Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 4-7 Feb 2022

Elon Musk to Give Update on Starship, Variant of which is to Land Humans on Moon During Artemis 3

Artemis SLS / Orion rollout now expected mid-March, while progress update on Starship prototype ‘Serial No. 20’ / SN20 to be given 10 Feb at 20:00 CST from Starbase TX; Expected topics include Raptor 2 engines (~230t thrust vs ~185 of Raptor 1) recently subjected to destructive testing, Moonship HLS variant, and orbital test flight landing 100km from Kauaʻi; FAA environmental assessment, “the schedule driver” of launch per Musk; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contention that launch activity is deleterious to Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge may trigger full EIS review

 

Credits: SpaceX, NASA

Friday / 4 February 2022

India to Launch Chandryaan-3 Lander / Rover in August to Explore Moon South Pole Region

ISRO intends to launch Chandryaan-3 via GSLV Mk 3 NET August, soft-landing near originally planned Chandryaan-2 site; Area is within southern lunar highlands ~160km from Boguslawsky crater, preferred landing site of Roscosmos Luna-25 aiming for 23 July launch, and ~350km from South Pole-Aitken basin, an area currently being investigated by CNSA Yutu-2 rover from Chang’e-4 mission with sample return planned for Chang’e-6 NET 2024; Spectral analysis from Chandrayaan-1 orbiter indicates site is rich in iron (4.2%), magnesium (5.4%), calcium (10%) and titanium (0.3%)

 

Credits: ISRO

Tuesday / 1 February 2022

JPL Working Towards Blanket Communications Coverage of Lunar Surface with Commercial Partner

Recognizing communication needs of 90+ lunar missions under consideration for NLT 2030, Alessandro Balossino, Head of R&D for Italy microsatellite manufacturer Argotec and Faramarz Davarian, JPL Lunar Surface Communications Terminal Project Manager co-author announcement of Andromeda lunar constellation plan in which 24 relay satellites are to operate from 4 elliptical (720km periapsis, 8,090km apoapsis) 57° inclined orbits providing overlapping coverage of Moon poles; Lunar Crater Radio Telescope and Farside Array for Radio Science Investigations of the Dark ages and Exoplanets are primary science use cases

 

Credits: Argotec, SASAC, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28-31 Jan 2022

Official Agreements on International Lunar Research Station Anticipated as Artemis Coalition Grows to 15 Nations

Israel is latest signatory to USA-led Artemis Accords effort seeking to reestablish human presence on the Moon as SLS megarocket nears mid-Feb launchpad rollout at KSC; Russia and China set to formalize ILRS agreement per Russia diplomatic statements and China’s Space Program: A 2021 Perspective white paper outlining robotic and human mission goals including consideration of human lunar landings within 5 years, ILRS full operational status expected NLT 2035; 2024 Chang’e-7 Moon south pole lander / orbiter and Lunar-26 orbiter missions to be closely coordinated

Credits: CNSA, Roscosmos, NASA

Friday / 28 January 2022

Russia Declares 23 July Preferred Landing Date for First Lunar Mission Of Modern National Era

Luna-25 is focal point of Russia space activity as Roscosmos subsidiary NPO Lavochkin announces with great specificity 23 July 02:21:45 MSK ideal launch date / time for Luna-25 robotic lander, 24 July 02:55:49 backup; Lunar daybreak occurring 1 August at landing site north of Boguslavsky Crater (69.55°S, 43.54°E) will provide power augmentation for RTG / battery system; 30kg science payload includes laser mass spectrometer; Luna-26 orbital mapping mission to follow in 2024; Luna-27 lander to utilize ESA regolith drill / PROSPECT sensor array within South Pole-Aitken basin NET 2025

 

Credits: Roscosmos, NPO Lavochkin

Tuesday / 25 January 2022

Hawai’i Planetary Scientists & Engineers Work to Characterize Lunar Moisture, Develop Basalt ISRU Building Technique

In Situ Detection of Water on the Moon by the Chang’e-5 Lander, a collaborative research effort between Shuai Li of University of Hawaii Mānoa and Honglei Lin, Rui Xu of Chinese Academy of Sciences details Lunar Mineralogical Spectrometer data taken from ~1.4 m elevation at Chang’e-5 landing site (43.06°N, 51.92°W), finding <120 ppm water content in regolith; PISCES advancing basalt sintering process under NASA STTR phase 1 funding co-awarded with Masten, may build prototype extruder under phase 2 with goal of ISRU on Moon

 

Credits: ESA, UH, CAS, PISCES

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 21-24 Jan 2022

Lunar Resources Inc to Develop and Construct Flight-ready Lunar Resource Extraction Reactor NLT 2024

Houston, TX-based Lunar Resources Inc receives 9th SBIR award (US$1M), bringing total NSF-supported funding to $3M+ for space initiatives including ISRU on Moon; Reactor for resource extraction is to utilize 1,600°C Molten Regolith Electrolysis process to separate metals (Al, Fe, Mg, Si) and oxygen, main constituents of lunar regolith; Habitat construction, oxygen for breathing / propulsion, and power generation via silicon photovoltaic cells are use cases for ISRU; CEO Elliot Carol tells Ars Technica, “Resource extraction is necessary for the United States to create a permanent presence on the Moon”

Credits: Lunar Resources, NASA, Paul Spudis

Friday / 21 January 2022

USSF Eyes Cislunar Space — Moon Usage May Follow 7th Continent Antarctica

Air Force Magazine reports USSF Chief of Space Operations John Raymond (T) references need for “safe, secure, stable” cislunar space at Center for Strategic and International Studies online meeting; Military leader urges USA “compete in all areas of the domain, not just in LEO, MEO, GEO” with China; Outer Space Institute co-founders Aaron Boley (L), Michael Byers (R) writing in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists counter that Air Force Research Laboratory’s Cislunar Highway Patrol System and Defense Deep Space Sentinel may contravene Outer Space Treaty Article IV, similar to Antarctic Treaty limiting exploration to peaceful means

Credits: NASA, Advanced Space, AFRL, OSI

Tuesday / 18 January 2022

Artemis Era Will Require Larger & More Diverse Astronaut Corps, Training Updates, Lunar Architecture

NASA Office of Inspector General report warns of dearth of flight-ready Astronauts (44 in 2021 vs nearly 150 in 2000) and calls for new protocols on “minimum manifest requirement” corps size safety margin (15% currently vs 50% shuttle era), recruitment, training, assignment; OIG suggests information gathering on Astronaut skillsets and demographics to meet Artemis mission diversity objectives of First Woman and Person of Color landing on Moon during Artemis III Mission NET 2025; LSSW workshop on Inclusive Lunar Exploration 26-27 Jan; Artemis structural requirements to be topic at Moon Village Association Architectural Concepts & Considerations Working Group meeting 25-27 Jan

Credits: NASA, MVA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 Jan 2022

SLS ‘Mega Moon Rocket’ with Integrated Orion Spacecraft Prepares for Rollout / Wet Dress Rehearsal

Simulated countdown sequencing software / hardware test is last step before highly anticipated (12th year of $23B+ program) rollout of USA flagship Space Launch System from KSC Vehicle Assembly Building to historic Launch Pad 39B, as problematic RS-25 engine controller replaced and checked; Fueled dress rehearsal set to occur NET mid-Feb followed by hot fire and inaugural Artemis 1 uncrewed lunar flyby NET March; Elements of Artemis 2-4 crafts currently being manufactured with ULA Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (Decatur AL) and Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines (New Orleans LA) being readied for KSC shipment

Credits: NASA