NASA

The Moon landers by Dynetics, SpaceX and Blue Origin / National Team

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NASA has announced the choice of three companies to design and develop human landing systems for the Artemis program. These are essentially plans for a lunar lander among which one will be selected to be built for the mission that, according to plans, is supposed to bring American astronauts back to the Moon by 2024. The companies selected are Blue Origin (actually the first contractor for a group called National Team), Dynetics, and SpaceX. This stage of development involves a 10-month base period during which companies and NASA will work together on the selected projects. The total contract value is $967 million.

Artist's concept of the exoplanet Kepler-1649c and its star (Image NASA/Ames Research Center/Daniel Rutter)

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” reports the discovery of the exoplanet Kepler-1649c, which has a size very similar to the Earth’s and orbits in ​​its system’s habitable zone. A team of researchers led by Andrew Vanderburg of the University of Texas, Austin, reanalyzed data collected by NASA’s Kepler space telescope and subsequently analyzed using software written for that task. Initially, only one exoplanet was confirmed in that system while another candidate was discarded. A human verification led to the confirmation of the planet that was cataloged as Kepler-1649c. The two planets’ orbital characteristics suggest the possibility that a third one exists, even if for now the researchers haven’t been able to find any traces of it.

Andrew Morgan, Oleg Skripochka and Jessica Meir (Photo NASA)

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A little while ago astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan and cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka returned to Earth on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft, that landed in Kazakhstan. The three of them spent a bit more than 6 months on the International Space Station, where they arrived on September 25, 2019 as part of Expedition 61. After landing, they were assisted by a skeleton crew with the precautions needed to avoid the risk of Covid-19 infection.

The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft docking with the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and after a little more than six hours reached the International Space Station with three astronauts on board. In the period preceding a launch, it’s normal for astronauts and cosmonauts to remain in quarantine. In this case it was also extended to the personnel who managed the launch, with limits to the people who could have been in Baikonur.

The Dragon cargo spacecraft departing International Space Station to end its CRS-20 mission (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft ended its CRS-20 (Cargo Resupply Service 20) mission for NASA splashing down smoothly in the Pacific Ocean a bit more than 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) off the coast of California. The Dragon left the International Space Station yesterday. For SpaceX, this is the conclusion of the first contract with NASA to transport resupplies to the Station with the first version of the Dragon cargo spacecraft.

Shortly after landing, SpaceX boats went to retrieve the Dragon to transport it to the coast. The cargo brought back to Earth will be delivered to NASA soon, probably tomorrow. The Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station on March 9, 2020.