Moon South Pole, With Water Ice In Permanently Shadowed Craters / Peaks Of Eternal Light, Is Likely Destination For Future Human Exploration / Settlement As Indicated By Spacecraft Impactors That Have Targeted The Area: USA Lunar Prospector 31 Jul 1999, India Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact Probe 14 Nov 2008, USA LCROSS 9 Oct 2009
Image Credit: NASA, ISRO
5th Annual Lunar Science Forum Begins Today At NASA Ames Research Center, California (17-19 July); Plenary Session 1 Opens With Overview Of 3 USA Missions / 5 Spacecraft Currently In Moon Orbit; Maria Zuber: 1st Science Results From GRAIL; Jasper Halekas: 1st Results From ARTEMIS; Mark Robinson: Exploring The Moon With LROC; Greg Delory To Provide Status Update Of NET 2013 LADEE Mission
Image Credit: NASA
Peter Kokh In Moon Miners’ Manifesto Considers Shortfalls Of Antarctic Treaty As Model For Settlement / Development On Moon; Article 7 Completely Bans Non-Scientific Mineral Resources Activity; Better To Allow ISRU, Require Strict Environment Protections, Spur Development Of New Clean Technologies and Techniques; Translate To Responsible Approach For Moon, Mars; Treaty Up For Review In 2019
Image Credit: Antarctic Treaty, NASA
2nd Conference On Lunar Highlands Crust 13-15 July 2012 In Bozeman, MT; Review Of Data Gained Since 1st Meeting In 1979 Through Studies Of Optical Remote Sensing, Lunar Meteorites, Remote Sensing & Individual Rocks; Presentations By (R-L) Carle Pieters, Paul Lucey, Maria Zuber, Bradley Jolliff, Lars Borg; Field Trips To Stillwater Mine, Picket Pin Mountain
Image Credit: LPI, LLNL, brown.edu, hawaii.edu, wustl.edu, mit.edu
9-Day Field Tests Of NASA-CSA Lunar Rover Now Underway At Lunar Analog Environment Of Mauna Kea, Hawaii; RESOLVE Project Demonstrating How Future Explorers Could Extract Water / Resources From Lunar Soil; CSA Contributing Artemis Junior Terrestrial Rover, Versatile Drill, Avionics Suite; NASA Contributing Resource Extraction Payload; Media Day On 19 July
Image Credit: NASA
US$500M Spacecraft Continues To Send Back Important Data After 3 Years Of Service; LRO Camera Taken About 1M Images; Wealth Of High-Resolution Data Allowing Researchers To Map Lunar Surface At Resolution Of 50cm / Pixel; Discovered Vast Titanium & Lunar Ilmenite Fields On Moon Which Could Be Critical For Moonbase Construction; Confirmation Of Over 6B Tonnes Of Water On Lunar Surface
Image Credit: NASA
Florida-Based GLXP Team Opens Campaign On Kickstarter.com, Raising Funds To Purchase 4-Axis CNC Milling Machine; Rewards Offered To Backers Include 3D Printed Models Of Lunar Rover (US$150 Donation), Opportunity For Individuals To Fly DNA To Moon (US$10K Donation); Parent Company Earthrise Space Inc. Offers Students Opportunity To Design, Build, Test Real Spacecraft; Omega Envoy 1 Of 6 Teams Selected For US$10M NASA ILDD Contract
Image Credit: Omega Envoy, Earthrise Space Inc.
First Test Flight Of Orion / MPCV In 2014 To Cislunar Space, Return To Earth At Speed 80% Of Lunar Return; NASA Managers Considering Using Recycled ISS Module As Way-Station At Earth-Moon Lagrange Point Or Lunar Orbit; Lockheed Martin Space Systems VP John Karas Says Cislunar Space Operations With No Landings Provide “Affordable Step-Wise Push To Mars”, Tele-Operating Lunar Robots From L2 Base Effective Analog For Deimos-Mars Operations
Image Credit: NASA, Space News
Shielding From Earth Ionosphere & Radio Interference Required To Explore ‘Dark Ages’ Of Universe / Receive Radio Waves Below 100 Megahertz; Far Side Of Moon Seen As Ideal Location; Jack Burns / CU Boulder Team Proposing Dark Ages Radio Explorer (DARE) Lunar Orbiter To Collect Neutral-Hydrogen Signals From 80-420M Years After Big Bang; Ultimately Seeking To Deploy Large Antennas In 180-Km-Wide Tsiolkovskiy Crater
Image Credit: NASA, University Of Colorado At Boulder
International Lunar Observatory Association ILOA / Space Age Publishing Company Of Hawai`i And California Hold 5th ‘Galaxy Forum USA’ July 4 At Tech Museum Of Innovation (BL), Silicon Valley; Galacticity Galore With (R-L) Dr Seth Shostak – SETI, Paul Gilster – Centauri Dreams, Steve Durst – ILO Galaxy First Light, Tony Cardoza – Virgin Galactic Accredited Space Agent, Jon Lomberg – Galaxy Garden, Eleonora Babayants – Galaxy Consulting
Image Credit: ILOA, Centauri Dreams, SETI, Virgin Galactic, Galaxy Consulting, The Tech Museum