Category Archives: Advanced Technology

Thursday / 28 July 2016

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Nuclear Power On Moon, Mars, Beyond

LED-7-27-16

SETI Institute Science Colloquium At Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus Features Frank Shu, Professor Emeritus, University Of California Berkeley; Discusses Lunar Base As Wise First Step Toward Humans Colonizing Mars, Traveling To The Stars; Shu Notes Lunar Water Ice Harvesting / Electrolysis To Produce Habitat-Critical Oxygen (& Hydrogen For Fuel) Requires Primary Power Source; Presents Patented Design For Two-Fluid Molten-Salt Breeder-Reactor (2F-MSBR) Using In Situ Thorium; Overlooks Potential For Photo-Voltaic Power At Peaks Of Eternal Light (Areas Of Near-Continuous Illumination) At Moon South Pole

Credit: SETI Institute, UC Berkeley, NASA

Friday / 22 July 2016

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UAE Satellite Maneuver Pays Tribute To Humankind’s Greatest Achievement

Moon 47th International

UAE Dubai-Sat-2 Earth Observation Satellite Turns Face & Captures Images Of Moon To Mark Achievement Of 1st Human Moon Landing, Inspire Future Space Scientists; Salem Al Marri Of Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre Notes Apollo As “A Pinnacle Of Engineering Development & Exploration” And Hopes To “See People On Mars & Other Celestial Bodies”; Nations Including China, India, Japan, Russia, S. Korea & ESA Are Focusing On Moon Missions And Outposts; U.S. Has The Technologies & Could Catalyze Space Race With Prioritization

Credit: Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, Dubai Eye Radio, NASA

Friday / 8 July 2016

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Rocket Lab Electron Rocket May Launch Late Summer, Qualifies Rutherford Engine For Flight

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab Planning Maiden Electron Rocket Launch Within A Couple Months From Wairoa, New Zealand Followed By Launches From New Site At Onenui Station, Mahia Peninsula (39° S, 177° E) Which Is Close To Completion; CEO Peter Beck Notes Mahia Can Offer “Widest Range Of Orbital Azimuths Of Any Launch Site Globally”; Electron Is 10,000kg, 16-meters Tall, Able To Carry 150kg To 500-km Sun-Synchronous Orbit For Less Than US$5M; HQ In Los Angeles, Company Working With Moon Express For 2017 Launch To Moon & Potentially 3 Other Launches, And Up To 12 Missions For Spire Satellites

Credit: Rocket Lab, Google, Moon Express

Friday / 24 June 2016

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China Chang’e-5 Propulsion System Completing Tests, Hainan Spaceport Maiden Launch 26 June

China Human Moon, CE5

CE-5 Sample Return Mission On Track For 2017 Launch With Lander, Rover, Orbiter Completing Final Propulsion System R&D, General Assembly & General Testing At CASC; China In Prime Position To Help Lead Effort To Put Humans On Moon With Inaugural Hainan Spaceport / Moonport Launch Of Long March 7 On 26 June, Development Of Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Tiangong-2 Space Lab Launch NET Sep, Long March 5 Launch Sep-Oct, Tiangzhou-1 Crewed Launch Apr 2017, CE-4 In 2018, CE-6 In 2020

Credit: CASC, CNSA, China.org.cn, Xinhua, CCTV News

Friday / 17 June 2016

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13th International Planetary Probe Workshop Highlighting Innovative Ideas For Lunar Exploration

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The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Meeting In Laurel, Maryland June 13-17 Features Talks By Alan Stern PI Of New Horizons & Ellen Stofan NASA Chief Scientist; Includes Presentations By Robert Buchwald (TR) Of Airbus On ‘Prospecting And Returning Lunar Surface Samples With Volatiles’ And By Balaji Soundararajan, Masters Student (Space Engineering) at Technical University Berlin On ‘Autonomous UAV for Lunar Inspection’ & ‘Lunar Ballistic Robot Exploration’

Credit: JHU/APL, GSFC, NASA,R. Buchwald, B. Soundararajan,

Thursday / 16 June 2016

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GLXP Teams Flying Under The Radar Continue To Make Headway

GLXP 6,2016

With 16 Teams From 13 Countries Remaining – Malaysia Team Independence-X Working On SQUALL Lander & BLIZZARD Rover Featuring Continuous Track Propulsion & Able To Fit Into 1.5U CubeSat; Croatia, Australia Team STELLAR Developing 4-Wheeled Rover With Support From 6 Companies & 14 Team Members, Produces Video Of Lunar Vision; Italy Team Italia With Expert Help From Thales Alenia Space & Polytechnic University Of Turin Furthering AMALIA Lander & ~10-kg Rover; Canada Team Plan B Supported By More Than 39 Volunteers Is Advancing 4-kg 2-Wheel Rover & Landing System

Credit: GLXP, Team Independence-X, Team STELLAR, Team Italia, Team Plan B

Wednesday / 15 June 2016

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China Moon South Pole CE4 Details Emerging For 2018 Mission

LED-6-14-2016

Liu Tongjie, Deputy Director Of CNSA Lunar Exploration & Space Program Centre Highlights Launch Of Critical CE4 Communications Relay Satellite To Halo Orbit Of Earth-Moon L2 In Late-May Or Early-June 2018; Followed ~6 Months Later By Launch Of Lander To South Pole Aitken Basin Fitted With Descent, Terrain Cameras; Main Payload Is Low-Frequency Radio Spectrometer; 3 International Payloads From Netherlands, Sweden, Germany; Rover With Panoramic Camera, Ground-Penetrating Radar, Infrared Spectrometer

Credit: CNSA, NAOC-CAS, CNS, JAXA (Topographical map of Moon farside based on Kaguya data, Aitken basin approximately 2,500km in diameter and 13km deep circled, red represents high elevation, purple represents low elevation)

Friday / 10 June 2016

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Exploring The Galaxy From The Moon, Study Validates ‘Lunar Occultation Technique’

Lunar Occultation Tech

Richard Miller (L) From University Of Alabama – Huntsville & David Lawrence Of JHU/APL Using Data From Lunar Prospector Gamma Ray Spectrometer To Find Pattern Of Occultations Generated By Moon For Detecting & Characterizing Objects In Universe Whose Properties Change Over Time; Lunar Orbiter & Surface Missions Will Take Advantage Of Moon Unique Characteristics Including No Atmosphere, No Magnetosphere, Low Electromagnetic Interference From Earth, Well-Understood Radiation Background, Stable Platform, And Offer Cost Effective Way To Study Galaxy Without Diminishing Quality

Credit: Richard Miller, David Lawrence, UAH, JHU/APL, NASA

Thursday / 9 June 2016

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Japan Kajima Corp. To Develop Machinery For Construction On Moon

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Fully Automated Construction Machinery On Moon, Mars For Building Long-Term Human Habitation Is Being Developed By Kajima Corporation, A Japan Industrial Services, Engineering and Construction Firm With Market Capitalization Of Almost US$8B; JAXA Selected The Project For The Space Exploration Innovation Hub; An Indoor Experiment Will Be Conducted NET April 2017 At JAXA Sagamihara Campus; Machinery Is Estimated To Be Ready To Build A Structure To Accommodate 4-6 People On The Moon By 2030

Credit: Kajima Corp., JAXA

Friday / 3 June 2016

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Astrobotic Signs More Partners For Lunar Lander Development, Payload Delivery Services

Astrobotic Lunar Delivery

Astrobotic CEO John Thornton Unveils New ~1.5-meter Tall Peregrine Lander, New Partners DHL & Airbus Defence And Space, Adding To Existing Support From Aerojet Rocketdyne & NASA CATALYST Program; Astrobotic Stacking Up Contracts & Agreements For Lunar Delivery (US$1.2M/kg To Surface) Including GLXP Teams AngelicvM & Hakuto (With 2 Rovers), Payloads From Mexican Space Agency, DLR, Astroscale, Lunar Mission One, Elysium Space, Carnegie Mellon University & Celestis, Stating “Launch Procured From SpaceX” Q4 2017 To Lacus Mortis Without Verified Launch Contract As Of Yet

Credit: Astrobotic, AngelicM, Hakuto, AEM, Elysium, CMU, LM1, DLR, Celestis, Astroscale, GLXP