Category Archives: Astrolab

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 / 16 September 2025

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Space Calendar Offers to Land Your Message on the Moon

15 September announcement from Space Age Publishing Company communicates it will carry customer names and 100-character messages to Moon surface via Astrolab FLIP mission, landing near south pole in Nobile region NET late 2025, and via International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) ILO-1 mission in 2027; US$50 is the nominal fee for a limited time, see SpaceCalendar.com/MoonMessage; ILO-1 mission is to initiate 2-way lunar communications, adding real-time images from its lunar surface telescope to the weekly Space Calendar, published since 1976 and landed on Moon via a CLPS lander on 22 Feb 2024; Canadensys to build ILO-1 instrument

Image Credits: Space Age Publishing Company, International Lunar Observatory Association

Friday / 8 August 2025

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Agreement with Astrolab for Interlune Helium-3 Rover-Mounted Camera

Helium-3 lunar prospector Interlune will mount multispectral, multi-wavelength camera developed with NASA Ames on Astrolab FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform (FLIP) rover, headed to Nobile Crater ~85°S NET Q4 2025 on Astrobotic Griffin-1 lander, to seek titanium-rich ilmenite mineral correlated with helium-3; precursor for NET 2027 dedicated helium-3 mission, privately held Seattle-based Interlune has agreements for purchase by US Department of Energy and Maybell Quantum of Denver CO; estimated price for helium-3 is US$20 million per kg

Image Credits: Astrobotic, Astrolab, Interlune 

4-7 July 2025
USA Holiday Weekend Edition

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International Lunar Observatory Association ILO-1 Flagship Mission to Fly on Astrolab FLEX Rover to Moon South Pole NET 2026

ILOA Hawai’i will have instruments for Milky Way Center observation and commercial 2-way communications mounted on light bar of Astrolab FLEX rover, targeted to launch on Starship NET Dec 2026 and land at 1 of 9 possible Artemis landing sites near Moon South Pole; aim is for at least 1 year of operations for ILO-1 payload to fulfill long-term astronomy, science and exploration goals, as well as provide commercial lunar broadcasting for Space Age Publishing Company / Space Calendar, and others

Credits: Astrolab, SpaceX, Smithsonian

Friday / 20 June 2025

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Newly Announced Mona Luna European Lunar Rover Model Is at Paris Air Show

Venturi Space of Monaco shows 750kg, 2.5m x 1.64m rover Mona Luna to CNES, ESA, 300,000 at Paris Air Show; Venturi working with Astrolab of Hawthorne, California for NASA LTV rover, both have lunar-night-surviving batteries, Swiss-developed hyper-deformable wheels; Mona Luna travels 20kph, climbs 20° slopes, hibernates 14 days; remote-control enhanced by onboard AI; designed to reach Moon on ESA Argonaut lander launching on Ariane 6.4 NLT 2030 

Credits: Venturi Space

Tuesday / 6 May 2025

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Astrobotic Technology Aims for Moon Landing by Dec 2025

Astrobotic Griffin-1 lunar lander Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) technologies critical for soft Moon landing show themselves reliably successful in Mojave CA test; rocks / small craters down to 15 cm detected and avoided by camera and LiDAR, in Hazard Detection and Avoidance and Terrain Relative Navigation systems; scan area ~1,000,000 sq m (>2,200 football fields) allows safest specific site and landing accuracy within 50 m radius; landing expected in Nobile region near Moon South Pole with Astrolab FLIP rover by end of 2025

Credits: Astrobotic Technology, NASA

Friday / 11 April 2025

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NASA Expected to Choose 1 of 3 Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTVs) This Year, Award US$4.6B

3 companies were tasked with building a Moon rover to support Artemis; Lunar Outpost Eagle seats 2 Astronauts in front, each wheel turns independently, screens show what several cameras see, there are tool and sample containers, it can be operated remotely; Astrolab / Venturi / Axiom LTV has 2 Astronauts standing at rear, storage containers for lunar samples; Intuitive Machines RACER holds 2 Astronauts, carries 400kg of cargo plus trailer with 800kg, offers remote control, engineered with 9 companies and input from Moonwalkers Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt

Credits: Space.com/Future/Brett Tingley, Astrolab, Intuitive Machines 

Tuesday / 4 February 2025

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Houston Autoboative MOON ROVERS Show?

NASA call for Lunar Terrain Vehicles for Artemis brought proposals to Houston Autoboative (car and boat) Show from Intuitive Machines, Astrolab Venturi and Lunar Outpost; IM Moon RACER (Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover) engineered with 9 partners and Apollo Moonwalkers Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt carries 400kg cargo plus 800kg on a trailer; AV FLEX Rover features NASA-proven software, robotic arm able to place 25kg load, and hyper-flexible wheels; LO Lunar Dawn LTV Eagle developed with GM, Goodyear and MDA Space

Credits: Lunar Outpost, Astrolab Venturi, Intuitive Machines