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COLORADO SPRINGS — Moog Inc. is quadrupling the size of its Colorado space vehicle production capacity as the New York-based company long known as a spacecraft component supplier expands its role as a space vehicle integrator.

“It’s a proud moment for our company,” Maureen Athoe, Moog Space and Defense Group president, told SpaceNews. “This step takes us to the mission level. We’re going to hear from our customers about what they need not just with components, but with the actual mission.”

This year, Moog is scheduled to integrate nine space vehicles in its new 8,800-square-meter facility in Arvada, Colorado, and its existing 3,000-square-meter plant nearby.

NASA astronaut Doug Hurley reminisced on what it was like working with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk before he flew on a historic flight to space and back in 2020.

In an interview with Fox News, Hurley spoke about his impressions of Musk, the billionaire space race, and a new Netflix documentary, “Return to Space” which follows Hurley’s journey and that of fellow astronaut Bob Behnken as they embarked on the first human SpaceX mission to the International Space Station.

In May 2020, Musk and SpaceX made history after the company successfully launched two astronauts into space aboard a Crew Dragon spaceship. Shortly after, the astronauts’ ship docked at the International Space Station.

April 9 (Reuters) — The first all-private team of astronauts ever launched to the International Space Station (ISS) were welcomed aboard the orbiting research platform on Saturday to begin a weeklong science mission hailed as a milestone in commercial spaceflight.

Their arrival came about 21 hours after the four-man team representing Houston-based startup company Axiom Space Inc lifted off on Friday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, riding atop a SpaceX-launched Falcon 9 rocket.

The Crew Dragon capsule lofted into orbit by the rocket docked with the ISS at about 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) on Saturday as the two space vehicles were flying roughly 250 miles (420 km) above the central Atlantic Ocean, a live webcast of the coupling from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration showed.

Elon Musk tweeted Tesla may get into the lithium mining and refining business directly and at scale because the cost of the metal, a key component in manufacturing batteries, has gotten so high.

“Price of lithium has gone to insane levels,” Musk tweeted. “There is no shortage of the element itself, as lithium is almost everywhere on Earth, but pace of extraction/refinement is slow.”

The Tesla and SpaceX tech boss was responding to a tweet showing the average price of lithium per tonne in the last two decades, which showed a massive increase in prices since 2021. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the cost of the metal has gone up more than 480% in the last year.

The first all-civilian crew arrived at the International Space Station after a historic launch with SpaceX and Axiom Space. The crew will spend eight days partaking in science experiments and philanthropic projects. » Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC
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#ISS #NASA #SpaceX

Watch: all-civilian crew arrives at international space station.

The International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) in Hawai’i is preparing to launch a dual-camera system attached to a Moon lander whose primary purpose will be to photograph the cosmos.

ILOA is preparing its precursor science education payload for integration on a pioneering commercial Moon lander later this year, while also continuing to advance more robust observatories for future long-term astronomy, science, and exploration missions.

The International Lunar Observatory (ILO) missions have been in development for the better part of a decade. In 2013, ILOA and the Moon Express corporation announced the private enterprise mission in 2013 that would have both scientific and commercial purposes with the goal of delivering the ILO to the Moon’s South Pole aboard a robotic lander. The hope is that it would establish permanent astrophysical observations and lunar commercial communications systems for professional and amateur researchers.

It would signify new levels of space baron cooperation. It’s no secret that Richard Branson is a big fan of SpaceX.


It’s no secret that Richard Branson is a big fan of SpaceX.

And, as a fellow space baron to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, it’s hard to blame him — since Musk’s aerospace firm is edging closer to attempting its first orbital flight with a fully stacked Starship vehicle — and a launch date fast approaching. This will be a huge step for Musk’s ambitions to build, operate, and land a new spaceship on the surface of Mars, putting humans on the Red Planet.

Much testing is needed before the big jump can happen. And, having bested Jeff Bezos in repeatedly contested contracts with NASA to build the Human Landing System for the Artemis program, Musk has assumed a rapidly widening lead ahead of his two space baron rivals, Blue Origin CEO Bezos and Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson.

Interesting vehicle.


New Zealand and U.S.-based aerospace company Rocket Lab announced that during its next Electron launch, a commercial rideshare mission currently scheduled for later this month, the company will attempt a mid-air helicopter capture of the Electron launch vehicle for the first time. This will further the company’s program to make Electron the first reusable orbital small launch vehicle.

Rocket Lab’s 26th Electron launch, the “There and Back Again” mission, has a 14-day launch window scheduled to commence on April 19, 2022. Electron will lift off from Pad A at Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula and will carry 34 payloads from different commercial operators to Earth’s low orbit.

When the Electron’s first stage returns from space after launch, a customized Sikorsky S-92 twin-engine helicopter will be ready to catch it. Around an hour before lift-off, Rocket Lab’s Sikorsky S-92 helicopter will move into position in the capture zone, approximately 150 nautical miles (278 km) off New Zealand’s coast.