I Want to Go! 2

Tibbetts' Second Page on the High Frontier

Moon | Private Launchers | Space Stations | Astronomy Page

A Decade of Intense Battle...

A report from late 2004 on the race (?) to return to the Moon from MoonDaily. How are we doing?

The Moon Society

A foundation to study the Moon in order to establish communities and industry there.

The Space Settlement Initiative

"Will people ever live and work on the Moon and Mars? Will the settlement of space take place in your lifetime?" Former broadcast journalist Alan Wasser offers this proposal to encourage privately funded space settlements on the Moon.

SMART-1: Europe's first Lunar spacecraft

This first of the European Space Agency's "Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology" was launched from French Guiana 27 September 2003 on an Ariane rocket. Developed by the Swedish Space Corporation, SMART-1's main purpose is to test an ion engine. Entering lunar orbit in November 2004, it (among other things) studied the far side of the Moon and searching for signs of water in deep polar craters until it was crash-landed in September 2006.

Kaguya (Selene)

The first successful lunar mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) orbited the Moon for 20 months — providing more details maps of the Moon and getting the first optical view of the south polar crater, Shackleton — before its intentional crash-landing in June 2009.

Chandrayaan-1

The first mission to the Moon by the Indian Space Research Organisation, this craft entered into lunar orbit in November 2008, when it also crash-landed its Moon Impact Probe. Radio contact suddenly ended not quite 10 months into its 2-year mission, though the craft will continue in orbit for about 5 years. Recent data analysis discovered ice in lunar polar craters. This unofficial site also offers up-to-date information.

Chang'e-1

The first Moon craft of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program entered orbit in November 2007 for a one-year mission that was extended until it was crash-landed onto the lunar surface on 1 March 2009. A second orbiter, Chang'e 2, is supposed to be launched in October 2010, with Chang'e 3 to include an unmanned lunar rover in a 2013 soft landing.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

The first NASA lunar mission in a decade, LRO has been In orbit since June 2009. Among it more unique accomplishments are images of Apollo and Surveyor landing sites. The LRO was launched in conjunction with LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite), which was crashed into the Moon in October 2009 to discover water at a lunar pole.

Apollo 11 30th Anniversary

It has been over 40 years since man first stepped on the Moon. For the 30th Anniversary of Eagle's landing in 1999, NASA couldn't begin to get anyone back to the Moon (and they still can't). But they could put together a way cool web site.

Apollo Lunar Surface Journal

"is a record of the lunar surface operations conducted by the six pairs of astronauts who landed on the Moon from 1969 through 1972. The Journal is intended as a resource for anyone wanting to know what happened during the missions and why. It includes a corrected transcript of all recorded conversations between the lunar surface crews and Houston. The Journal also contains extensive, interwoven commentary by the Editor and by ten of the twelve moonwalking astronauts."

A Field Trip to the Moon

is astronaut-geologist Harrison Schmitt's account of the last human visit to Moon, Apollo 17. The last manned expedition to the Moon was 37 years ago in December 1972.

MoonDaily

"Your portal to Luna." The latest news about the Moon from SpaceDaily.com.

"...how come we can't put a man on the Moon?" - Bill Engfer, Space Frontier Foundation

I Want to Go! Home Page | Mars | Public Organizations | Missions | NASA

Google Lunar X PRIZE

"The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014."

X-Prize Foundation

Its mission is "to cause radical breakthroughs in space and other technologies for the benefit of humanity." The X-Prize model is borrowed from one of the prime forces of the development of aviation -- the awarding of cash prizes. It worked for airplanes; SpaceShipOne (above) shows it can work to really get us to space!

Virgin Galactic

Is it possible for almost anyone to visit the final frontier at an affordable price? Virgin Galactic aims to be the first commercially viable space line, putting you in space (initially a sub-orbital flight on SpaceShipTwo) in 2008 by late-2011 at a cost of only $200,000 per ticket. Well, it's a big step in the right direction.

Space Adventures

This is the only company that has, thus far, actually sent private citizens into space -- seven to the International Space Station. They have proposed a private Lunar mission (no landing, though) at $100 million per seat. For the more budget-minded, they have announced that $102,000 will put you on a on top of an Armadillo Aerospace rocket for a sub-orbital flight.

Armadillo Aerospace

"A leading developer of reusable rocket powered vehicles," Armadillo is powering Space Adventures' (above) "low cost" suborbital flight.

Orbital Sciences Corporation

Builders of the Pagasus, Taurus, and Minotaur rockets. Orbital has conducted 55 space launch missions since 1990, launching over 115 satellites into orbit.

Scaled Composites, LLC

Builders of SpaceShipOne, the first private manned spacecraft and winner of the first Ansari X-Prize, and the prototype SpaceShipTwo.

SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies if a private firm develops rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and beyond. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule will replace the Space Shuttle as the vehicle re-supplying the International Space Station

XCOR Aerospace

Since 1999 XCOR has "focused on the research, development and production of safe, reliable, reusable launch vehicles (RLVs), rocket engines and rocket propulsion systems." For $95,000 you can reserve a ride on XCOR's Lynx Suborbital Vehicle

Delta Expendable Launch Vehicles

Information on the Delta II, Delta III, and Delta IV rockets made by Boeing, with links to details of these rockets' launches.

I Want to Go! Home Page | Mars | Public Organizations | Missions | NASA

The International Space Station

News and status reports from the NASA Human Spaceflight site.

Where is the International Space Station?

Click here and you'll find out where it is right now!

Heaven's Above

Find out where the International Space Station, satellites, and other objects in our solar system are in your sky.

Sky and Telescopes' Observing Almanac

More on seeing the International Space Station (and other sky objects) from your own backyard.

The End is Mir

The Russian Space Station Mir re-entered Earth's atmosphere 23 March 2001 after over 15 years in orbit. Details here about this craft's entire mission, including the end, from a NASA site. Or read this Eyewitness Account of Mir's Demise at the Discovery Channel's SpaceRef.com.

European Space Agency

Partners in building the ISS, this is a portal to the entire European space program.