NASA is completing assembly of the SLS rocket’s core stage to be used for the Artemis II mission to carry crew around the Moon in 2024. In the meanwhile, the mission’s nearly fully assembled Orion spacecraft, which the astronauts will be in, was powered on for the first time last…

After requesting proposals from U.S. companies in October last year, NASA has selected Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to provide advanced and highly flexible spacesuits and associated services for future astronauts on the Moon as well as the International Space Station (ISS). Collins, who designed the Apollo suits, and Axiom…

How the Apollo missions transformed our understanding of the Moon’s origin — This article was originally published on The Planetary Society as a contribution for the Apollo 11 landing anniversary. This is a mirror of the same. Where did the Moon come from? The origin of our cosmic neighbor is a fundamental question in planetary science. From Galileo’s first telescopic observations of…

Designing lunar orbits to efficiently land on the Moon — The TeamIndus spacecraft will soft-land on the Moon in 2020. The landing site for this first mission (Z-01) is near Annegrit crater, in the vast lava plains of Mare Imbrium. The location of the landing site poses multiple constraints on how the spacecraft orbits are designed, including the launch/landing time…

With great science comes great engineering — Gravity assists are a powerful technique which can help both extend the duration of a space mission and reduce its overall cost. This article will have a look at some of the most insane gravity assist techniques used in past space missions. …

A look at the propulsion system of the TeamIndus lunar lander — The TeamIndus spacecraft will soft-land on the Moon in 2020. We have designed a robust and unique propulsion system capable of landing a craft on the Moon and operate in different modes meeting the needs of each phase of the mission. …

How the giant leap for mankind is not the first step on the Moon but attaining Earth orbit — The Universe is governed by the laws of physics that cannot be changed by us. As such, there are hard limits to what we can do with rockets and how we build them. The working of rockets is governed by the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, named after the rocket scientist Konstantin…

An experiment to enable living habitats on the Moon — Going onboard the TeamIndus spacecraft in 2019 is the Lab2Moon experiment LunaDome. It aims to recreate the Earth’s atmosphere in a small inflatable dome on the lunar surface. In the absence of air on the Moon, any long term human presence on the surface would require some sort of a…

A look at multi-layer insulation and how we use it — Out there in the harsh environment of space, spacecraft must deal with extreme hot and cold temperatures. The spacecraft need not just survive the extreme temperatures but also function in such harsh environments throughout the mission. Difficulties of managing heat in space Spacecraft can experience temperatures in space that are either too hot or too cold…