Category Archives: Advanced Technology

Friday / 19 December 2025

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Astrobotic Clavius-S to Assist Lunar Surface and Cislunar Safety

Astrobotic of Pittsburgh PA, USA receives NASA funds for Small Business Innovation Research in development of night-surviving Clavius-S Moon-surface sensor to monitor objects in Low Lunar Orbit (LLO); Astrobotic to provide data as a service to government / companies; surface sensors to be integrated with multiple landers and Clavius orbiting sensors; surface unwanted light / reflection / glare is reduced / eliminated for enhanced tracking of LLO craft, including non-transmitting ones; 1 of 225 employees, Astrobotic Chief Research Scientist Andrew Horchler describes Clavius-S insights protecting critical Moon missions such as Artemis; NASA also awards ~US$600K of potential $4M for Astrobotic development by September 2027 of LiDAR-based dark-side navigation for safe / precise landings

Image Credits: Astrobotic Technology Inc., NASA

Friday / 12 December 2025

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NGLR-1 Elevates Lunar Laser Ranging for Artemis Precision Navigation

Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector-1 (NGLR-1) at Mare Crisium since 2 Mar 2025 via Firefly Blue Ghost Lander is target for Earth-based lasers, enables one-millimeter-precise Moon distance; expected to operate for 50+ years, is in 17x13x12cm housing; Grasse, Wettzell and Apache Point Observatories send laser beams for reflection; NGLR-1 precision achieves >17x improvement over retroreflectors placed by Apollo Astronauts, benefits Artemis Missions via enhanced navigation for safe landings, ISRU / habitat siting; NGLR-1 development at University of Maryland with physicist Doug Currie, who also led Apollo retroreflector creation; planned are retroreflector set-ups via Artemis 3 near Moon South Pole and CLPS to non-polar location, with 3 together providing unprecedented data

Image Credits: (L-R) Doug Currie at McDonald Observatory, Doug Currie today (John T Consoli), NGLR-1 by Currie, Buzz Aldrin with Apollo retroreflector courtesy Doug Currie

Tuesday / 9 December 2025

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ispace Collaborates for Moon Transportation Systems and Infrastructure

ispace of Japan has 300 employees worldwide, Tokyo, Luxembourg, USA offices; agrees with Japan Air Lines (JAL) to continue collaboration from Hakuto-R R&D Moon lander program into Initial Commercial Phase of lunar missions; ispace focus on economic Earth-Moon connection to be supported by JAL safe / secure travel, 70 years in air, now into space; ispace collaborating with Kurita Water Industries for lunar water resource development via technologies, feasibility assessments, payload planning / integration; upcoming collaborations with Draper USA for 2027 CLPS mission and Japan Ministry of Economy / Trade / Industry for 2028 Series 3 lander

Image Credits: Kurita Water Industries, ispace-inc, Japan Air Lines

Friday / 21 November 2025

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“Moon Bricks” After 1 Year of Radiation / Temps +121°C to -157°C

Returning with Shenzhou-20 crew on SZ-21 craft, being analyzed in China after one-year exposure outside Tiangong Space Station (TSS) are mortise-tenon bricks / blocks created from simulated lunar regolith, i.e., volcanic ash from Changbai Mountain with similar chemical composition; made with hot-press sintering, involving heat up to 2,000°C, pressure ±50 megapascals and possible vacuum or inert gas atmosphere, bricks have similar density as conventional but 3x compressive strength; in-situ resource utilization on Moon would use concentrated solar energy; analysis will continue at years 2 / 3, November 2026 / 2027; developed by National Digital Construction Technology Innovation Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Image Credits: China Central Television (CCTV), China National Space Administration (CNSA)

Tuesday / 18 November 2025

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Star Catcher, Intuitive Machines Surpass DARPA Record in Beaming Power to Lunar Rover

Star Catcher Industries, Jacksonville FL (via ~US$12M seed funding and Power Purchase Agreements) and Intuitive Machines, Houston TX (IM) eclipse a record at NASA Kennedy, simulate lunar orbit sunlight intensity / spectrum, convert to multi-wavelength laser energy, beam >1.1 kW over >1 km, energize standard solar panels on IM Moon RACER rover, transfer ~2.78 kWh to recharge LTV batteries; DARPA May 2025 test transferred only 800 Watts; alternative to nuclear or fuel-cell power source for surviving lunar night, does not increase mission mass / costs / complexity; on-orbit demo planned for 2026, “full-scale multi-orbit deployment” in 2030 for sustained South Pole mission

Image Credits: Star Catcher Industries, Intuitive Machines

Friday / 7 November 2025

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3 Lunar Rovers: Alike Yet Different

NASA-specified Lunar Terrain Vehicle selection NET end-of-2025 for awards from total US$4.6B available; requirements include: minimum ~1250km yearly / ~19km daily operation while hauling ~800kg, robotic construction arm with interchangeable tools, remote / autonomous / driver operation, LIDAR / camera “vision”, NASA-developed electrodynamic dust shielding, micrometeorite shielding, several years’ life through temperatures +121° to -246°C; Lunar Outpost Eagle has joystick steering for seated Astronauts, 25kph top speed, Goodyear metal-mesh tires; Astrolab FLEX has joystick for standing operators driving front- or rear-forward, Venturi wheels of heated silicone / glass / steel, horseshoe chassis, system redundancy; Intuitive Machines Moon Racer has seated-joystick operation with handrail / winch entry, Michelin tires tested to -195°C, trailer-hauling system

Image Credits: NASA – Dave Scott on Apollo 15, (CW) Lunar Outpost, Intuitive Machines, Astrolab

Tuesday / 7 October 2025

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Australian Roo-ver to Moon 2030, Other Lunar Accomplishments

Australia Moon goals feature 20kg Roo-ver rover, named for kangaroo via public vote, launching by 2030 to Moon southern latitudes for Artemis program via CLPS, being built by ELO2 consortium co-led by EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania and including ~20 orgs; Australia 1 of 6 original signers of Artemis Accords, ~10,000 work in space sector; 1st Australian to space Paul Scully-Power as civilian on Challenger; Parkes Observatory in New South Wales has 64m radio telescope dish Murriyang that relayed 2.5 hrs of Neil Armstrong 1st Moonwalk amid 110km/h winds, outside its safety limits

Image Credits: ELO2, Parkes

Friday / 3 October 2025

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Europe Moves Forward with International Collaboration on Moon Missions for Exploration, Monitoring, Mining

Airbus (Netherlands / France, with German / USA / China / Canada offices) supplies European Service Module for Artemis II Orion spacecraft, providing life-support, avionics, solar power, propulsion; ESA Argonaut lunar lander planned to launch NET 2031; Blue Origin (USA / Luxembourg) teams with Luxembourg government / ESRIC / GOMSpace to create Oasis-1 orbiter to map water ice / H3 / rare minierals, before sending Blue Alchemist mining rig; Space Applications Services (Belgium) designing 300kg rover; ispace Europe awaits ESA approval for MAGPIE 30kg rover to analyze subsurface geology, hydrogen forms, et al

Image Credits: Airbus, Blue Origin, NASA

Tuesday / 23 September 2025

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Blue Origin Completes Critical Design Review (CDR) for Blue Alchemist Moon Manufacturing System

Blue Alchemist is system to turn regolith into solar cells, power transmission wire, 99.999% pure silicon, metals and oxygen; with this system, Blue Origin melts regolith analog to 1,600°C, removes elements with electrolysis, et al, boils off / collects oxygen, extracts iron / aluminum / silicon, creates glass; system is cleaner than most current manufacturing processes; after CDR, 2026 demonstration of this autonomous system now scheduled for simulated lunar environment; supported by NASA US$35M grant, hopes to reduce lunar landing costs 60%, reduce fuel cell / battery masses by 70%

Image Credit: Blue Origin

Friday / 19 September 2025

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Paving Moon Surface Necessary for Counteracting Regolith Dust

Michigan Technical University (PI, associate professor Paul van Susante) and SpaceFactory.ai (PI, founder David Malott) working together to create Moon-paving machines to polymerize regolith top layer, preventing future issues of dust-encrusted spacesuits on Moon-walking Astronauts; paving substance must endure 300°C temperature swings, -173 to +127; NASA Small Business Technology Transfer awarded US$150,000 in 2023, and US$850,000 this year funds R&D into 2027; current work is automating excavation / grading and preparing viscoelastic, asphalt-like material; road-bed samples are cryocooled and heated to lunar temps, rover wheel traverses sample paving 900x

Image Credits: NASA / SPC / ILOA, NASA / Gene Cernan of Harrison Schmitt, MTU, SpaceFactory.ai