Author Archives: LED Editor

Friday / 29 April 2016

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Value Of The Moon Considered by Paul Spudis in New Book

LED-4-28-16

Planetary Geologist Dr. Paul D. Spudis At Lunar And Planetary Institute (LPI) Continues Leading Advocacy For Moon Exploration, Development; The 272-Page Illustrated Hardcover Highlights Moon Enabling Science, Commerce, Security, Human Solar System Expansion; Plan Outlines Base At Lunar Pole, In Situ Water-Ice Utilization, Regions Of Near-Continuous Sunlight, Teleoperated-Robtic Infrastructure Development Prior To Crew Missions; US$88B Cost Estimate For Human Lunar Outpost Capability

Credit: LPI, Smithsonian Books.

Friday / 22 April 2016

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LRO Providing Critical Information & Inspiration For New Wave Of Lunar Progress

LED-4-21-16

Flying 20 Km Over South Pole, 165k Km Over North Pole In Elliptical Orbit; LRO Providing Highest Resolution Data Ever, At A Rate Of ~440 Gigabits Image Data Per Day; Thomas R. Watters, LRO Co-Investigator And Senior Scientist At Smithsonian NASM, Notes The Narrow Angle Camera Instrument Alone Has Returned Well Over 1 Million Images, “More Digital Data Than Every Other Planetary Mission”; Resurgence Of Lunar Interest For National Space Agencies, Commercial Enterprises, Individuals Across The Globe

Credit: NASA.

Friday / 15 April 2016

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2016 Lunar Conferences Head Into July Moon Landing Observation / Lunar High Tide 

Lunar Conferences 2016

 New Views Of The Moon 2 To Be Held At LPI / USRA, Houston TX 24-26 May, Covering New Data From Missions, Sample Analyses & Earth-Based Observations Of The Moon Made This Century; 2016 SRR/PTMSS At Colorado School Of Mines, Golden CO 7-9 June, Will Cover In-Situ Resource Utilization Of Lunar, Asteroid, Mars Resources; 3rd Annual Exploration Science Forum (ESF 2016) Hosted By SSERVI, NASA Ames, Mt View CA 20-22 July, Will Feature Scientific Discussions Of Human Exploration Of The Moon, NEAs, Moons Of Mars, Recent Mission Results & In-Depth Analyses Of Science & Exploration Studies

Credit: LPI, USRA, SRR/PTMSS, SSERVI, NASA

Friday / 8 April 2016

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ISRO On Track To Launch Indigenous Chandrayaan-2 Three-Craft Mission To Moon Late 2017 / Early 2018

ISRO chandrayaan 2

Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter, Lander, Rover To Be Launched Via GSLV-Mk 2 December 2017 Or Early 2018 To Observe / Perform Mineralogical & Elemental Studies Of Lunar Surface; Mission Allocated US$91 Million; 1,400-kg Orbiter With 5 Science Instruments Including Camera, 3 Spectrometers & Radar To Fly At 200-km Altitude; 20-kg Rover To Have 2 Spectroscopes & HD Video Camera; 1,250 kg Lander To Contain Ka-band Altimeter, HD Video Camera, Position & Hazard Detection / Avoidance Cameras; NASA May Provide Deep Space Network Communication Services

Credit: ISRO

Friday / 1 April 2016

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Long-Term Observation From Moon Surface For Earth, Space, Weather Studies

Astronomy from the Moon 2016

 Guo Huadong Of CAS Proposing Series Of Sensors For Macro Phenomena On Earth / Global Changes, China Chang’e-3 Observing Galaxy With LUT From Stable Platform Of Moon Surface, Future Landers To Be Fitted With Similar & More Advanced Cameras; ILOA ILO-1 & ILO-X Being Developed To Study Galaxy Stars, Earth, Moon Local Environment From Unique Vantage Of Moon Surface; Upcoming European Lunar Symposium (18-19 May) Will Explore Astronomical, Astrophysical Topics & ‘Science From The Moon’

Credit: CEODE, CAS, NASA, SSERVI, ELS, NAOC, ILOA

Friday / 25 March 2016

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New Space Journal Offers 4 Moon Articles From Prominent Lunar Scientists, Advocates

New Space Journal

New Space Vo. 4 No. 1 Free Online Access Through April 7 Presents ‘What Do We Do With The Moon?’ By Editor-In-Chief Scott Hubbard, ‘Toward A Low-Cost Lunar Settlement’ By Alexandra Hall, Chris McKay, John Cumbers, ‘Lunar Station: The Next Logical Step In Space Development’ By Bruce Pittman, Lynn Harper, et al, ‘Site Selection For Lunar Industrialization, Economic Development, And Settlement’ By Dennis Wingo; Team Outlines Potential Human Moon Settlement Perhaps In 5-7 Years For US$10B

Credit: New Space, Mary Ann Liebert Inc. Publisher, NASA, GLXP

Friday / 18 March 2016

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Moon Worker Buzz Aldrin Points To Moon Missions, International Cooperation As Strategy Towards Mars

Buzz Moon Mars

Buzz Aldrin Says In Order To Reach Mars By 2040, Key Would Be For USA, Starting In 2018, To Support International & NewSpace Lunar Exploration, Specialize In Humans & Landers, Build Upon Known Technologies, Develop Reusable Spacecraft & ‘Cycling Ships’, Increase Knowledge / Experience Of Human Life Support Systems; While Human Space Exploration Missions Can Be Dangerous & Costly, Aldrin Says “Robots Aren’t Good Enough”

Credit: H2M, NASA, Buzz Aldrin

Friday / 11 March 2016

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Teams Developing LunarCubes, Interplanetary CubeSats & SLS Moon Sat Missions

LunarCubes2016

Advancing Low-Cost, High-Return CubeSat Technologies Highlighted In Upcoming Events: Flexure Engineering 6th International Workshop On LunarCubes 28-29 Sep In Conjunction With 6th International Workshop On Lunar Surface Applications, CubeSat Developer’s Workshop 20-22 Apr, 5th Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop 24-25 May; SLS To Carry At Least 4 Lunar CubeSats In 2018 – Winner Of NASA ‘Cube Quest Challenge’ Will Be Announced End Of Mar & Join EM-1 Lunar Flyby Mission

Credit: Flexure Engineering, NASA, Morehead State University

Friday / 4 March 2016

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GLXP ‘Moon Shot’ Documentary To Air,
X PRIZE Plans Successor To GLXP Competition

GLXP 2016

16 GLXP Teams Remain In Race, Moon Express With Verified Rocket Lab Launch Contract And SpaceIL Verified SpaceX Launch Plan For 2017 Moon Missions; J.J. Abrams ‘Moon Shot’ 9 Short Documentary Films On GLXP Teams To Debut For Free March 15 And 17; X Prize Foundation Andrew Barton Discusses 2nd Space-Related Competition Under Development, May Be Announced After Dec 2017 When GLXP Officially Ends

Credit: GLXP, SpaceIL, Moon Express, J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, Epic Digital, et al

Friday / 26 February 2016

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China Advancing Chang’e-5, New Hainan Spaceport, Long March 5 & 7 Rockets

China Chang'e5

China Transitioning Chang’e-5 Moon Sample Return Mission Prototype To Final Model R&D Phase, Will Follow With Craft Testing & Prepare For 2017 Launch; Long March 5 Initial Flight Set For October From New Wenchang Site (19°N) On Hainan Island, Completed Successful 130-Day Joint Exercise; Long March 7 Medium-Size Launcher Assembly More Than 75% Complete, To Be Shipped To Launch Site In April For June Flight

Credit: CASC, China Space Website, CNSA, CAS