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100 Days Ago

100 days ago, MoonDAO, in partnership with LifeShip and members of the Meme World Order, touched down on the surface of the Moon, placing a lunar bounty in the Mare Crisium for future human or robotic explorers to retrieve and claim the bounty in the form of a crypto wallet and private key engraved in nickel nanofiche.

MoonDAO 🌜🌐🌛 @OfficialMoonDAO They told us to touch grass. We touched the Moon instead. 🫡 We teamed up with Meme World Order to put a crypto bounty on the lunar surface. @MrMigglesOnBase @ownthedoge @mumu_bull @ElonRWA @pudgypenguins @doms4ever 5:42 PM • Jun 10, 2025 19 Retweets 44 Likes Read 10 replies

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Town Hall Recap

Last week, we welcomed Daniel Mackisack of Celestial Commons to present their work on the Citizens’ Space Policy Initiative, a global effort to connect and engage the public directly with humanity's future in space. You can catch the recorded conversation on YouTube.

Musk Vs. Trump

A recent and very public feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump sent ripples through the space industry, with threats from Trump to terminate SpaceX's lucrative government contracts. This prompted a sharp response from Musk, who suggested that SpaceX could decommission its Dragon spacecraft, the sole American vehicle currently capable of transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

The sudden blow up and potential cancellation of contracts, which are vital for NASA's operations and national security launches, raised concerns about the stability of the U.S. space program and its reliance on private partners.

While the heated exchange appears to have subsided for now, it highlighted the significant influence and interdependence between political leadership and the commercial space sector.

New Firsts for the ISS

Axiom Space is preparing to launch its fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) tomorrow. The Ax-4 crew is notable for its international representation, featuring astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary.

This historic flight will mark the first time individuals from these nations have visited the ISS, signifying a major milestone for their respective national space ambitions.

The mission, which recently experienced a brief weather-related launch delay, is currently tracking for 12:00 UTC (8:00 am EDT) on Wednesday, June 11.

ispace Hard Landing

Tokyo-based ispace had hoped to join U.S. firms Intuitive Machines, and Firefly Aerospace in making successful commercial moon landings amid a global race that includes state-run lunar missions from China and India.

But the Japanese company's "Resilience" lander unfortunately experienced a hard landing after a sensor malfunction occurred during its final descent to the Moon's Mare Frigoris region.

This marks the second consecutive landing failure for ispace, following a similar outcome with their first mission in 2023. While it's incredible to see the increased pace and cadence of lunar missions, we are once again reminded that space is hard.