The first commercial robotic lunar landers to support our Artemis program … Discussing our exploration goals … And a breakdown of the Apollo Moon landings … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

First Robotic Commercial Moon Landers Selected for Artemis Program

We’ve selected three commercial Moon landers that will deliver science and technology payloads as part of our Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS initiative. Landers built by Astrobotic of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Intuitive Machines of Houston, and Orbit Beyond of Edison, New Jersey, will each carry a variety of instruments that will conduct experiments and technology demonstrations on the lunar surface, paving the way for Artemis missions with astronauts on the Moon by 2024. All nine companies initially selected for CLPS in November 2018 will be eligible to bid on any additional science, technology demonstration, and human exploration requirements for payloads that develop in the future.

Bridenstine Speaks at NASA Advisory Council Meeting

Our Administrator Jim Bridenstine spoke about our exploration goals, during a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) on May 30 at NASA Headquarters, in Washington, D.C.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine:
“Apollo, in Greek mythology, had a twin sister – Artemis, who happened to also be the goddess of the Moon. And here we are fifty years after Apollo with a program to send, not just the next man, but the first woman to the Moon. This is why, I think, I love the name Artemis for the program.”

The Council meets several times a year for fact finding and deliberative sessions.

Apollo Landing Sites Visualization with Moon Phases

A pretty cool animation is available on our Scientific Visualization Studio site that shows the locations of the six Apollo Moon landings. It also includes precise coordinates – determined by data from our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and other details – including the total number of hours that the Lunar Module was on the surface, and the number of hours that the astronauts were actually outside during extravehicular activity or EVA in astronaut speak. You can check out the animation at go.nasa.gov/ApolloSites.

Russian Spacewalk at International Space Station

On May 29, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Alexey Ovchinin ventured outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk to retrieve science experiments, and conduct maintenance on the orbiting laboratory. The pair also recorded birthday greetings for former cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, whose 85th birthday was May 30. Leonov became the first person to walk in space, in March 1965.

That’s what’s up this week @NASA …