00:30 MEZ. NASA verschiebt den Rollout von Artemis II um 2 Tage auf Freitag, den 20 März.
Damit ist immer noch ein Starttermin für den 1. April möglich.
Zitat NASA Eyes New Date for Artemis II Rocket Rollout
Teams are now targeting no earlier than Friday, March 20, to roll NASA’s Artemis II rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building out to Launch Pad 39B, maintaining the opportunity for a Wednesday, April 1, launch attempt.
Over the weekend at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers were completing closeout activities ahead of rollout, previously slated for Thursday, March 19. Teams identified an electrical harness for the flight termination system on the core stage needed replacement. They have since addressed the issue and continue to complete preparations to roll out later this week.
The trek to the launch pad takes up to 12 hours aboard the crawler-transporter. The agency will provide a live stream of the rocket’s journey to the pad.
A rollout on March 20 would still preserve the possibility of launching at the beginning of the April launch window, though teams also are keeping a close eye on the weather in the coming days.
Zitat Spaceflight Now@SpaceflightNow With the first crewed flight of the @NASAArtemis Program on the horizon (no earlier than April 1), we sat down with @NASAAdmin Jared Isaacman to talk about the future of the Artemis Program, Moon base ambitions, lunar landers, nuclear propulsion and more.
Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:17 Jared Isaacman’s experience 04:05 Artemis 2 progress 05:53 “Test as you fly” 08:18 Upper stage plans for the new Artemis 3 09:31 Blue Origin and SpaceX weighing in on Artemis 3 10:40 Addressing NASA OIG concerns with SpaceX’s Starship 12:57 Plans for the NASA workforce 16:18 New announcements, coming soon… 18:42 Understanding HLS Starship 21:27 Manual piloting Starship: Yes or No? 24:06 Blue Moon Mk.2 readiness for Artemis 3 26:12 Understanding “accelerated plans” for HLS landers 27:25 Future cooperation with China in space? 29:49 NASA’s next near-impossible undertaking 4:18 PM · Mar 14, 2026
Zitat Nic Cruz Patane@niccruzpatane NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says that as a Moon base is being built, NASA plans to install comms relays and observation systems so people on Earth can watch it being constructed in real time.
Additionally, NASA will begin landing landers on the Moon on a monthly basis in 2027 to learn more about the surface.
Jared: “We’re going to plus up on Moon construction in a huge way.” 7:07 AM · Mar 17, 2026
Zitat (09:10) JI: We do have a request out to both SpaceX and Blue Origin to tell us what they think is achievable by 2027. And based on that feedback we'll use it for ultimately crew selection, but making a determination of 'do we even need to use our upper stage in this regard?'
- Jumping to that assessment from both Blue and SpaceX: when do you expect to have enough data back from them to make a call on refining the architecture of what Orion may need for Artemis III?
JI: I would say 60, absolute 90 days at the most. (...) Again, in the next 60 - 90 days we owe it to everyone to describe what Artemis III is gonna look like (12:57)
(17:02) JI: If you build a moon base and you're going there to stay, you gonna need lots of missions to and from the moon - from a crew perspective, from a logistics. We're gonna talk about the moon base. I want landers on the moon, on the south pole, on a monthly cadence, starting beginning of 2027. There is a lot to build out there: we've got comms, we've got power, we're going to start Surface Improvement Demonstrations, we've got rovers everywhere - so there's a lot to talk about that. We're going to talk about nuclear power and propulsion.
(18:46) - The promise of Starship as both a cargo and a human lander has exited a lot of people's imagination just by this sheer volume it has the capability of bringing in. But, going back to both this report as well as the ASAP Report that was looking back in 2025, did raise some concerns about the height-to-width of Starship, landing at the South Pole in poor lighting in an environment where there's a lot of rocky craters - and it only has so much latitude before you get into a tip-over situation - which no one wants to see, obviously, with something that big. So, having had the opportunity to talk with SpaceX leadership and see the development of Starship for NASA's purposes: can you talk about what you have seen and understand that maybe those of us on the outside don't, that gives you confidence in that type of architecture to work in that evnironment?
JI: I would just say in terms of where my attention is with Starship and HLS is all about enabling flight rate and on orbit prop transfer. I believe if they can get their flight rate up and pull off on-orbot prop transfer, the ladning is not gonna be a problem. I have high confidence they will solve it. Let me tell you why: first of all, a lot of these isues being raised again were raised prior to some of the action we're taking now. We have a National Space Policy from President Trump that says 'bild the Moon Base'. I wan to bring the world along with that construction - which means we gonna put up assets for comm relay and observations so we can see, as the moon base is beng constructed, in almost real-time. I think this is a great thing to inspire people and show what we're capable of doing. We're gonna start being better able to analyze the encironment that we're gonna send HLS landers into at some pont. I also say that we're gonna start landing, largely leveraging the Eclipse program, landers every month, starting in the beginning of 2027. I mean, we're gonna plus-up for Moon Base construction in a huge wa. Every time one of those landers comes down, we're gonna learn something. We are gonna do Surface Improvement Demonstrations, so we're gonna land, you know, larger rovers and have them improve the surface down there where you one day may be creating a landing pad for these HLS providers. We have the opportunity to do all this in parallel while our landers are in development. And you know what?- you also have Blue Origin; they're working on capabilities too. They're gonna start landing Mark 1. They're going to do Crew Mark demonstrations; they gonna take Viper to the surface. They're gona learn from every. So everyone gonna get a lot of shots at the goal over the next couple of years in advance of a crewed landing.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #5100:30 MEZ. NASA verschiebt den Rollout von Artemis II um 2 Tage auf Freitag, den 20 März.
Zitat NASA will roll Artemis 2 moon rocket out to the launch pad on March 19 By Josh Dinner last updated 5 hours ago
Rollout is expected to start around 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT).
Update for 9:50 p.m. ET on March 18: NASA now says that it will hit its original target rollout date of March 19, thanks to faster-than-expected work on the Artemis 2 stack in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The rollout is expected to begin around 8 p.m. EDT on March 19 and last up to 12 hours. The story below was written after NASA pushed rollout back a day, to March 20.
Zitat First motion of the crawler transporter, that carries the launch platform, was expected around 8:00 p.m. EDT (0000 UTC), but didn’t end up moving until closer to 12:20 a.m. EDT (0420 UTC) due to high winds at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Zitat Ellie in Space 🚀💫@Ellieinspace NASA may be handing SpaceX the keys to the Moon!!!
According to a Bloomberg article just posted today, instead of Boeing’s SLS rocket doing the heavy lifting, Starship could now dock with Orion in Earth orbit and take astronauts all the way to the lunar surface. Big win for SpaceX, bad news for Boeing, & a major shake-up for Artemis III 10:32 PM · Mar 19, 2026
Da das weder von der NASA noch von SpaceX kommt, dürfte das noch nicht ganz in trockenen Tüchern sein. Unterm Strich heißt das, daß auf Boeings Space Launch System ganz verzichtet werden soll, nachdem schon die zweite Stufe der Block-II-Ausführung für die Flüge ab der Artemis-IV-Mission erst durch die Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) (27.2.) und anschließend durch die Oberstufe der Vulcan 5 von United Launch Alliance (ULA) (6.3.) ersetzt worden sind und die Raumstation Gateway für die ersten Jahre der Mondlandungen nicht mehr in Betracht gezogen wird.
PS.
Zitat Scott Manley@DJSnM With Orion being set for a Centaur V upper stage NASA could start launching it into LEO on Vulcan. Then there would be no need for Starliner, for LEO crew redundancy. And if a ferry stage were implemented to take it to the moon then SLS isn’t needed for Artemis. Boeing would not be happy. 8:18 PM · Mar 19, 2026
PS. 13:35. Mittlerweile ist Artemis II auf der Startrampe 39B in der Startpostion angelangt.
PPS.
Zitat NASA anticipated that the journey will take roughly 12 hours to complete. The agency confirmed Friday morning that hard down – the term meaning that the rocket and ML-1 was set down onto the pedestals at the pad – was accomplished at 11:21 a.m. EDT (1521 UTC).
Zitat The Launch Pad 🚨BREAKING - NASA TO REVEAL NEW ARTEMIS PLAN TOMORROW NASA is set to outline its updated roadmap for returning humans to the Moon and beyond during a major public event on Tuesday, March 24th At 9am ET, the event at NASA HQ in Washington will detail how the agency is executing the current U.S. National Space Policy, with a strong focus on accelerating plans to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2028. The day will kick off with remarks from NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, followed by high-level panels covering key priorities: 🌕 Returning humans to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years 🏗️ Building the foundation for a long-term lunar base ⚛️ Advancing nuclear propulsion and surface power systems 🚀 Expanding America’s deep space capabilities At 4:45pm ET; media will be invited to a press conference summarizing progress and the major announcements of the day. This marks a major moment as NASA refines its strategy for sustained lunar exploration and the future of human spaceflight.
Zitat NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman@NASAAdmin NASA is leading the greatest adventure in human history, and it has only just begun. On Tuesday, we’ll share our plans for the future of NASA across many of our programs. We’ll see you tomorrow morning for Ignition. 7:13 PM · Mar 23, 2026
Zitat Eric Berger@SciGuySpace NASA will share a ton of Artemis planning information tomorrow at HQ. I’ve highlighted Garcia-Galan because he was deputy program manager for Gateway prior to this. 3:59 PM · Mar 23, 2026
At 4:45 p.m., NASA will hold a live news conference from headquarters to provide an update on the agency's progress toward implementing the National Space Polica and recapping major announcements discussed throughout the day.
NASA participants include: - Administrator Jared Isaacman - Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya - Dana Weigel, program manager, International Space Station manager - Carlos Garcia-Galan, program executive, Moon base - Steve Sinacore, program executive, Fission Surface Power - Dr. Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate - Dr. Lori Glaze, program manager, Moon to Mars Program
PS.
Zitat Sir Benedict S.@Sir_Benedict_S They're hyping this up so much it's gotta be huge. Any guesses besides Artemis restructure? Cool new flagship mission? 7:42 PM · Mar 23, 2026
Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #56...die Raumstation Gateway für die ersten Jahre der Mondlandungen nicht mehr in Betracht gezogen wird.
Zitat Ryan Caton@dpoddolphinpro BREAKING: @NASA to launch first Nuclear-Powered mission to Mars called Space Reactor-1 Freedom
- First EVER mission with nuclear-electric propulsion to travel beyond Earth orbit - Launching NET December 2028 - Features a nuclear fission reactor to generate electricity - This electricity will power ion thrusters for propulsion - Repurposes Lunar Gateway's Power & Propulsion Element (PPE) as the bus - Carrying a payload of 3 Ingenuity-class Helicopters to Mars, called Skyfall 2:13 PM · Mar 24, 2026
Zitat NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman@NASAAdmin Below is a note I shared with the NASA workforce outlining today’s Ignition event and how America will deliver the golden age of space exploration. 2:01 PM · Mar 24, 2026
Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #59Below is a note I shared with the NASA workforce outlining today’s Ignition event and how America will deliver the golden age of space exploration.
Zitat Today we signal demand for frequent crewed and heavy cargo launches and landings well beyond Artemis V. We intend to work with no fewer than two launch providers, with on-ramps for addditional vendors in the future. The United States will never give up the Moon again.
That leads directly to building the Moon base.
It should not be much of a surprise that we intend to pause gatewy in its current form and focus on building lunar infrastructure that supports sutained operations on the surface. The National Space Policy calls for an enduring presence. The surface will be the technology proving ground for the capabilities required to undertake future missions to Mars, not to mention that it is safer and enables incredible opportunities for science. We will pivot agency talent and hardware already working on gateway to the surface or other programs.
Phase One will focus on an experimental period where we gain experience landing and operating rovers on the Moon, with the goal that people will be tuning in to lunar landings on a near-monthly cadence over the next few years. NASA will not be watching and hoping for the best, but will be deeply embedded alongside industry, increasing the chances of successful landings.
During the first phase we will test concepts for power, including signalling demand to industry for RHUs and RTGs, autonomous and crewed mobility, surface preparation, commincations, navigation, technology demonstrations, and all the science instruments our landers and rovers can carry.
Phase Two transitions from experimentation to more lasting habitable infrastructure, with logistics demonstrations capable of supporting routine human operations.
Phase Three takes advantage of the affordable mass-to-surface capabilities that will emerge in the years aheas, enabling permanent infrastructure and the systems required for what could be a near-continuous human presence on the Moon.
To achieve this, we will leverage CLPS and LTV programs, and eventually cargo HLS, while dramatically expanding the scope and resources available to those initiatives.
What we learn from building and operating a Moon base will prepare NASA astronauts for the long and inspiring journey to Mars.
The Moon base will not appear overnight. Phase One alone will be a 10-billion-dollar effort, built through dozens of missions working together with commercial and international partners in a deliberate and achievable plan. We are stating the demand to industry so that they can expand the production of launch vehicles, landers, and rover capabilites to achieve this object ina logical, evolutionary way. There was Mercury and Gemini before Apollo. Expect a similar approach as the base takes hape. And we will never go alone. orbiting communications relays and observation platforms will bring the world along for the ride on a NASA website as we build the Moon base over the years ahead.
At the same time, NASA will never give up its presence in low Earth orbit.
The International Space Station will eventually reach the end of its life, but how we transition to commercial capabilties is paramount. Similar to the moon base, we intend to pursue a phased approach that builds ion the capabilities needed for a future orbital economy.
This is an area where NASA cannot force an orbital economy to exit, nor cann we accept a risk to America's continuous presence in Earth orbit, but we will do everything possible to ignite the economy we all believe to be inevitable. That includes partnering with industry, increasing the frequency of PAM missions, potentially purchasing seats for NASA astronauts on thos missions, and creating a front door to prioritize the highest commercial-potential projects reaching the space station. It is imperative we identify the products, services, and capabilities that may someday fuel numerous commercial space stations.
In support of an enduring presence in LEO, NASA will signal demand to industry for crew and cargo transportation to low Earth orbit for decades to come, helping ensure there is an economic case for multiple pathways to orbit.
Science and discovery remain at the heart of NASA's missiom.
You will hear updates on flagship missions such as Roman, Dragonfly, and HWO, along with new initiatives designed to expand the pace of discovery, including Rosaling Franklin, DAVINVI, and payloads on the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter. Public-private partnerships will turn NASA into a force-multiplier for science, allowing us to pursue more missions than traditional models alone wuold permit.
We will introduce concepts that enable science-as-a-service for Earth observation and space weather, along with possible rideshare opportunities to utilize flight hardware sitting at our centers awaiting missions.
We are also excited to hear about the role philanthropic efforts play to increase our understanding of the universe, like the Eic and Eendy Schmidt Observatory System. We are aware of many such efforts and look forward to collaborating and supporting them.
The Moon base alone will provide immense opportunities for scientific payloads like VIPER, CADRE, and Moonfall hopper drones. With dozens of lunar missions ahead, there will be siginifcant capacity for scientitic instruments. And we will continue to explore options that preserve legacy missions still producing data while balancing the investments necessary to ensure future flagship endeavors.
There is also one more thing.
Nuclear power and propulsion represent essential technologies for enabling the development of a lunar economy and facilitating exploration of the outer solar system. Yet after decades or work, $20 billion spent, and dozens of nuclear reactor programs that never reached space, America has little to show for it.
NASA is ready to get underway on nuclear power in space and has begun work on SR-1 Freedom. This approximately 25-kilowatt nuclear electric propulsion demonstration will bring together expertise across the agency and our partners to develop capabilities that support future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. When the interplanetary mission launches in 2028, it will not only demonstrate nuclear power in space but also deliver the Skyfall payload to Mars, deploying multiple Ingenuity-class copters to explore the Red Planet.
None of these efforts succeed without the workforce.
We are rebuilding NASA's core competencies by bringing in new talent, expanding opportunities for interns and early-career professionals, and creating pathways for expertise to move between government and industry.
If today roughly seventy-five percent of NASA's workforce consists of contractors, I expect that ration to shift significantly in the years ahead. When the workforce directive on contractor-to-civil-servant conversion was issued, I said we would measure progress in thousands of employees and in months, not years, freeing up hundreds of milions in resources for science and discovery along the way.
NASA will invest in the next generation, assign over $1 billion dollar annually in grants and bringing on more than two thousand interns each year to attract extraordinary talent. As NASA astronauts return to the Moon and undertake the missions ahead, that pipeline will only grow. At the same time, we need experienced professionals from industry to take term appointments at NASA, bringing their expertise, mentor younger talent, and serve their country. The agency is also seeeking to open opportunities fir NASA employees to gain valuable experience working within the most technologically advanced space industry in history.
There is no shortage of exciting rocket launches and missions ahead, but we wil also continue to inspire the next generation through outreach and other efforts that bring the public closer to our mission, including showcasing the aeronautics portfolio at airshows and events across the nation. And thanks to your feedback through the idea boxes, we have a near-endless list of agency, policy, and procurement reforms that will enable NASA to be faster and more effective with less bureaucratic drag.
Undertaking the near-impossible should be extremely difficult and wil only happen through extrme competence, ownership, dedication to the mission, and a great sense of urgency. We will recognize and reward the very best who deliver outcomes.
On that note, I want to emphasize the role we all play in realizing these objectives. Few disagree with the direction we are taking, but many questions the achievability. There is a belief among some that NASA has drifted so far from its best days that we can no longer undertake big, bold endeavors and deliver on them. That is why we must take ownership of the outcomes. We will not sit on our hands and hope industry saves the day. NASA will assign subject matter experts to every program supporting the National Space Policy, from returning to the Moon to building a lunar base. We will work alongside every vendor, attached to every component on the critical path and down to the subcontractor level.
These teams will be active, doing everything eithin our power to help our partners meet their commitments, knowing American exceptionalism is on the line. And if they cannot, NASA will bring the full tools and capabilities of our agency to bear and solve the problem the way we have throughout our history.
Today is called Ingition for a reason.
It is the moment when we start to believe again, when ideas become missions, and when hard work delivers wrld-changing accomplishments.
We are leading the greatest adventure in human history, and it has only just begun. I am grateful to be working alongside all of you.
Jared Isaacman NASA Administrator
Der letzte Passus ("falls sie nicht liefern können...") bezieht sich natürlich auf Boeing und das Debakel mit dem Starliner.
Zum Aküfi: SR-1 ist der Space Reactor 1, der Ende 2028 für das dann anstehende Startfenster eines Mars-Mission zur Verfügung stehen soll. RHU = radioisotope heater unit RGT = radioisotope thermoelectric generator CLPS = Commercial Lunar Payload Services LTW = Lunar Terrain Vehicle PAM = Private Astronaut Missions
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat Eric Berger@SciGuySpace I’ve been waiting literally decades for NASA to articulate a plan for a Moon base. Now Carlos Garcia-Galan is doing a masterful job of precisely this. Dozens of landings. Drones. RTGs. Rovers. Habitats. Excavators. This is incredible stuff. 3:32 PM · Mar 24, 2026
"Welcome to Moonbase" bezieht sich auf das "futuristische Sachbuch" von Ben Bova, im November 1987 bei Ballantine Books erschien, in dem er Ausstattung und Aufriß einer solchen Station beschreibt.
Zitat "Welcome to Moonbase!" So begins this slyly amusing divertissement and bit of pro-space agitprop by Bova, former editor of Omni and Analog. Bova cleverly disguises his argument for a return to Luna in the form of a manual for workers—engineers, astronomers, doctors, attorneys—arriving on the moon for a one-year stint. He even throws in a sample contract between Moonbase, Inc. and employee, The manual explains the primary economic reason for a lunar base: to supply raw materials for earth-orbiting factories. Happily, the somber practicality behind the venture doesn't preclude fun: by the mid-21st century, humans also go to the moon as saucereyed tourists, eager to enjoy two unique pastimes—human-powered flight (a cinch in the moon's low gravity) and the chance to plant their footprints in lunar soil. Bova covers every aspect of lunar life, from personal hygiene (ultrasonic scrubbers in lieu of showers) to education (Moonbase U., founded 2023). A crafty lunarian, he peppers his mock manual with nifty little mock facts: that the first person buried on the moon is (will be?) Orlando Chavez, former US president; that the first lunar birth occurs on May 16, 2011, to a Russian; that the first astronaut to return to the moon after humankind's long hiatus is no more of a poet than Nell Armstrong, uttering the utterly forgettable sentence, "We're back, and this time we're here to stay." Great fun for kiddy astronauts, armchair explorers, and collectors of pseudo-documents.
Zitat The announcements build on recent updates to the Artemis program, including standardizing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket configuration, adding an additional mission in 2027, and undertaking at least one surface landing every year thereafter. Under this previously updated architecture, Artemis III – scheduled for 2027 – will focus on testing integrated systems and operational capabilities in Earth orbit in advance of the Artemis IV lunar landing.
In the coming days, NASA will release Requests for Information (RFIs) and draft Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to ensure continued progress in meeting national objectives.
Building the Moon Base
NASA’s plan for establishing a sustained lunar presence will roll out in three deliberate phases.
Phase One: Build, Test, Learn NASA shifts from bespoke, infrequent missions to a repeatable, modular approach. Through CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) deliveries and the LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) program, the agency will increase the tempo of lunar activity, sending rovers, instruments, and technology demonstrations that advance mobility, power generation (including radioisotope heater units and radioisotope thermoelectric generators), communications, navigation, surface operations, and a wide range of scientific investigations.
Phase Two: Establish Early Infrastructure With lessons from early missions in hand, NASA moves toward semi‑habitable infrastructure and regular logistics. This phase supports recurring astronaut operations on the surface and incorporates major international contributions, including JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) pressurized rover, and potentially other partner scientific payloads, rovers, and infrastructure/transportation capabilities.
Phase Three: Enable Long‑Duration Human Presence As cargo‑capable human landing systems (HLS) come online, NASA will deliver heavier infrastructure needed for a continuous human foothold on the Moon, marking the transition from periodic expeditions to a permanent lunar base. This will include ASI’s (Italian Space Agency) Multi-purpose Habitats (MPH), CSA’s (Canadian Space Agency) Lunar Utility Vehicle, and opportunities for additional contributions in habitation, surface mobility and logistics.
While building a sustainable lunar architecture, NASA is also reaffirming its commitment to low Earth orbit. For more than two decades, the International Space Station has served as a world‑class orbital laboratory, enabling more than 4,000 research investigations, supporting more than 5,000 researchers, and hosting visitors from 26 countries. The space station required 37 shuttle flights, 160 spacewalks, two decades, and more than $100 billion to design, develop, and build. The orbital laboratory cannot operate indefinitely. The transition to commercial stations must be thoughtful, deliberate, and structured to support long‑term industry success.
NASA is introducing and seeking industry feedback on an additional LEO strategy that preserves all current pathways while adding a phased, International Space Station‑anchored approach to avoid any gap in U.S. human presence and mature a robust commercial ecosystem. Under this alternative approach, NASA would procure a government‑owned Core Module that attaches to the space station, followed by commercial modules that are validated using International Space Station capabilities and later detach into free flight. After maturing technical and operational capabilities and market demand is realized, the stations would detach and NASA would be one of many customers purchasing commercial services. To stimulate the orbital economy, NASA would expand industry opportunities, including private astronaut missions, commander seat sales, joint missions, multiple module competitions, and prize‑based awards. ...
Future opportunities will advance U.S. leadership in space science. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching as early as this fall, will advance our understanding of dark energy, and has created a new standard for the management of large science missions. Dragonfly will launch a nuclear-powered octocopter in 2028, arriving at Saturn’s moon Titan in 2034 to explore its complex, organic-rich environment. In 2028, NASA will launch and deliver ESA’s (European Space Agency) Rosalind Franklin Rover to Mars, with NASA’s contributed mass spectrometer for the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) instrument, which may result in the most advanced detection and analysis of organic matter ever conducted on Mars. A new Earth science mission launching next year will measure for the first time the evolution of the dynamics within convective storms to improve the prediction of extreme weather events up to six hours before the storm occurs.
The agency detailed how advancements in lunar science also will be afforded by the build out of the Moon Base and underpin future Moon and Mars exploration. With an accelerated CLPS cadence, targeting up to 30 robotic landings starting in 2027, NASA is expediting delivery of science and technology to the lunar surface. There will be many opportunities for payload delivery including rovers, hoppers, and drones with contributions welcomed from industry, academia, and international partners. Near-term payloads include the VIPER rover and the LuSEE‑Night mission. An RFI will be released March 24 that calls for payloads capable of supporting NASA’s science and technology goals for additional 2027 and 2028 flights.
NASA will launch the Space Reactor‑1 Freedom, the first nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft, to Mars before the end of 2028, demonstrating advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space. Nuclear electric propulsion provides an extraordinary capability for efficient mass transport in deep space and enables high power missions beyond Jupiter where solar arrays are not effective.
When SR-1 Freedom reaches Mars, it will deploy the Skyfall payload of Ingenuity‑class helicopters to continue exploring the Red Planet. SR-1 Freedom will establish flight heritage nuclear hardware, set regulatory and launch precedent, and activate the industrial base for future fission power systems across propulsion, surface, and long‑duration missions. NASA and its U.S. Department of Energy partner will unlock the capabilities required for sustained exploration beyond the Moon and eventual journeys to Mars and the outer solar system.
Zitat WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - NASA is cancelling plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit and will instead use its components to construct a $20 billion base on the moon's surface over the next seven years, its new chief Jared Isaacman said on Tuesday.
Isaacman, who was sworn in at the agency in December, made the announcement at the opening of a day-long event at NASA's Washington headquarters at which he outlined a raft of changes he is making to the agency's flagship moon program Artemis.
"It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing Gateway in its current form and focusing on infrastructure that supports sustained operations on the lunar surface," Isaacman told delegates at the event. The Lunar Gateway station, largely already built with contractors Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), opens new tab and Lanteris Space Systems, owned by Intuitive Machines (LUNR.O), opens new tab, was meant to be a space station parked in a lunar orbit. Repurposing the craft for a lunar surface base is not simple. "Despite some of the very real hardware and schedule challenges, we can repurpose equipment and international partner commitments to support surface and other program objectives," Isaacman said.
Lunar Gateway was designed to serve as both a research platform and a transfer station that astronauts would use to board the moon landers before descending to the lunar surface. The changes imposed by Isaacman on the flagship U.S. moon program in recent weeks are reshaping billions of dollars worth of contracts under the Artemis effort. That is sending companies scrambling to accommodate the extra urgency as China makes progress toward its own 2030 moon landing.
Das gehört eigentlich in den ISS-Strang, aber weil es auch heute auf der NASA-PK bekanntgegbeen worden ist:
Zitat NSF - NASASpaceflight.com@NASASpaceflight The ISS will gain an added commercial core to allow for assembly of a commercial station before detaching on its own. 6:27 PM · Mar 24, 2026
Zitat NASA is introducing and seeking industry feedback on an additional LEO strategy that preserves all current pathways while adding a phased, International Space Station‑anchored approach to avoid any gap in U.S. human presence and mature a robust commercial ecosystem. Under this alternative approach, NASA would procure a government‑owned Core Module that attaches to the space station, followed by commercial modules that are validated using International Space Station capabilities and later detach into free flight. After maturing technical and operational capabilities and market demand is realized, the stations would detach and NASA would be one of many customers purchasing commercial services.
NASA News Update - SPACE STATIONS: big changes here.
Associate Administrator Kshatriya is very clear that NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration cannot afford two commercial LEO stations - and can't fully fund one right now.
A new alternative approach calls for a new NASA module to be attached to the forward port of International Space Station. This will feature 4 radial docking ports, expanding access for additional commercial private astronaut missions.
This new NASA core module can host 2 commercial modules. These commercial modules will be owned and operated by commercial providers.
In the future, when the market allows, the station can transition from a partner-based agreement into a services-based agreement.
IF in the future those companies want to detach from this new NASA module and fly by themselves, they can.
This alternative approach would bridge the gap between the end of ISS and the start of the LEO economy.
NASA's assessment shows that the economy cannot support LEO stations right now - the government has to help get it started.
Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #61 Plan für die drei Phasen; Budget für jede Phase jeweils 10 Mrd. US: Starts | unbemannte Landungen | bemannte Landungen: 2026 - 2 - 0 - 0 ...
Zitat A neatly summarized graphic NASA showed off during its presentation today shows the vast extent of the agency’s ambitions. Categorized into three phases spanning the next ten years, NASA is planning to send as many as ten spacecraft to the Moon in 2027 alone. In 2028, the agency is looking to launch four landers, three rovers, and four drones, across a total of 12 rocket launches.
To put those dates into perspective, NASA has only started to reach the lunar surface with small commercially-built landers — with varying degrees of success — decades after the conclusion of its historic Apollo program. It’s also still years away from landing humans on the Moon.
During a dizzying run-through of the agency’s plans, NASA’s newly-minted Moon Base program executive Carlos Garcia-Galan elaborated on the armada of planned launches.
In the first phase, spread out across 25 rocket launches and over 8,000 pounds of payloads between now and the end of 2028, NASA is hoping to establish “high-rate, reliable surface access” and a “ground truth for Moon Base landing sites.”
The second phase, which spans 2028 to 2032, includes 27 launches, seven rovers, and over 120,000 pounds of payload. The phase will see NASA securing sites for its base while working to “establish initial lunar infrastructure,” demonstrate technologies to “enable lunar permanence” — alongside two crewed missions per year.
Finally, phase three is designed to “enable long-duration and -distance human exploration,” prepare the site of the base, and make “routine logistics deliveries from Earth.” Between 2033 and 2036, NASA is looking to launch 29 rockets to the Moon, including four rovers, and over 300,000 pounds of payload, including habitats, logistics, power generators, and scientific equipment.
“In total, when you rack and stack the three phases, this is what you end up with,” Garcia-Galan told the crowd, showing off a detailed graphical summary. “So it’s pretty impressive. Equally challenging.”
“Remember, trying to achieve the near-impossible here,” he reminded the audience.
Onlookers were stunned after the onslaught of information.
“Trying to follow this is like drinking from a firehose,” tweeted SpacePolicyOnline journalist Marcia Smith. “Not sure what to make of it. ‘Aspirational?'”
“Goodness me,” NASASpaceflight‘s official X account wrote in its tweet commenting on the full manifest.
Others were left far more impressed.
“I’ve been waiting literally decades for NASA to articulate a plan for a Moon base,” Ars Technica‘s Eric Berger wrote. “Now Carlos Garcia-Galan is doing a masterful job of precisely this. Dozens of landings. Drones. RTGs. Rovers. Habitats. Excavators. This is incredible stuff.”
Zitat Ellie in Space 🚀💫@Ellieinspace·1h Jared just said Roman is the only program on time and under budget, and that needs to change at NASA 10:24 PM · Mar 24, 2026
Zitat Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope@NASARoman We’re ready. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will open a new view of the universe—revealing distant worlds, dark energy, and the structure of the cosmos. This is just the beginning of what comes next. 🔭✨
Zitat NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman@NASAAdmin Science and discovery will always be at the heart of NASA’s mission.
- The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will launch this year. - The nuclear-powered Dragonfly mission will explore Saturn’s moon Titan in 2028 in search of signs of life, with new missions to Venus to follow. - The lunar base will incorporate MoonFall hopper drones and all the science payloads the landers and rovers can integrate. - Several scientific payloads to Mars including Rosaland Franklin Rover, MTN and SR-1 Freedom delivering Skyfall.
These missions will deliver the breakthroughs only NASA can achieve, inspire the next generation, and continue the greatest adventure in human history. 7:52 PM · Mar 24, 2026
Das NGRST ist ein Infrarot-Teleskop mit einem Hauptspiegeldurchmesser von 2,4 m, das im Lagrange-2-Punkt zwischen Erde und Sonne positioniert werden soll. Als Starttermin wird immer noch der September 2026 genannt. In Planung und Bau befindet es sich seit 2016.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat Garcia-Galan explained that the lunar base would be established through three phases, using a mix of providers primarily through a scaled up Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Each of these three phases would cost on the order of $10 billion.
The first of these, running through 2028, is estimated to comprise 21 landings, putting a total of 4 metric tons of payload on the Moon, including the VIPER rover to prospect for lunar resources; four “Moon Fall” drones that can travel up to 50 km and reach areas difficult for humans to access; initial versions of a lunar terrain vehicle capable of surviving up to 150 hours without sunlight; and radioisotope heater units. During this phase NASA will also seek to establish two lunar orbital communications satellite constellations.
As part of phase two, running from 2029 to 2032, NASA will seek to secure a site for a lunar base. This phase is projected to entail 27 landings with a total mass of 60 metric tons. These landed payloads would include larger, pressurized rovers, solar and nuclear power sources for surface activities, towers for communication, and excavator rovers.
The final phase, from 2032 to 2036, will establish habitats for long-term human presence, supporting four astronauts for four-week missions. Over the course of 28 landings, NASA would seek to place 150 metric tons of payload on the surface, including fission power, multiple rovers, an “industrial neighborhood” to support in-situ manufacturing, and the capability to return hundreds of kilograms to Earth, such as scientific experiments, critical hardware, and lunar materials.
Zitat Eric Berger@SciGuySpace It’s interesting to read critiques of the Moon base proposal, which seems like the smart path forward and could fit within NASA’s budget. The gist I’m hearing from critics is that this Isaacman priority is happy talk, will all fade away, and not happen. Then you realize these were the same people who:
- Said Isaacman wouldn’t be renominated - Said he would was a political amateur - Said he couldn’t build a coalition to cancel EUS and put SLS on a path toward sunset - Said he was an Elon puppet (who has subsequently prioritized getting Blue Origin moving on HLS due to Starship delays) - Said he would never get Congress, which called it a “national priority,” to go along with canceling Gateway - Said he would never actually cancel Gateway
These people are now saying Isaacman can’t get NASA and its contractors to execute on a plan that has administration and Congressional support (*). The reality is, from a policy and political standpoint, NASA is in a better place now than it has been for years. If the Moon Base fails that’s on NASA and private industry, not stupid policy. And believe me, I’ve seen a lot of terrible, pie-in-the-sky space policy over the decades. #JourneyToMars
It’s a new era. I’m not sure everyone realizes this, but Isaacman and his team have eyes wide open to a lot of the major challenges facing NASA and they’re trying to fix them. They’re working long days. Weekends. It’s inspiring to see our government work like this, especially in an era when so much seems broken. I don’t know what will happen. Maybe this Moon base all will fade away. But I do know that NASA’s chance for success in the next couple of decades is a lot higher today than it has been for a long, long time. What we were doing was decidedly not working. This has a chance. 12:26 PM · Mar 25, 2026
* - und, kleine Fußnote: wenn sich die National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration etwas vornimmt, mit einem Zeithorizont von einem vollen Jahrzehnt, dann pflegt sie zu liefern. Die Mondlandungen von Apollo 18 bis 20 sind im Januar 1970 durch den Kongress gestrichen worden; die Entscheidung für den Shuttle resultierte aus den politischen Entscheidung, eine wiederverwendbare Allzweck-Raumfähre zu bauen, nicht wie ursprünglich geplant zwei Varianten: ein leichtes Passagiermodell und ein unbemanntes Schwerlast-Transportsystem.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #61"Welcome to Moonbase" bezieht sich auf das "futuristische Sachbuch" von Ben Bova, im November 1987 bei Ballantine Books erschien, in dem er Ausstattung und Aufriß einer solchen Station beschreibt.
Inhaltsverzeichnis, "Welcome to Moonbase": Foreword: ix How to Use This Manual: xiv Our Proud Heritage: Moonbase History - 2 Moonbase Today - 42 Job Guidelines - 58 Quality of Life - 72 Hub of the Solar System: Lunar Transportation Node - 102 Moonrocks and Diamonds: Lunar Manufacturing - 132 Exploration and Research - 160 Footprints in Moondust: Lunar Tourism - 188 Looniks: Permanent Residence - 204 Facing the Future - 214 Appendix: A Different World: Basic Lunar Facts - 223 Index - 247
Zitat The final phase, from 2032 to 2036, will establish habitats for long-term human presence, supporting four astronauts for four-week missions.
Aus Kap. 1:
Zitat S. 12: On 8 November 2001 astronaut Sheila Davidson, in command of a six-person team of astronauts and scientists, landed her Diana spacecraft (a modified OTV) on the surafce of the Ocean of Storms, within sight of the dormant hardware left there by the Apollo 12 astronauts nearly thirty-two years earlier.
Davidson's first words upon setting foot on the Moon proved to be prophetic:
"We're back, and this time we're here to stay!"
The Americans were indeed back on the Moon. But they were no longer alone there. An all-male Soviet team of six was exploring the Sea of Crises, more than a thousand kilometers east-northeast of the Diana 1 landing site. Nor was the crew of Diana 1 entirely American. Among the four scientists were a British geologist, a West German geochemist, and a French-Canadian astronomer.
The Americans were back on the Moon to stay - with their West Atlantic Community allies - because by the year 2001 there were solid economic reasons for returning to the Moon. ... Studies of the lunar rocks and soil smaples brought to Earth by the Apollo astronauts had shown that the Mon's surface is rich in aluninum, silicon, oxygen, titanium, magnesium, and even iron. All of these elements were important raw materials for the factories and other facilities that were being built in LEO.
Because the Moon's gravitational pull is only one-sixth that of Earth, and because the Moon has no atmosphere, it takes very little energy to boost a payload from the lunar surface. In fact, it is twenty-two times less expensive (in terms of energy) to lift a pound from the moon and bring it to LEO than it is to lift a pound from the Earth to LEO - even though the low Earth orbit in questions may only be a hundred miles from Earth's surface!
With private industrial corporations manufacturing pharmaceuticals, plastics, crystals, new metal alloys, and electronic materials in LEO, with the Japanese constructing the first Solar Power Satellites, with the possibility of military satellites requiring heavy tonnages of shielding material, the potential of lunar raw materials became an economic driving force.
S. 19-20. Automated exploration vehicles have traversed every major mare, and today teleoperated vehicleswork on the lunar surface constantly, guided by human directors safe in their underground control centers at Moonbase.
By 2009, several temporaray bases had been established on the Moon. The Soviet Union had set up a ring of twelve-person shelters along the southern perimeters of Mare Imbrium, very close to the route of the original Mason, Lenoire, and Wayne traverse. Two years later the Russians built a larger base capable of housing two dozen people indie the crater Aristarchus, on the western edge of mare Imbrium.
Meanwhile, the United Staes concentrated its efforts in the Mare Nubium region, setting up three small bases there and linking them with automated surface rovers. The Western European nations established a nine-person base in the highlands near the crater Hipparchus, while a joint Sino-Japanese base, big enough for threee dozen people, was palced in the northeast quadrant of Mare Vaporum.
Living conditions in these temporay shelters were primitive, compared to the modern Moonbase. The shelters were designed only for temporary occupancy, and were frequently left unattended, except for automated machinery.
The American shelters, for example, could house up to twelve people but were actually occupied by no more than six at a time, except in emergencies. ...
... Engineers who began to develop low-gravity construction techniques using native lunar materials as well as prefabricated structures brought from Earth. They also tested technqiues developed on Earth to extract oxygen from the topmost layer of the lunar soil, called the regolith.
The temporary shelters were "temporary" only in the sense that no single person lived in one of them for more than three months at a time. Individuals and crews were rotated back to Earth regularly, but the shelters remained in service for many years. Some of them are still in use, with modernized life support systems.
The shelters resembled segments of the space stations that orbited near the Earth. They were essentially metal canisters, placed in shallow trenches dug out of the lunar regolith by teleoperated crawlers controlled from lunar-orbiting satellites, and then covered with rocky rubble to insulate them and shield their interiors from solar and cosmic radiation.
Each shelter contained living accomodations, life support systems, and the necessary equipment for its crew. In no sense were any of the life support systems completely closed-cycle: water, food, and oxygen had to be supplied biweekly, and often more frequently. Electrical power was provided originally by small nuclear generators, and later by solarvolatic cells manufactured on the Moon from lunar silicon.
Surface transportation consisted of electrically driven crawlers, descendants of the Lunar Roving Vehicles of the Apollo program of the 1960s.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
The United States and the Soviet Union both established space stations in "halo" orbits at the L1 libration points above the Moon's near side. The U.S. station was shared with the Western European and Sino-Japanese lunar explorers. From these two stations, equipment, supplies, and personnel could be sent to a surface base within a matter of hours after being requested. In an important demonstration of the East-West cooperation that has characterized the development of the Moon, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to open their lunar stations to each other.
Such cooperation has long been a fact on the Moon's surface.
S. 25
December 2003 saw the first celebration of Christmas on the Moon.
S. 35
Among the most massive and expensive pieces of equipment delivered from Earth to Moonbase were the base's original nuclear power generators. These were thermoelectric reactors capable of delivering 10,000 kilowatts each. Nuclear generators were chosen because they offered the highest output of power per weight, less than ten pounds per kilowatt, icnluding the nuclear reactor, its shielding, and the radiators necessary to get rid of the excess heat it generated. The nuclear reactors were buried in the far side of the crater's (= Alphonsus) ringwall and still provide electricity for Moonbase during the 350-hour-long long lunar night.
S 38-39
The earliest Moonbase "crop" was yeast, which is an extremely efficient source of protein. The protein was processed into various forms, known popularly as "Moonburgers," "Lunasteak," and Vic's Veggies" (after the nutritionist, Alfred Victor, who ran the yeast production facility at the time). Later, soybeans became a staple crop; not only did they provide a wider variety of processed proteins, but they also renitrogenated the soil in which they were grown.
Today, in addition to basic grains, legmes, and leafy vegetables, Moonbase's farms also produce meat products such as rabbit, pork, goat, and chicken. Seafood includes the trout, catfish, and shrimp of the original aquaculture stations, plus a growing amount of luxury items such as lobsters and shellfish.
S. 41
Officially, Moonbase was declared operational on 20 July 2020, eleven months before Lunagrad was officially opened.
S. 47-48
Moonbase and the L1 space station service more than 65 percent of the manned and unmanned missions to deep space. Since 2017, ll manned interplanetary missions have been supplied with lunar oxygen, either from Moonbase or Lunagrad.
S 50-51
Below the Main Plaza are five levels of living and working quarters. Vertical access if provided by power ladders, freight elevators and ramps. (Stairs have been found to be hazardous to newcomers who are not acclimatized to one-sixth g; therefore, no stairs are allowed in Moonbase).
Living quarters are on Levels 3 and 4. Level 1 is for life support machinery and warehousing. Levels 2 and 5 are offices and laboratories.
All sections of Moonbase are color-coded, and wall maps are provided in each corridor section. In addition, electronic directional markers are being installed in corriidor floors. These can be accessed either by the wall telephone terminals or by pocket communicators.
Wherever feasible, greeenstrips of living grass and shrubbery have been installed in the corridors. each corridors also has a clearly marked lane for vehicular traffic - roller skates and skateboards can be used only in the marked lanes.
S. 76
Environmental control is quite rigorous. With more than two thousand people living in Moonbase, it is necessary to monitor the atmosphere constantly to guard against potential pollution. Enevirnmental sensors have been placed in every room, corridors, and public area of Moonbase. They continuously record temperature, humidity, and contamination levels. These sensors are constantly monitored by specialists of the Environmental Control Division, who also dispatch humans and/or robots on random patrols of Moonbase's living and working areas to inspect the sensors and make on-the-scene evaluation of compliance with environmental regulations. The sensors also serve as smoke and fire detectors, and have hepled save lives in emergencies.
Smoking is not prohibited at Moonbase, but it is strictly controlled. All public areas, including all corridors and work places, are strictly no-smoking areas. Smoking is permitted on one's private living quarters, and in special smoking lounges provided at certain locatins adjacent to public areas and work places. Tobacco products can be brought to Moonbase only as part of an individual's personal cargo allowance. No sale of tobacco products is permitted anywhere in Moonbase.
Alcoholic beverages are sold at Moonbase shops and served in our restaurants. Narcotics and other stimulant/depressant drugs are strictly controlled. Alcohol or drug abuse can be grounds for dismissal. If in doubt concerning medicinal drugs, contact the Life Support Division's counselors.
...
S. 85
While all living quarters in Moonbase are indeed underground, they are far from cramped and dreary.
Living space is at a premium, however, although we are constantly expanding Moonbase in a vigorous but carefully planned program of growth.
Floorspace. Your initial living quarters will be a one-room apartment, slightly larger than the average studio apartment in major Earthside metropolitan centers such as Manhaattan, Tokyo, or Moscow. While dimensions vary somewhat from one apartment to another, the average size is between 100 square feet (9.29 square meters) and 175 square feet (16.25 square meters). Married or cohabiting couples can make arrangements for two adjoining rooms with a connecting door.
Your furniture is provided by Moonbase. Basic furniture includes a sofabed, two endtables, a bookcase, a desk with chair, two occasional chairs, coffee table, and asociated lamps. Each apartment is equipped with a functioning kitchen, which includes a foldout table and two chairs, and an ultrasocmic dishwasher. Each apartment is also equipped with a bathroom, which includes toilet, shower stall, and sink.
Laundry facilities are provided in each section of Moonbase's living quarters. Ultrasonic clothes-washing machines are being installed in some apartments, but these luxury items will not be available in every apartment for some time to come.
Personal hygiene. Because water is precious on the Moon and electrical energy is abundant, Moonbase residents are encouraged to use the ultrasonic scrubbers provided in each apartment's bathroom in prefernce to showering. The scrubbers remove dirt and dead skin from the body's surface through ultrasonic vibrations.
Each Moonbase resident is gratned a monthly water allowance, and may use that allotment of wter in any way he or she chooses. once the allotment is used the individual will receive no more water until the first of the next month. Appeals can be made to the Water Allotment Board, but only cases of extreme need or system failures attributable to Moonbase itself are grounds for a successful appeal.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
The most efficient form of transporation at Moonbase does not usde rockets of any kind. It is the rail-gun, or masss driver, a form of electrical catapult.
The mass driver is used for lifting cargo off the lunar surface, mainly shipments of ore, pxygen, and refined metals that are used in the manufacturing facilities and space stations at LEO..
The English futuristic author Arthur C. Clarke first suggested that electrical catapuls might be used on the Moon, nearly a century ago. by the 1970s, researches such as Gerard K. O'Neill of Princeton University were developing the technology of mass drivers, and by te turn of the century work done at the University of Texas had produced a practical railgun system.
the Moonbase mass driver is located on Mare Nubium, approximately 30 kilomters (less than 19 miles) from the outer rim of Alphonsus.
The mass driver is essentially a linear synchronous motor, a kind of electric motor that is laid out in a straight line. Electrical energy is used to aacelerate the cargo-carrying "buckets" to lunar orbital velocity: 1.6 km/sec (0.99 mi/sec). By comparison, Earth's orbital velocity is 7.9 km/sec(4.9 mi/sec). In addition to the lower orbital velocity, the Moon's lack of atmosphere means that there is no air friction to hinder the catapult launches.
If the energy required to boost a payload is expressed in terms of kilowatt-hours, then it takes approximately 11,000 kilowatt-hours of energy of energy to lift a ton of payload from Earth's surface into LEO. To lift a ton of payload from the mon's surface to escape velocity requires only 800 kilowatt-hours. In addition, Earth's thick blanket of atmospehere causes drag that must be overcome by further expenditure of energy, while the Moon is airless. The result is that payloads can be launched from the Moon to LEO twnety-two times more cheaply than lifting them from the Earth to LEO.
The mass driver is 3.5 kilometers (2.17 miles) long. The cargo carriers are levitated along its track by powerful magnetic fields and accelerated at more than 100 g. That is more than 100 times the Earth's gravitational force. By comparison, rockets launched from the Earth pull no more than 3 to 4 g. Claerly, the mass driver is *not* used for launching people!
The magnets used in thew mass drive are superconducting. They are compsed of alloys of metals, oxygen, and rare earth elements: Although many of these materials are available on the Moon, the magnets were manufactured on Earth competely from terrestrial materials and transported to Moonbase in 150-ton segments. The entire mass-driver facility totals 20,000 tons.
A second mass driver is now under construction, using a new type of "room temperature" superconducting magnets that do not require cryogenic cooling. These magnets - as well as all the other components of the new mass driver - are being constructed entirely from lunar materials.
The mass driver regularly launches between five and six million tons of material each year to the facilities in LEO, at a cost of less than US $10 per ton.
The cargoes luanched by the mass driver are collected by the mass catcher in high lunar polar orbit, and from there are shipped to LEO by nuclear-powered freight carriers.
Und vor zwei Tagen hat Elon Musk bei der erneuten Vorstellung des "Mass Driver"-Konzept von genau solchen "mass catchern" gesprochen
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Teams at @NASAKennedy have arrived to their stations at the Launch Control Center. We are about 48 hours from the launch of the Artemis II mission around the Moon. https://go.nasa.gov/4bHcwzx
NASA\u2019s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Monday, March 30, 2026, at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The orange core stage of the rocket stands between two white solid rocket boosters and is topped with the white Orion spacecraft. The rocket stands in front of the trussed structure of the mobile launcher. The sky is blue and cloudless in the background. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls 12:29 AM · Mar 31, 2026
Zitat NASA’s Artemis II Launch Mission Countdown Begins
March 30, 2026 6:13PM
The countdown for NASA’s Artemis II test flight is underway at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with members of the launch team arriving at their consoles inside the Rocco Petrone Launch Control Center. The onsite countdown clock started ticking down at 4:44 p.m. EDT to a targeted launch time of 6:24 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1. Artemis II is the first crewed launch of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft.
With countdown officially underway, engineers are powering up flight hardware, checking communication links, and preparing the rocket’s cryogenic systems for the precise fueling sequence required to load hundreds of thousands of gallons of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. At Launch Pad 39B, teams will begin filling the sound suppression system’s massive tank with water, which will unleash a protective deluge at liftoff to shield the vehicle from the roar of its own engines.
The Artemis II crew, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, remains in Astronaut Crew Quarters inside NASA Kennedy’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. The crewmates have spent the final countdown phase focused on readiness and technical verification, remaining in quarantine under strict health monitoring and completing medical checks to ensure fitness for launch. They have been following a controlled sleep schedule and nutrition plan to maintain energy and hydration for launch, while continuing to receive regular updates on the rocket’s configuration and weather conditions from crew quarters.
NASA and weather officers with the U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 continue to pay close attention to weather conditions ahead of tanking operations. The weather forecast for launch day shows an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions with primary concerns being cloud coverage and the potential for high winds in the area. Teams will continue to monitor the weather in the coming days.
Broadcast coverage begins with live views and audio commentary of tanking operations beginning at 7:45 a.m. on April 1, on NASA’s YouTube channel, as teams load propellant into the SLS rocket. Full coverage on NASA+ begins at 12:50 p.m. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
On Monday, NASA leadership hosted a status update briefing to discuss the latest mission preparations. Watch an instant replay below:
Zitat Huge solar flare no threat to Artemis 2 astronaut launch to the moon, NASA says
A massive X1.4 solar flare won't endanger NASA's four Artemis 2 astronauts on their way to the moon.
A massive solar eruption from the sun poses no threat to NASA's planned launch of its Artemis 2 mission to the moon this week, the space agency said today.
The colossal X1.4-class flare triggered a radio blackout over parts of Asia and Australia when it exploded from an active sunspot late Sunday (March 29) at 11:19 p.m. EDT (0319 March 30 GMT). The flare also launched a coronal mass ejection, or CME, of solar plasma in Earth's direction, but the space weather should settle down before NASA launches its Artemis 2 astronauts on April 1.
"We're not expecting the CME to cause any effects," Amit Kshatriya, NASA's Associate Administrator, told reporters here at the Kennedy Space Center during a press conference. "We're not tracking concerns for the mission in general."
Kshatriya said NASA's Artemis 2 mission management team gave the official "go" decision to proceed with a launch attempt on April 1. Liftoff is set for 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT). You can follow the mission with our Artemis 2 mission updates page and learn all about the flight in our Inside Artemis 2 video series.
"The team concluded that everything continues to look good and there are no issues preventing us from pressing ahead at this point," Kshatriya said.
Space weather can pose a serious risk for astronauts and satellites in space if an X-class flare, the most powerful type of sun storm, or CME blasts them with dangerous radiation. That's why NASA's Artemis 2 mission already has plans to test a space radiation shelter plan for its four-astronaut crew.
"One of our test objectives is to set up a radiation shelter, so we'll be doing that anyway, even without a radiation event," Artemis 2 flight director Emily Nelson told reporters during the NASA briefing. "Basically, we've got a section of the spacecraft that we would set up in and the crew would stay in that area until we gave them the all clear that the radiation event had passed."
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