#blueorigin

New Glenn launch: a new starting point in the race to Mars!

On Thursday night, one of the most notable events of the year in the space world took place: the launch of NASA's ESCAPADE mission aboard the New Glenn, Blue Origin's new heavy launcher.

So why is everyone talking about this?

 Almost full return to Mars

ESCAPADE’s two twin spacecraft will explore how the sun affects Mars’ thin atmosphere — a key to understanding the past (and maybe even the future) of the neighboring planet.

 A creative path we haven't seen until today

Instead of waiting for a classic launch window in 2026, the spacecraft will spend a year at point L2 and only then will go on to Mars. This is a model that could allow in the future more flexible accommodations - and a host of tasks that will stand "in the waiting line" on the way to Mars.

 Interplanetary debut for Rocket Lab

The company, which built the two satellites, is entering the super league of deep-space missions - a sign of the global ecosystem expansion.

 First launch of New Glenn with NASA scientific charger + perfect landing

Blue Origin has proven that its launcher is capable of carrying a load for a real mission - and returning the first stage of landing on a ship. To this day only SpaceX has been able to do this.

And why is it important to us?

Because it's another step toward real competition in the field of heavy launches, more orbit and creative solutions on the way to Mars, and a world where interplanetary missions will be more frequent and accessible.

Space has become more diverse, faster - and much more interesting.

CLIPS Missions come first, and once we can reliably land on the Moon, Moon Mining will begin.‘The people who are rich enough to get to the Moon will exploit the Lunar Resources and get richer.’ Gemini tells us the birth of Lunar ISRU won’t start until 2028, because @SpaceStartupNews doesn’t report on Blue Origin.‘I told Gemini: Tell me about Blue Origin’s prospects of Lunar ISRU…

It's January 3nd. On this day in 2019, at 02:26 UTC, 🇨🇳 China's Cheng'e 4 (嫦娥四号, Moon Goddess 4) spacecraft achieved our first soft landing on the far side of the 🌜 Moon. A rover, Yutu 2 (玉兔二号, Jade Rabbit 2), was deployed about 12 hours after Cheng'e 4 landed. Cheng'e 4 is the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program's fourth of six planned missions to the moon. The first two missions achieved Lunar orbit. The third and fifth missions are collecting Lunar samples on the near side and sending them to Earth, and the sixth will attempt to do the same in 2024.

This mission will try to determine the age and composition of this unexplored region of the Moon. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) targeted the landing for the Von Kármán crater within the South Pole-Aitken basin, a low-lying area 2,500 kilometers across and 13 kilometers deep which covers nearly a quarter of the Moon's surface. Scientists believe this basin – the largest hole in the solar system – is the result of a massive impact. CNSA hopes that Cheng'e 4 can find and study some exposed deep lunar crust and mantle rocks. This would provide an unprecedented view into the Moon's internal structure and origins.

In May 2019, CNSA reported that Cheng'e 4 had found what appear to be mantle rocks. CNSA continues to report Cheng'e 4's findings to the world concerning Lunar surface temperatures, Lunar rock and soil chemical compositions, Solar corona radiation characteristics, and cosmic ray observations.