NASA Astrobotic’s lunar lander officially BOOMED, SpaceX's third Axiom mission Completed...

SpaceX achieved a significant Milestone with its first crew mission to space in 2024 on January 18th a SpaceX falcan 9 rocket successfully lifted off from pad 39a at Nasa Kennedy Space Center at 4:49 p.m. Eastern the rocket carried the crew Dragon capsule named freedom on Ax 3 the third mission organized by Houston based company axium space originally scheduled for January 17th the launch experienced a 24-hour delay as SpaceX conducted a thorough review to address a potential issue with straps used to mitigate the shock of parachute inflation during descent SpaceX had identified issues with these straps during the return of the CRS 29 cargo dragon mission in December possibly caused by twists technicians untwisted the energy modulators in the parachutes on on This Crew Dragon before launch and the vehicle was subsequently cleared for flight the successful launch marks another achievement in spacex's commitment to crude space missions the recent launch followed a trajectory paralleling the east coast of the United States creating a spectacular 12-minute Ascent to space despite low clouds limiting visibility the late afternoon launch captivated area residents and tourists with a visually stunning display adding to the excitement the booster First St executed a Flawless rocket powered landing at the cape canaval space force station accompanied by twin Sonic booms this successful Landing marked spacex's 43rd in Florida and its overall 265th the Precision of the landing demonstrated spacex's expertise in reusable rocket technology a few minutes after landing the crew Dragon capsule was released to fly on its own SpaceX chief engineer Bill Geren Meer conveyed congratulations to the crew praising their journey to orbit and emphasizing the ultimate in reuse a reused Commander a reused dragon and a reused Falcon describing the components as flight experienced gersen Meer encouraged the crew to enjoy their space journey I was saying it's a team sport thank you guys Mike on the other hand welcome to the dragon frequent flyer Club I imagine you only have enough miles to qualify for Platinum Status after this flight Lopez Allegria replied the SpaceX flight director then chimed in while coming the first time Flyers to orbit the ax3 mission highlighted the third Flight of the crew Dragon spacecraft named freedom and the fifth Flight of the Falcon 9 booster in a pre-launch briefing Benji Reed senior director of human spaceflight programs at SpaceX shared insights into spacex's plans although SpaceX aims to achieve up to 15 flights for each Dragon spacecraft the current practice is to use Falcon 9 boosters on crude missions that have flown no more than five times despite this limit SpaceX is actively working towards extending the lifespan of these boosters to potentially reach up to 40 missions a demonstration of the company's Spirit of continuous innovation in reusability and efficiency in the realm of space flight when we feel comfortable expanding the envelope as well we'll continue to work that with all of our customers he said of booster reuse on crude flights go ax3 congratulations to axium space and SpaceX on a successful launch this Mission shows the power of American innovation and Ingenuity together with our International and Commercial Partners NASA will further our reach in the cosmos for the benefit of all Humanity NASA leader Bill Nelson also congratulated the team on X Derek hosman chief of mission integration and operations at axium space shared during the January 16th pre-launch briefing that axium has intentions to continue conducting short duration private astronaut missions to the International Space Station at a rate of of two missions per year this plan extends until the launch of axiom's first commercial module anticipated in late 2026 the ax4 mission is tentatively scheduled for launch in the fall of 2024 but as of now neither axium nor NASA has officially announced plans for Missions Beyond ax4 NASA is actively supporting private astronaut missions as part of its broader strategy to Foster the development of commercial space stations intended to succeed the ISS when it is retired at the end of the decade in 2020 NASA awarded a contract to Axiom granting access to a docking port on the ISS for its commercial modules furthermore NASA has provided funding through space act agreements to support the development of station concepts by Blue origin and Voyager space these initiatives collectively contribute to NASA's goal of encouraging a vibrant and commercially driven future in space exploration and I am certainly hopeful that they are going to be successful NASA administrator Bill Nelson of private space station Ventures on axum's webcast of the ax3 launch Nelson conveyed his hope for the success of these Endeavors emphasizing that NASA is counting on one or more commercial space stations to be successful this is crucial to meet not only NASA's requirements but also to cater to the needs of other customers a thriving commercial space station sector would allow NASA to concentrate on its lunar and Mars exploration Ambitions emphasizing a collaborative approach to space exploration and infrastructure development in summary while missions like these have become relatively routine for SpaceX the excitement and awe they have inspired and will continue to do so remain undiminished a heartfelt appreciation goes out to the entire SpaceX team for their continued dedication and contributions to advancing space exploration their consistency passion and expertise continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in space travel next up in the news it seems that the troubled paragr moonlander has finally come to its end astrobotic lost contact with the paragen moonlander around 3:50 p.m. Eastern on Thursday afternoon on the 18th as announced by the pittsburgh-based company via X the company noted in an update on social media around 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday that while this indicates the vehicle completed its controlled re-entry over open water in the South Pacific at 4:04 p.m. Eastern they are waiting independent confirmation from government entities we will gather more information on Friday during a teleconference hosted by astrobotic about parag's Mission and its fate to recap the paragr Lander was launched on January 8th at top a Vulcan Centaur rocket the launch was successful placing the paragr Lander into Earth's orbit on its trajectory toward the moon had the spacecraft reached the lunar surface successfully it would have marked the first US mission to soft land on the moon since Apollo 17 which took place in 1972 however a few hours into its solo flight the paragen Lander encountered significant setbacks astrobot confirmed that the spacecraft experienced a severe issue with its onboard propulsion system resulting in a fuel leak this left the Lander without sufficient gas to execute a soft landing on the moon following the critical setbacks encountered by the paragen Lander astrobotic adjusted its course of action the company reconfigured the spacecraft Mission shifting its operation to function more like a satellite during this phase paragen tested its onboard scientific instruments and other systems while traversing thousands of miles through space ultimately astrobotic made the decision to dispose of the vehicle by intentionally crashing it into Earth's atmosphere at high speeds this strategic move was likely undertaken to safely and deliberately terminate the mission after the propulsion system issues prevented a soft landing on the moon indeed the loss of the paragr Lander represents a huge blow to both astrobotic and NASA the collaboration between astrobotic and NASA for the paragr Lander mission was facilitated through a deal between the two organizations NASA provided financial support amounting to $108 million contributing to the development efforts and enabling the delivery of five payloads the contract's value increased by approximately 36% from the original due to renegotiations amid pandemic related supply chain challenges as noted by Joel Kars Deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's science Mission directorate despite the setback with the paragen mission NASA does not consider it the sole option for conducting robotic lunar research the agency has Partnerships with three other companies developing robotic lunar Landers including intuitive machines which is expected to launch its first mission in mid-February the commercial lunar payload Services Program or Clips structured these lunar lander contracts as fixed price agreements emphasizing a one-time payment rather than than continuous funding throughout the development process the arrangement allows companies to retain complete ownership of their vehicles with NASA being just one of several customers utilizing the Landers to transport cargo while astrobotics paragr Mission reportedly cost the company more than it generated the failure does not spell the N for astrobotic the company already holds a contract for another robotic lunar lander mission for NASA named Griffin set to launch later this year Griffin a larger model compared to paragan Aims to deploy a Rover near the moon's South Pole astrobotic acknowledges the inherent risks in the space Venture but remains resilient in its determination to Advanced space exploration well folks that's about it for today's episode thank you so much for tuning in and if you want to support our Channel even further you can hop on over to our patreon through the link in the description below sign up and become a patron today to gain access to exclusive content sounds exciting right in any case we still appreciate your generosity and your passion for space exploration as always this is Kevin from great SpaceX and until next time keep looking up