced appearance have emphasized tidal effects from Earth or uneven distribution of radioactive elements that heat the interior. While those processes may still play supporting roles the new isotopic evidence from Chang'e 6 highlights the profound influence that a single massive impact can have on the long term evolution of a worlds crust and mantle.

By tying together sample analysis spacecraft exploration and impact physics the study demonstrates how far side materials can illuminate processes that shaped the entire moon. Future missions returning additional samples from different regions of the South Pole Aitken basin and beyond are expected to test how widespread this volatile loss signature is and refine models of the moons early history.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:05:06 AEST Washington DC (SPX) Jan 08, 2026 - Over half of the exhaust methane from lunar spacecraft could end up contaminating areas of the moon that might otherwise yield clues about the origins of earthly life, according to a recent study. The pollution could unfold rapidly regardless of a spacecraft's touchdown site; even for a landing at the South Pole, methane molecules may "hop" across the lunar surface to the North Pole in under two lunar days.

As interest in lunar exploration resurges among governments, private companies and NGOs, the study authors wrote, it becomes crucial to understand how exploration may impact research opportunities. This knowledge can help inform the creation of planetary protection strategies for the lunar environment, as well as lunar missions designed to minimize impact on that environment - and the clues about our past it may contain.

The study appears in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, AGU's journal for original research in planetary science.

"We are trying to protect science and our investment in space," said Silvio Sinibaldi, the planetary protection officer at the European Space Agency and senior author on the study. The moon is a natural laboratory ripe for new discoveries, he said - but, paradoxically, "our activity can actually hinder scientific exploration."

At the moon's poles, craters cloaked in perpetual darkness (called permanently shadowed regions) hold ice which might contain materials delivered to the moon and Earth via comets and asteroids billions of years ago. Scientists hope those materials might include "prebiotic organic molecules" - key ingredients that, under the right conditions, may have combined to form the original building blocks of life, such as DNA. Finding those molecules in their original form could allow researchers to study how they gave rise to life on Earth.

"We know we have organic molecules in the solar system - in asteroids, for example," Sinibaldi said. "But how they came to perform specific functions like they do in biological matter is a gap we need to fill."

Earth's dynamic, ever-changing surface likely erased any trace of what those original molecules looked like long ago. The moon's surface, parts of which have remained relatively unaltered for billions of years, may preserve a better record - especially in the permanently shadowed regions, where molecules tend to accumulate due to cold temperatures that slow their movement. Unfortunately, that may also include molecules released by lunar spacecraft, potentially obscuring pristine evidence of life-originating materials.

Sinibaldi and Francisca Paiva, a physicist at Instituto Superior Tecnico and lead author of the study, built a computer model to simulate how that contamination might play out, using the European Space Agency's Argonaut mission as a case study. The simulations focused on how methane, the main organic compound released during combustion of Argonaut propellants, might spread across the lunar surface during a landing at the moon's South Pole. While previous studies had investigated how water molecules might move on the moon, none had done so for organic molecules like methane. The new model also accounted for how factors like solar wind and UV radiation would impact the methane's behavior.

"We were trying to model thousands of molecules and how they move, how they collide with one another, and how they interact with the surface," said Paiva, who was a master's student at KU Leuven and an intern at the European Space Agency during the research. "It required a lot of computational power. We had to run each simulation for days or weeks."

The model showed exhaust methane reaching the North Pole in under two lunar days. Within seven lunar days (almost 7 months on Earth), more than half of the total exhaust methane had been "cold trapped" at the frigid poles - 42% at the South Pole and 12% at the North.

"The timeframe was the biggest surprise," Sinibaldi said. "In a week, you could have distribution of molecules from the South to the North Pole."

That's partly because the moon has almost no atmosphere of other molecules to bump into. Impeded only by gravity, methane molecules on the moon bound freely across the landscape like bouncy balls across an empty room, energized by sunlight and slowed by cold.

"Their trajectories are basically ballistic," Paiva said. "They just hop around from one point to another." That's concerning, she explained, because it means there may be no foolproof landing sites anywhere. "We showed that molecules can travel across the whole moon. In the end, wherever you land, you will have contamination everywhere."

That doesn't mean there's nothing to be done to minimize contamination. Colder landing sites, Paiva noted, might still corral exhaust molecules better than warmer ones. There might also be ways around the contamination: Sinibaldi wants to study whether exhaust molecules might simply settle on the icy surfaces of PSRs, leaving material underneath unscathed for research.

Above all, the duo said, the results need confirmation from both additional simulations and real-life measurements on the moon. "I want to bring this discussion to mission teams, because, at the end of the day, it's not theoretical - it's a reality that we're going to go there," Sinibaldi said. "We will miss an opportunity if we don't have instruments on board to validate those models."

Paiva hopes to study whether molecules other than methane, including those in spacecraft hardware like paint and rubber, might also pose risks to research.

"We have laws regulating contamination of Earth environments like Antarctica and national parks," she said. "I think the moon is an environment as valuable as those."

Research Report:Can Spacecraft-Borne Contamination Compromise Our Understanding of Lunar Ice Chemistry?

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