Author Archives: LED Editor

Tuesday / 24 Sep 2019

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Bigelow BA-330 Habitat Undergoing 2-Week Test By NASA Engineers And Astronauts

Inflatable Module Tested For Use In Lunar Orbit At Bigelow Headquarters In Las Vegas; BA-330 Is One Of Six Habitat Demonstration Projects Funded By NASA NextSTEP-2 Program Including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Nevada and Nanoracks; CEO Robert Bigelow, Who Has Made The Moon A Goal Since 1998, Exploring Bringing Private Citizens To ISS And Planning Lunar Orbit Space Station With United Launch Alliance; Inflatable Modules Could Be Used In Orbit, On The Lunar Surface Or On Mars

Credits: Bigelow Aerospace

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 20-23 Sep 2019

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China-Russia To Cooperate On Chang’e-7 And Luna-26

Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin (L) And Zhang Keqiang Of CNSA (R) Sign Cooperation Agreement In Saint Petersburg; Zhongguo Planning Chang’e-5 Sample Return And Chang’e-6 Mission To South Pole On Long March 5 Booster; Russia Planning Luna-25 Landing In South Pole Region In 2021; Luna-26 Orbiter To Cooperate With Chang’e-7 In 2023-24; Russia Hoping For Lunar Sample Return In 2028; Both Nations Will Open Joint Data Center For Lunar And Deep Space Research

Credits: Roscosmos, IAF, NAOC

Friday / 20 Sep 2019

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ESA Seeks Ideas For Exploring Lunar Caves

ESA Open Space Innovation Platform Seeks Proposals For Exploring Lunar Caves; Lava Tubes On Moon, Similar To Those Found On Volcanic Islands Including Hawai’i, Are Sheltered From Space Radiation And Seen As Future Sites For Lunar Science And Settlement; Themes Of Proposals To Include Robotic Concepts For Cave Access Along Vertical Walls, Navigation In Horizontal Cave Segments, And Science Payloads; Proposals Are Due 27 September For Program Selection Closing 31 Oct

Credits: NASA, National Park Service

Tuesday / 17 Sep 2019

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Masten Space Systems Testing Technology For Future Lunar Landers

Masten Space Systems Testing Lunar Surface Navigation System On Xodiac Rocket In Mojave, California; System Developed By Draper Aerospace Will Provide Real-Time Mapping Of Lunar Surface With Images Laid Over Satellite Maps; NASA Safe Precise Landing Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) Project Seeks To Improve Upon The Primitive Apollo Landing Computers; Terrain Navigation Systems Will Aid Future Human Lunar Landings Starting In 2024; Founder Dave Masten Developing XL-1 Lander To Carry 100-kg Payload To Lunar Surface

Credits: Masten Space Systems

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 13-16 Sep 2019

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Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter And LRO Seeking Vikram Lander On Surface

India Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter On 8 September Has Located Vikram Lander On Surface; 1,470-kg Vikram Is Believed To Have Inverted 11 Minutes After Beginning Descent, Causing Loss Of Control 2.1 Km From Surface; NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Scheduled To Overfly Landing Site 17 Sep; LRO Will Attempt To Image Vikram And Laser Retroreflector; Lunar Night Will Cover Landing Site Near Manzinus C Crater Around 21 Sep; India Prime Minister Modi Says “ISRO Spirit” Has United Country, Forecasts “New Dawn And Brighter Tomorrow”

Credits: NASA, ISRO

Friday / 13 Sep 2019

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Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter Resized And Rescheduled For 2022

Republic Of Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) Rescheduled To Launch July 2022; Size Of Spacecraft Increased From 500 Kg To 678 Kg To Allow More Science; US$166M Spacecraft Will Carry 4 Korea Payloads And Fly 9 Months Of 1-Year Mission In Elliptical Orbit To Maximize Science Return; Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) Will Use SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster; KPLO Will Carry NASA-Built ShadowCam Instrument To Search For Water In Permanently-Shadowed Lunar Craters

Credits: CNSA, NASA, KARI

Tuesday / 10 Sep 2019

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Silicon Valley Open Lunar Foundation Seeks Investment In Moon

Open Lunar Foundation Based In San Francisco Unveils Plans To Create Moon Settlement; Nonprofit Foundation Started With US$5M Investment By Venture Capitalist And SpaceX Board Member Steve Jurvetson (L); Supporters Include Former ISS Commander Chris Hadfield, Will Marshall And Robbie Shingler Of Planet Labs, Former Ames Research Center Director Pete Worden, And Engineer Jessy Kate Shingler; Foundation Estimates That Moon Landing Could Be Accomplished For Less Than $5B; COO Chelsea Robinson (R) Seeks To Take Best Of What Humanity Has To Offer And Take Step Off Earth

Credits: NASA, CSA, Open Lunar Foundation

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 6-9 Sep 2019

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India Attempts First Moon South Pole Landing – In Peace For All

India Chandrayaan-2 Makes Historic Attempt At Landing In South Pole Area, Likely Region Of Future Human Settlement / International Moon Base; 682-kg Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter To Operate In Lunar Polar Orbit For >1 Year; 1,470-kg Vikram Lander And 27-kg Pragyan Rover Have Not Signaled Yet; PM Modi States ‘Whatever Has Been Accomplished So Far Is No Small Feat; We Remain Hopeful & Will Continue Working Hard On Our Space Programme’; India And USA Lunar Orbiters May Try To Locate / Image Craft On Moon Surface

Pictured: Prime Minister Modi (R) And ISRO Chair Sivan (L) At Bengaluru Monitoring Centre 7 September 2019 (India Standard Time)

Credits: ISRO, Times of India

Friday / 6 Sep 2019

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Zhongguo Chang’e-4 Makes Discoveries On Lunar Far Side While NCLE Tests Radio Astronomy Antennae

Chang’e-4 In 9th Lunar Day At Statio Tianhe In South Pole-Aitken Basin On Lunar Far Side; Lander Neutron Radiation Detector And Low-Frequency Radio Detector, Along With Yutu-2 Rover Infrared Imaging Spectrometer, Are Activated; Rover Discovers Mysterious ‘Gel-Like’ Substance On Surface; Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer On Queqiao Orbiter Deploys And Tests Five 3-meter Antennae; NCLE Will Detect Frequencies Between 1 MHZ And 80 MHz; Radio Astronomical Observations Below 30 MHz Are Only Possible In Space

Credits: CNSA

Labor Day Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 30 Aug – 2 Sep 2019

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New Race To New South Pole:
Malapert Mt, Shackleton Rim In 2021?

USA Artemis Hopes To Land First Woman And Next Man On Lunar South Pole In 2024; India Chandrayaan-2 To Land At 70° S On 7 September; Chandrayaan-3 Planned With Japan Cooperation; Zhongguo Chang’e-4 Operating On South Pole-Aitken Basin With Chang’e-5 And Chang’e-6 Under Construction; Russia Luna 25 Hoping To Reach Polar Region In 2021; Moon Village Association Forecasts International Lunar Base; Blue Origin And SpaceX Among International Enterprises Racing To Bring Payloads To South Pole

Credits: ILOA, SPC, Canadensys Aerospace, ISRO, CNSA, Lockheed Martin, ESA, Roscosmos, SpaceX, Blue Origin