Category Archives: Astronomy from the Moon

Thursday / 10 October 2019

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Moon Farside Negotiations Symposium To Be Held By IAA Prior To 70th IAC In Washington DC

International Academy Of Astronautics ‘Moon Farside Negotiations’ On Saturday 19 October Will Feature ESA Director Jan Woerner Giving Opening Remarks; IAA Director For Scientific Space Exploration Claudio Maccone To Report On Efforts To Protect Radio Silence On Lunar Farside; Chief Designer Of CNSA Lunar Exploration Missions Wu Weiren Will Speak On Science Being Currently Conducted By Zhongguo On Farside Moon Surface; Giuseppe Reibaldi And Bernard Foing To Update On Moon-Focused Organizations Moon Village Association And International Lunar Exploration Working Group, Respectively

Credits: CNSA, CSIRO, IAA

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

Friday / 9 Aug 2019

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Chang’e-4 And Yutu-2 Rover Complete Eighth Lunar Day

Zhongguo Chang’e-4 Completes Eighth Day On Lunar Farside; Yutu-2 Rover Completes 271 Meters Travel, 33.13 Meters During Lunar Day 8, Expected To Wake For Day 9 Activities On 24 Aug; Rover Will Continue West From Von Karman Carter Landing Site In South Pole-Aitken Basin At 45.5° South Latitude; Netherlands-China Low Frequency Explorer Aboard Queqiao Orbiter Will Soon Begin Radio Astronomy Observations In Frequency Range From 1 To 80 MHz

Credits: CNSA, NCLE, Phil Stooke

Tuesday / 16 July 2019

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Spektr-RG Launches To L2 Lagrangian Point, Location Of Observatories And Lunar Probe 

Russia Spektr-RG Launches To L2 Lagrangian Point Aboard Proton-M Booster Designed For Lunar Payloads, First Successful Russia Mission Beyond LEO Since Soviet Union; Payloads Are Astronomical Roentgen Telescope X-ray Concentrator (ART-XC) And Extended Roentgen Survey Imaging Telescope Array Built By Germany Max Planck Institute; Spektr-RG Will Survey Sky For Galaxy Clusters, Black Holes And Hypothetical ‘Dark’ Energy; Sun-Earth L2 Point Is Location Of ESA Gaia Space Observatory, Former Stop Of Planck Observatory And Chang’e-2 Lunar Probe

Credits: Russia Academy of Sciences, Roscosmos

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 5-8 July 2019

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Colorado Experiments To Be Sent To Lunar Surface

Payloads For Commercial Lunar Services Providers Include Surface Electromagnetics Experiment, Which Could Be First Radio Telescope On Moon Surface; Co-Investigator Jack Burns Of University Of Colorado Is Also Principal Investigator Of Dark Ages Polarimetry Pathfinder Planned To Orbit Lunar Far Side By 2023; Colorado-Built Experiments For NASA CLPS Include Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System To Explore Moon’s Composition And Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder, Which Will Study Moon’s Crust

Credits: Orbit Beyond, University of Colorado Boulder

Monday / 1 July 2019

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ILOA Request For Information: To Land ILO-2, As Backup For ILO-1, On Malapert Mt Or Shackleton Rim, Asap

International Lunar Observatory Association Requesting Information From Potential Lunar Lander Payload Providers To Deliver ILO-1 Instrument And / Or ILO-2 Backup To Malapert Mountain Near Moon South Pole As Early As 2021; ILO-1 Instruments Are Being Developed With Canadensys Aerospace Corporation To Perform Astronomy From The Moon, Observations And Communications; Flight-Ready ~1 Kg Instrument May Be Delivered As Primary Or Co-Payload; Entities With Active Interest In South Pole Include Canada, India, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, Japan, Korea, South America, Africa, Crescent Moon Countries, USA And Many Independent Enterprises

Credits: NASA, ILOA

Friday / 19 Apr 2019

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Chang’e-4 Scientific Data Release Benefits International Partners

China National Space Administration Holds Ceremony 18 April To Pass Chang’e-4 Scientific Data To International Partners; Dutch Scientists Will Receive Data From Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE) Astronomy Experiment On Queqiao Orbiter; Lander Neutrons And Dosimetry (LND) Experiment Is Built By Germany To Understand Radiation Effects On Regolith; Yutu-2 Rover Carries Small Analyzer For Neutrals (ASAN) Contributed By Sweden To Study Solar Wind; Liu Jizhong (L) Head Of Lunar Exploration And Science Center Announces That China Will Be Seeking 20 Kg Of International Scientific Payloads For Chang’e-6 South Pole Lander And Orbiter

Credits: CNSA, China News

Friday / 29 Mar 2019

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Lunar Base Radio Astronomy From Far Side And South Pole

Radio Observation From Lunar Far Side, Sheltered From Earthly Radio Noise, Continues To Be International Astronomy Goal; Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE) With Three 5-meter Radio Antennae Near Earth-Moon L2 Point Above Lunar Far Side Will Begin Operation In April When Chang’e-4 Lander At Statio Tianhe (Milky Way) Base Finishes Primary Mission; Lunar South Pole Is Goal Of Both USA And International Lunar Observatory Association; ILO-1 Antenna Dish Will Be On ~5-km Malapert Mountain

Credits: ILOA, NAOC, NASA

Wednesday / 27 Mar 2019

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USA Sending Retroreflectors On International Lunar Missions 

 NASA Laser Retroreflectors Are On Two Upcoming Lunar Landings, Israel Beresheet (L) Scheduled For 11 April And India Chandrayaan-2 (R) Launching Apr; Unpowered Laser Reflectors Will Be Useful For Lunar Navigation, Measuring The Moon’s Changing Distance From Earth And Fundamental Physics; Retroreflectors Left By 3 Apollo And 2 Russia Luna Landings Still Returning Science; Apollo Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment Reports The 384,402-km Earth-Moon Distance Increasing By 3.82 cm/yr, An Anomalously High Figure That May Indicate The Speed Of Light Changing

Credits: NASA, SpaceIL, ISRO

Tuesday / 26 Mar 2019

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Accelerated Lunar Program To Include Astronomy From Moon 

USA National Space Council Chaired By Vice President Mike Pence Meets In Huntsville, Alabama 26 March; Pence And Former Astronauts Pushing For Early Human Lunar Landing, Perhaps By 2024; University Of Colorado Astrophysicist Jack Burns, Who Will Address NSC, Is Contracted To Develop Dark Ages Polarimetry Pathfinder Smallsat For Lunar Farside, With Ultimate Goal Of Placing Array Of Telescopes On Moon; Netherlands-China Low Frequency Explorer With Three 5-meter Antennae Will Begin Operating On Lunar Farside When Chang’e-4 Finishes Primary Mission

Credits: NASA, ISIS, CNSA, University of Colorado