Category Archives: Cislunar Space Development

Wednesday / 2 December 2015

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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Delivering Four Billion Measurements And Counting

1222015In Year 7, LRO Continues To Provide Information Useful For Decades Of Future Human Exploration; LRO Deputy PI Benjamin Greenhagen Comments “We Honor The Moon As A Global Scientific Legacy”; Data Reveals 5 Key Lessons According To B. Dorminey (Forbes Article): Recent Volcanic Activity Confirmed By Interior Temperature & Cooling Implies Moon Is Likely Still Tectonically Active; Lunar Surface Shows Extreme Temperature Variations Of –247 °C In Permanently Shadowed Regions To +123 °C In Areas Exposed To Up To 243 Consecutive Days Of Sunlight; Moon May Hold Water / Other Volatiles Useful For Life-Support As Well As Other Resource Utilization Potentials; Moon South Pole Aitken Basin Offers Potential Samples Of Lunar Rock Originating From Interior Mantle; LRO Radiation Measurements Could Help Minimize Future Human Moon & Deep Space Exploration Hazards

Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, LRO, LPI

Thanksgiving Edition
Thu-Mon / 26-30 November 2015

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China Lunar Exploration Program,
Chang’e Missions 1-6 May Enable 2020s Human Missions

Chang'e-1-6

China Momentum For CE-5 Sample Return Mission 2017, CE-4 Lander / Rover / Orbiter To Far Side 2018, Potential CE-6 Sample Return 2020, And Possible 2020s Human Moon Missions Fueled By Success Of China Lunar Exploration And Technology Development Including CE-1 & 2 Orbiters, CE-3 Lander & Yutu Rover, CE-5-T1 Return Capsule, Long March Family Of Rockets & Newly Developing Spaceport On Hainan Island; China Well Positioned To Become 2nd Country To Land Humans On Moon

Table of China Lunar Program produced by ILOA / SPC

Credit: NAOC-CAS, CNSA, CCTV, Xinhua News Agency

Wednesday / 25 November 2015

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Korea First Lunar Mission To Begin Flight Development Phase Jan 2016

11252015Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) Lunar Exploration Program With Expected 2-Year Budget Of 197.8 Billion Won (US$172.5M) To Begin Call For Instrument Proposals In Jan 2016; Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) To Launch In 2018; Lander & Rover Expected 2020; Goal Is To Develop & Verify Lunar Technologies, Establish Korea Deep Space Network & Cooperate With International Partners In Lunar Exploration; Lander Mission Likely To Use Indigenous KSLV-2 Launch Vehicle; ISRO & KARI To Collaborate In India Deep Space Missions & Utilize Lunar Surface Data Collected By Chandrayaan-1; KARI Lunar Exploration Program Also Planning To Participate With NASA SSERVI To Gain Expertise In Solar System Science

Pictured: Dr. Seung-jo Kim, KARI President

Credit: Korea Aerospace Research Institute

Tuesday / 24 November 2015

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Lunar & Planetary Exploration Advance With Mining Potential Under U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (CSLCA)

11242015H.R. 2262 Bill To Allow American Enterprises To Own / Sell Materials Mined From Other Celestial Bodies May Spur New Off-Planet Economy; House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R) States “This Bill Will Unite Law With Innovation Allowing The Next Generation Of Pioneers To Experiment”; Honeybee Robotics Beginning Field Testing Of Drill For Hard Surfaces On Mars / Other Planetary Bodies & Has Several Lunar Technologies Addressing Lunar ISRU With Robotic Percussive Digger & Pneumatic Miner; Shackleton Energy Co. Working On Solutions To Mine Lunar Ice For Conversion Into Rocket Fuel; Moon Express CEO Bob Richards (L) Also Praises CSLCA Stating “Our Goal Is To Unlock The Resources Of The Moon For The Benefit Of Humanity”

Credit: Honeybee Robotics, Shackleton Energy Company, Moon Express, Congress.gov

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 20-23 November 2015

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LRO Successfully Operating In 7th Year,
Funded Until Oct 2016

11212015Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) In Elliptical Polar Orbit (20km S Pole x 165km N Pole) With Period Of ~113 Minutes; Arizona State University (ASU) Currently Reviewing LRO Camera (LROC) Data / Images Of Mare Vaporum Dome (16.64°N, 3.22°E); LROC Identifying Possible Resources, Hazards & Potential Landing Sites; LRO Total Data Output Over Lifetime Is More Than 655.6 Terabytes As Stated By LRO Education & Public Outreach Lead Director Andrea Jones; Data Release 24 Expected Dec 2015 Covering Jun – Sep

Credit: NASA GSFC, ASU

Friday / 20 November 2015

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China Chang’e-2 Lunar Probe Adding To Data On Formation And Evolution Of Near Earth Asteroids

11202015Chang’e-2 Images Of Asteroid 4179 Toutatis Being Studied By China & U.S. Scientists To Identify Sizes & Distribution Pattern Of More Than 200 Boulders On Surface; Findings Aid Future Asteroid, Deep Space Missions; CE-2 Heading Toward 300M Km Apogee To Verify China Deep-Space Tracking & Control Systems; CE-2 Is First Satellite To Be Removed From Moon Orbit & Go To L2, It Tested Technologies For CE-3 Moon Landing; China Affirms Chang’e Lunar Program “Going As Planned” As Stated By Chief Commander Ye Peijian Of CAST

Credit: CAST

Thursday / 19 November 2015

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Lunar Mission Efforts Highlight Resurgent Desire To Touch The Moon

Moon Landers

GLXP Teams Working To Land On Moon In 2017, Some Plan To Establish Permanent Presence On Surface; China Chang’e-5 Sample Return To Launch 2017 & Chang’e-4 In 2018; JAXA Planning SLIM Lander 2018-19 & SELENE-2 In 2019; Russia Hopes For Luna-25 Probe To Land In Boguslavsky Crater / Moon South Pole 2018; Golden Spike Co. Developing Human Moon Missions 2020; South Korea Lander & Rover 2020; Chang’e-3 & LADEE Most Recent Missions To Touch Surface; 1990-2015 Lunar Lander / Impactors Detailed By SPC / ILOA

Credit: CCTV, CNSA, NAOC-CAS, Lavochkin Scientific Prod. Association, ME, GSC, JAXA

Tuesday / 17 November 2015

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Virtual Workshop To Identify Preeminent Scientific Instruments For Lunar Polar Volatile Deposits

11172015The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) Holding First Virtual Workshop 18 Nov As Part 1 Of Related On-Going Series; Goal Of Workshop “Establish An Internationally-Coordinated Effort To Address Scientific Knowledge Gaps And Exploration Capability Gaps Related To Lunar Water Ice And Other Polar Volatiles”; Discussion To Be Moderated By Dr. James Carpenter (ESA) With Panelists Including Dr. Mahesh Anand (Open University), Dr. Ko Hashizume (Osaka University), Dr. Paul Hayne (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Dr. Paul Lucey (University of Hawaii), Dr. Igor Mitrofanov (Space Research Institute Of The Russian Academy Of Sciences) & Dr. Paul Spudis Of Lunar And Planetary Institute; Follow-Up Workshops To Be Held 16 Dec & 20 Jan

Credit: ISECG, ESA, LPI, University of Hawaii, NASA JPL

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 13-16 Nov 2015

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Galaxy Forum Waimea 2015:
Astronomy From The Moon And Hawai`i

GF HI 2015

Galaxy Forum Hawaii (12 Nov) Prompts The Question “Where Did The Moon Come From?”; Local Perspectives From Kimo Pihana & Pua Case, Multiple Scientific International Sources Theorize The Moon Formed From Giant Impact In Pacific Basin – Rob Kelso Of PISCES Notes ‘Mauna Kea & Mauna Loa Basalts Are Extremely Similar To Moon & Mars’; Astronomy From The Moon Being Conducted By Chang’e-3 With LUT – Through MoU With Hawaii-Based ILOA, Observations Of Galaxy M101 Helping To Refine Further ILOA Missions; Various Countries Planning On Far-Side Radio Astronomy; Passionate Talks Given About Hawaii’s Uniqueness, Astronomy From Hawaii / Earth, From Space & From The Moon

Credit: ILOA, IFA, NAOC-CAS, NASA

Friday / 13 November 2015

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Japan Proposing Moon Lander 2018-19,
Human Support Technologies ~2030

SLIM, JAXA Robot ISRU

JAXA Designing Smart Lander For Investigating Moon (SLIM) Mission, Hoping To Secure Funding Fiscal Year 2016 To Begin Developing Craft With Capability To Land Within 100 Meters Of Target; Would Launch Fiscal Year 2018 (Apr 2018 – Apr 2019) & Help Prepare For SELENE-2 & Human Missions; JAXA Prof Hitoshi Kuninaka Putting Together Plan For Robotic Technologies (Including Automobiles, ISRU) To Support Human Moon Bases ~2030, Mars Bases ~2040; Will Create Moon Analog Test Site At Sagamihara JAXA Campus

Credit: JAXA