WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will give a keynote address at the virtual fall Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium meeting at 11:45 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Oct. 14. The event, co-hosted by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and Arizona State University, will stream live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Bridenstine will discuss NASA's Artemis program and announce the agency's latest Tipping Point selections and their potential impact on sustainable lunar exploration. NASA released the opportunity in January 2020, seeking U.S. industry-developed space technologies to foster the development of commercial space capabilities and benefit future missions.

Following Bridenstine's remarks, Associate Administrator of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Jim Reuter will give a short update on the agency's Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative.

APL operates the consortium in collaboration with NASA under the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative. The initiative complements the agency's lunar science activities under Artemis. It engages experts from academia, industry, nonprofits, and government to shape the technologies and systems needed to explore the surface of the Moon in new ways.

The Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium fall meeting, which runs Wednesday, Oct. 14 through Thursday, Oct. 15, is open to media. To register, contact Michael Buckley of APL Public Affairs at [email protected] or 443-567-3145.

As part of its Artemis program, NASA plans to send the first woman and next man to the lunar surface in 2024 and establish a sustainable presence there by the end of the decade. The agency will use the Moon to prepare for its next giant leap – human exploration of Mars.

For more information about America's Moon to Mars exploration plans, go to:

https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars

SOURCE NASA

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