Hey All!

Welcome to Mooney Monday, we've got a great one for you this week full of some really interesting stuff! We hope you enjoy this weekly newsletter and that it inspires you to participate in the MoonDAO community and help us make space exploration accessible to all.

MoonDAO Updates

Apollo Astronaut Charlie Duke Interview

MoonDAO's founder Pablo Moncada sat down to chat with Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke for an exclusive interview shortly after Intuitive Machine's IM-1 mission touched down on the surface of the Moon, ending a 50 year gap since the U.S. had a mission to the lunar surface.

In this interview, Charlie talks about:

• his initial reactions to the Moon landing that day,
• what it was like on his mission as they touched down on the Moon,
• lunar communications issues in his time and the differences now,
• what his life was like after walking on the Moon at 36 years of age,
• and much more.

Give this interview with a moonwalking legend a listen and reflect on how much the world has changed in 50 years, what lies ahead for humanity on the Moon, Mars, and beyond, and the paradigm shift that we're living through when it comes to access to space. This interview took place the night before our ZeroG flight at Kennedy Space Center.

In sadder news, Tom Stafford of Apollo 10 (and other notable missions) passed away today at 93 years old.

Ellie in Space Live

Tomorrow (3/19) on MoonDAO Live at 7pm Eastern, we’ll be joined by Ellie in Space! Ellie was voted on by the MoonDAO community to join our ZeroG flight, so we’ll be talking about her experience on the flight, the recent Starship test flight which she witnessed live, and more!

Earlier today, she published her second video from the ZeroG experience with her honest take of what it was like – you'll definitely want to give that video a watch...

Along with her Part 1 video which included interviews with Charlie Duke, Doug Hurley, and Nicole Stott.

Did you miss our last MoonDAO Live with astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell? Listen to a recording here.

Voting Still Open

Here's another reminder that there are a slew of votes open on Snapshot right now!

Two proposals (MDP-130 & 131) are open for another 24 hours and concern the MOONEY token and guidelines for how to distribute funds still in the treasury, as well as some revisions to our project system.

There are also a number of amendments to the constitution although voting is open for another week on each of them.

Read each proposal carefully or listen to last week's town hall where we discussed each of these proposals in great detail.

Bite-Sized Space News

Starship Flight 3

SpaceX's latest Starship rocket completed a successful test flight, showcasing its capability to transport heavy payloads into low-Earth orbit. As an expendable vehicle, it would have had a successful flight, since most of the kinks to work out are related to the vehicle's reusability.

Last week's flight, which followed two previous test flights, demonstrated Starship's potential to revolutionize space travel. Notably, the rocket's payload bay door was tested successfully, indicating its readiness for deploying satellites into orbit in future missions. The flight did encounter some challenges, including an uncontrolled descent of both the ship and the Super Heavy booster and a failed restart of Starship's engines in space.

The most remarkable aspect of the test flight was Starship's reentry into Earth's atmosphere, providing some truly captivating video and imagery of the spacecraft's journey, which is normally shrouded in a communications blackout but possible because of the vehicle's large size and Starlink internet connection. As Starship descended over the Indian Ocean, viewers witnessed the deployment of its flaps and the glowing of its ceramic tiles as it encountered extreme temperatures.

Although the mission did not culminate in a splashdown, SpaceX's successful demonstration of Starship's capabilities sets the stage for future test flights. Elon has stated that they are aiming for six test flights this year and plans are in motion already for another flight as early as April.

Voyager 1

NASA's Voyager 1 (an almost 50-year-old spacecraft in interstellar space) has been grappling with communication issues for four months but finally sent a decipherable signal in response to a command prompt from Earth. Despite transmitting a steady radio signal, the spacecraft hadn't conveyed usable data, perplexing scientists. The breakthrough offers hope of resolving the communication problems.

Fun fact: Messages take approximately 22-23 hours to send due to the vast distances, so it takes about two days for round trip 2-way communication.

NASA's Voyager 1 holds the record as the farthest-traveling spacecraft. Launched in 1977 for missions to Jupiter and Saturn, it entered interstellar space in August 2012.

Establishing a Lunar Economy

Ars Technica featured a recent article titled "US government seems serious about developing a lunar economy" by Eric Berger that is worth a read. The article highlights how NASA is trying to foster a burgeoning lunar economy and highlights the role that DARPA is playing as well.

Specifically, DARPA's LunA-10 initiative could play a pivotal role in this endeavor by aiming to address critical challenges such as infrastructure development and resource utilization on the lunar surface. Six areas of interest identified by DARPA encompass essential aspects like centralized heating and cooling, lunar prospecting, silicon wafer manufacturing, microbial biomanufacturing, low-gravity resource extraction, and the development of a lunar GPS system.

Last year, a MoonDAO team was shortlisted by DARPA for their work on lunar PNT.

Upcoming Launches

• SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 7-16 on Mon Mar 18, 2024 7:28 PM PDT from SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB, California, USA
• CASC Long March 8 on Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:31 PM PDT from LC-201, Wenchang Space Launch Site, China
• CASC Long March on Wed Mar 20, 2024 10:35 PM PDT Site 9401 (SLS-2), Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China

That’s it for your MoonDAO updates this week. Join us on Discord to stay up-to-date with all the latest developments.