Category Archives: Advanced Technology

Tuesday / 25 February 2025

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Intuitive Machines IM-2 Launching to Moon on Wednesday 26 Feb

Inaugural occurrence of 3 lunar landers simultaneously enroute to Moon expected with 26 Feb launch of IM-2 Athena, now in fairing of SpaceX Falcon 9, departure from Kennedy Space Center complex 39A window opens 19:17 EST; headed near highest Moon mountain Mons Mouton, ~60 km from South Pole, Athena will search for water with NASA payload Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 and IM “Grace” hopper; other payload customers are Nokia, Lone Star Data Holdings, Columbia Sportswear, Lunar Outpost, Puli Space, Dymon Co. Ltd., German Aerospace Center

Credits: Intuitive Machines, NASA, SpaceX

Friday / 21 February 2025

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India to the Moon: Update and Focus

ISRO charting innovative course for human Moon landing by 2040, perhaps near Shiv Shakti where Chandrayaan 3 landed; LVM3 rocket being modified into Human-Rated HR-LVM3 ‘Soorya’ with safety systems, tripled liftoff mass capability ~1.8 million kg; higher-capacity lunar lander being built with Earth Departing Stage (EDS); crewed Moon missions to require minimum 2 launches, then in-space docking / assembly; inaugural double launch NET 2025 for Gaganyaan crewed Earth orbit, then Chandrayaan-4 lunar sample return NET 2027 (updated from 2028); IAF GLEX Conference upcoming May 7-9 in New Delhi

Credits: ISRO, NASA/JPL/USGS

Friday / 14 February 2025

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Intuitive Machines: Leader in USA Return to Moon

NET 26 Feb, 4 days after 1st observation of Intuitive Machines IM-1 touchdown on 12° slope at Malapert A 80.13°S, IM-2 launches for Mons Mouton 84.6°S with TRIDENT carbide drill built by Blue Origin Honeybee Robotics to be remote controlled from Earth while MSOLO mass spectrometer from INFICON analyzes gasses released while drilling — together called NASA PRIME-1, and also a leaping robot scanning for hydrogen / temperature communicating via Nokia 4G/LTE system; IM-3 flies NET late 2025 to Reiner Gamma magnetic anomaly area ~7.5°N for NASA PRISM carrying team of 3 JPL CADRE rovers; 4th deployment of Nova-C lander IM-4 scheduled NET Oct 2027 will take yeast to Moon South Pole

Credits: NASA, Intuitive Machines

Friday / 7 February 2025

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NASA SPARX Team Plans South Pole Aitken-Basin Sample Return ~2034

NASA Science Definition Team (SDT) lead, Ryan Watkins, announces selection of the South Pole Aitken-Basin sample Return and eXploration (SPARX) team with Lauren Jozwiak as chair; SPARX team member James Keane and SDT member Denevi will overview mission and goals in March at 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference; report of the SPARX team is expected NET late 2026; SPARX mission expected to launch NET 2030 with regolith samples returning NET 2034; team includes 11 main Committee Members from universities, research institutions, NASA, 2 documentarians, representatives from JAXA, CSA-ASC, ESA, 4 NASA ex-officio members

Credits: NASA, USRA LPSC, (L-R) Lauren Jozwiak, James Keane selfie + drawings, Brett Denevi by NASA/Paul E. Alers, Ryan Watkins

Friday / 31 January 2025

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Water Is Life — Why It Is on the Moon

Of ~382 kg of Moon rock returned by Apollo, samples heated to 50°, 150° and 1,000°C indicate they are “surprisingly wet” — important for Artemis missions; research published 16 Dec 24 concludes most water is from Moon’s formation, some from comets, and theory of “solar wind as the dominant source for lunar water” is invalid; NASA-led Artemis landing humans NET 2027 plan Moon as gateway to the Solar System using Moon water, which is “among the rarest and most precious commodities in space”; China pledges to land humans before 2030

Credits: NASA, Morgan Nunn Martinez, Maxwell and Mark Thiemens

Tuesday / 28 January 2025

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Intuitive Machines IM-2 Science and Discovery Class Lunar Delivery

IM-2 planned launch on Falcon 9 to Moon on 26 Feb prompts invitation from NASA to media for in-person attendance; lander Athena expected touchdown is 6-7 Mar at Mons Mouton, 84.6°S, with thermal-protected payloads from NASA, Lonestar Data Holdings, Columbia Sportswear, Nokia 4G/LTE cellular system, Lunar Outpost, Puli Space, Dymon Co. Ltd., German Aerospace Center; IM’s Micro-Nova Hopper “Grace” to explore shadowed craters, send data via Nokia to Athena and IM-2 system to Earth; IM-4 landing NET 2027 also headed to South Pole area, while IM-3 landing NET 2026 aims for 7.39°N

Credits: NASA, Intuitive Machines

Friday / 24 January 2025

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Moon Landers On-Track and Planned for 2025

Firefly Blue Ghost reporting nominal operations and receiving signals from 331,000+ km distance, projected lunar landing 2 Mar; ispace lander Resilience to attempt mission Milestone 5 lunar flyby ~15 Feb after reaching 1.1M km apogee, Moon touchdown earliest date 15 May; if Intuitive Machines IM-2 launches on planned date of 26 Feb, landing expected 6-7 Mar; Blue Moon Pathfinder to launch on Blue Origin New Glenn as early as summer 2025, while Astrobotic Griffin could launch in fall

Credits: SpaceX, ispace, Firefly Aerospace, Blue Origin, Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 10-13 January 2025

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Historic First: Two International Commercial Lunar Landers on Single Rocket Set for Jan 15 Launch

Firefly Aerospace first lunar lander ‘Blue Ghost’ carries ~150 kg of 10 NASA payloads within total weight ~490 kg, is go for launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket 15 January, heads to land at Mare Crisium (18.56°N, 61.81°E) NET 1 March (~45 days later) with LEXI refurbished X-ray instrument to read Earth magnetosphere / auroras, with Honeybee Robotics (Blue Origin) PlanetVac to stir regolith / photograph dust, and with Redwire (NYSE: RDW) imaging technology to assist landing; ispace Japan second mission with ~340 kg lander Hakuto-R M2 ‘Resilience’, carrying ~5-kg RESILIENCE micro-rover, will travel 4-5 months before planned touchdown at Mare Frigoris (60.5°N, 4.6°W)

Credits: Firefly, ispace, SpaceX

Tuesday / 8 October 2024

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Astrobotic Working Toward 2025 Lunar Landing, Advancing Pittsburgh Infrastructure

Astrobotic Griffin lunar lander to launch on SpaceX Falcon Heavy NET September 2025 for Griffin Mission One; Griffin lander, built in Pittsburgh, will communicate via NASA JPL Deep Space Network antennae in Australia, Spain, California; 7 minutes after Florida launch, Polaris was photographed over skyline by Dustin McGrew, called “extraordinary” by Astrobotic founder William ‘Red’ Whittaker; University of Pittsburgh now has ‘Pitt Space,’ promotes research, offers graduate certificate; Astrobotic received NASA award to build solar array for Moon power infrastructure ~17x human height

Credits: Astrobotic, Dustin McGrew

Tuesday / 17 September 2024

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Intuitive Machines Continues Search for Moon Ice / Water

NET January 2025, Intuitive Machines (IM) plans to launch IM-2 “Athena” Nova-C lunar lander and Lunar Trailblazer orbiter aboard Falcon 9; lander headed for Shackleton connecting ridge near Moon South Pole has Micro-Nova Hopper propulsive drone to measure surface hydrogen, PRIME-1 drill ~1 meter long, commercial off-the-shelf spectrometer, Nokia LTE 4G communications system to test; orbiter will map light wavelengths on Moon surface continuing search for water begun by Chandrayaan-1; as part of Artemis, IM receives its 4th NASA CLPS award, CP-22, US$116.9 M to deliver six instruments in 2027 to the Moon South Pole; IM is on NASDAQ as LUNR

 

Credits: (L-orbiter) Lockheed Martin, (C-hopper) Intuitive Machines, (R-light map, water / hydroxyl are blue / violet) ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown University/USGS