Tomorrow we’re excited to welcome back Dr. Eiman Jahangir for a very special MoonDAO Town Hall, marking the one-year anniversary of his NS-26 spaceflight with Blue Origin.
We’ll revisit his incredible journey: from being selected through MoonDAO’s Ticket to Space Sweepstakes, to the experience of launch and microgravity, to how his life has transformed since.
Eiman will share his work as an astronaut trainer as Blue Origin’s Crew Member 7, his outreach to Nashville schools inspiring the next generation, and give you a sneak peak of the trailer for his upcoming documentary Lift Off.
We’ll also look ahead to what’s coming next: his September outreach trip to Brazil, the Nashville premiere of Lift Off, and the display of his Blue Origin flight suit at the Adventure Science Center.
Last week we hosted a phenomenal livestream with the World’s Biggest Analog (WBA) Scholarship finalists, where each candidate introduced themselves to the MoonDAO community. If you missed it, you can catch a condensed version of all of the presentations on YouTube.
The quality of the candidates is truly inspiring, it’s going to be a tough decision for the community to determine who receives the top scholarship prizes.
We're giving out $12,000 to these finalists:
$5,000 for 1st place,
$2,500 for 2nd place,
$1,000 for 3rd place,
$500 to all other finalists.
🗳️ The vote will go live next week, giving the community 5 days to cast their votes and decide the final ranking.
Important: In the meantime, make sure you have your $MOONEY voting power secured if you want to participate in this impactful vote. Voting power must be in place before the vote goes live.
This is your chance to directly support analog astronauts and help shape the future of space exploration.
P.S. We'll also have a few new project proposals going through governance during this week's town hall, and you'll be able to weigh in on those decisions as well.
Starship Flight 10
SpaceX marked a turning point for its Starship program yesterday with the 10th test flight of the world’s largest rocket. After several disappointing flights earlier this year, this mission delivered long-awaited progress with the second stage.
The ship traveled halfway around the globe before splashing down in the Indian Ocean, reaching its target zone intact before tipping and breaking apart as planned. While signs of heat damage were visible on the ship’s stainless-steel skin and rear flaps, the flight provided crucial engineering data on the upgraded heat shield and control flaps that SpaceX has been seeking after months of setbacks.
In addition to the reentry success, the test flight demonstrated other key milestones. The upper stage successfully opened its payload bay and released eight dummy Starlink satellite panels, marking the first trial of its novel “Pez dispenser” deployment system.
Starship also executed a small engine burn to prove it could adjust its trajectory mid-flight, another critical step toward future orbital missions. These achievements follow months of issues with propulsion and propellant systems, which appeared to perform smoothly this time, setting the stage for more advanced capabilities like orbital refueling and launch-site recovery.
With Starship now moving beyond basic survival into testing real operational systems, this flight paves the way for more ambitious milestones on the road to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
When do you think the next Starship flight test will happen?
World's Biggest Analog Vote LIVE You can now weigh in on which of our finalists deserve the top scholarships to participate in the World's Biggest Analog event this October! https://www.moondao.com/wba We had nearly 20 entries in total, narrowed down by the project committee to 10 outstanding finalists. Now, it's time for MoonDAO voting members to make the final decision to identify the top 3 winners. Scholarship Awards: 🥇 1st Prize: $5,000 🥈 2nd Prize: $2,500 🥉 3rd Prize: $1,000 All other...
MoonDAO x WBA Scholarship Finalists Announced! We’re excited to share that the 10 finalists for the World’s Biggest Analog (WBA) Scholarship Awards have been selected! These incredible candidates are preparing to take part in the largest space simulation of its kind, and now it's up to YOU, the MoonDAO community, to help decide how the $12,000 scholarship pool is awarded. Scholarship Awards: 🥇 1st Prize: $5,000 🥈 2nd Prize: $2,500 🥉 3rd Prize: $1,000 🌍 All other finalists: $500 each Meet the...
Upcoming Events We've got some great events coming up in the next few weeks... Join us tomorrow (8/14) for an exclusive conversation with planetary science legend Alan Stern, the man who led NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. This is a rare opportunity to hear directly from one of the most influential figures in modern space exploration. The following week (8/21), you'll have a chance to meet the applicants for the World's Biggest Analog scholarships, and the community will vote on...
