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Lawmakers question NASA’s plan for a 2024 moon landing
Amid questions from lawmakers about the cost of the Trump administration's proposal to accelerate a human return to the moon's surface to 2024, the chairman of the House subcommittee responsible for helping write NASA's budget said this week he favors keeping to the space agency's earlier schedule for a crewed lunar landing by 2028.
NASA names new chief of human space operations
Douglas Loverro, a veteran manager with broad experience in national security space operations, has been selected by NASA to lead the agency's human space flight programs. He takes over at a critical moment as the agency assesses the readiness of new commercial crew ships amid a full-court press to land astronauts on the moon in 2024.
NASA opens competition to build human-rated lunar landers
Companies have until Nov. 1 to submit proposals to NASA for a human-rated lander that could be ready in time to carry astronauts to the moon's surface by the end of 2024, and the agency is leaving open the option for contractors to develop a descent craft that would bypass the planned Gateway mini-space station in lunar orbit, at least for the first landing attempt.
Intuitive Machines selects SpaceX to launch commercial lunar lander
Intuitive Machines confirmed plans Wednesday to launch a commercial lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Space Coast in 2021 on a mission to deliver multiple payloads to the moon, including up to five science instruments for NASA.
SLS pathfinder stage arrives at Florida launch site
A steel tube built as a stand-in for the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for a series of rehearsals to hone the skills of technicians before the real rocket reaches the spaceport, an oft-delayed milestone that could still be a year or more away.
NASA announces funding for moon and Mars mission tech
NASA announced agreements worth a combined $43.2 million with 14 commercial partners Friday -- including Blue Origin and SpaceX -- to fund experiments in propellant and power generation, in-space refueling, efficient propulsion systems, and lunar rover technology.
NASA to fly CubeSat pathfinder for Gateway in unique lunar orbit
As soon as next year, NASA plans to launch a CubeSat the size of a microwave oven into a unique elliptical orbit around the moon as a scout for the future lunar Gateway, a mini-space station NASA intends to use as a staging point for crewed lunar landings beginning as soon as 2024.
NASA taps Lockheed Martin to build six more Orion crew capsules
NASA announced Monday it will order at least six reusable Orion crew capsules from Lockheed Martin for $4.6 billion to fly astronauts to the vicinity of the moon in the 2020s, and the agency said it plans to purchase hardware for up to 12 Orion vehicles by 2030.
NASA still looking for new human spaceflight chief
NASA hopes to have a new leader for the agency's human spaceflight directorate by the end of the year to replace Bill Gerstenmaier, who held the post for nearly 14 years before his reassignment in July amid the Trump administration's push to land humans on the moon by 2024, a NASA official said Wednesday.
SLS launch platform returns to pad 39B
The towering mobile platform for NASA’s Space Launch System emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday morning, returning to a seaside launch complex to complete tests interrupted by Hurricane Dorian last week.