Category Archives: Lunar Geology

Tuesday / 24 September 2024

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Moonquake Mitigation Being Examined for Upcoming 21st-Century Human Landings

Moonquakes can last hours, earthquakes seconds; Astronauts left lunar seismometers 50 years ago showing South Pole-region epicenters likely due to global shrinkage from core cooling; University of Texas researchers used JAXA funding to decipher Moon seismograph data; 7 researchers, T.R. Watters, et al, published 25 January 2024 in Planetary Science Journal that Malapert Massif / other proposed Artemis landing sites not landslide-threatened, but structures / materials / gravity need to accommodate shaking / quivering / trembling say San Francisco engineering firm / American Society of Civil Engineering under a NASA grant

Credits: (NASA/LRO/LROC/ASU/Smithsonian Institution) (L-fault; R-blue box indicates potential Artemis landing site, dot indicates landslide likelihood)

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 3-6 May 2024

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First Lunar Far Side Sample Return Mission on Route to South Pole-Aitken Basin

China space agency CNSA guiding Chang’E-6 53-day mission, consisting of 4-module stack launched from Wenchang SLC (19 N°) on LM-5 rocket 3 May and Queqiao-2 relay satellite, also launched from Wenchang on LM-8 and currently in 200 x 16,000-km lunar orbit; Lander, ascender orbiter and return capsule to reach Moon orbit by 8 May, where they will remain for ~20 days before lander and ascender separate and descend to 490-km Apollo crater (itself within 2,400-km Aitken Basin) spending 48 hours drilling to a depth of 2-m and retrieving up to 2-kg of regolith for Earth (Inner Mongolia) return 25 June

 
Credits: CNSA

Tuesday / 30 Jan 2024

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SLIM Awakens, Resumes Mission to Characterize Lunar Surface

The motorcycle-sized SLIM lunar lander is collecting solar energy and conducting spectral analysis of regolith near 13.3160° S, 25.2510° E landing site after 10 days of uncertainty following off-nominal descent caused by loss of 1 (of 2) 500 N main engine resulting in a flipped landing orientation requiring westward sun; Despite this adversity, SLIM did achieve 1.4 m/s soft-landing within ~55 m of precision targeted site and is set to continue collecting data until end of lunar day, ~31 Jan UTC (began ~16 Jan) within 10 spectral bands via Multiband Spectroscopic Camera (MBC); Landscape image (L) generated by completing 257 low-res images reveals first light including protuberance dubbed ‘toy poodle’

Credits: JAXA, Ritsumeikan University, University of Aizu

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 26-29 Jan 2024

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Stability of Moon South Pole Under Scrutiny Ahead of Artemis Human Lunar Landings

NASA-supported study Tectonics and Seismicity of the Lunar South Polar Region surveys recent LRO and historical Apollo Passive Seismic Network data to analyze 15 lobate thrust fault scarps, thought to be caused by interior cooling and Earth tidal forces, in the MSP region including in de Gerlache Rim, 1 of 13 candidate sites for Artemis 3; Modelling of associated shallow moonquakes (SMQ) indicate shaking up to 50km from epicenters, a safety concern especially for areas such as Shackleton crater which may be susceptible to regolith landslides; Further insight to be gained when Farside Seismic Suite is carried on Draper Series-2 lander to Schrödinger basin NET 2025 under CLPS

Credits: NASA / LRO

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 25-28 August 2023

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India Exploring Area Near Moon South Pole with Chandrayaan-3

ISRO now conducting the farthest expedition into the lunar south ever, with landing site 69.374454°S, 32.318695°E ~625km from the southernmost point on the Moon (90°S on Shackleton crater rim); Lander Module Vikram and Pragyan rover operating nominally with ILSA, RAMBHA and ChaSTE instruments activated and ready to take seismic, ionic and thermal readings; APXS and LIBS will perform X-ray and laser spectroscopy to determine chemical, mineralogical and elemental composition of regolith from Pragyan, now rolled out and >8 meters from LM

Tuesday / 11 July 2023

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Lunar Far Side Hot Spot May Indicate Large Presence of Granite, Raising Questions About Moon Volcanism

Thorium-containing Compton–Belkovich Volcanic Complex lies over 50-diameter area with 20x higher heat flux vs typical lunar highlands, thought to signify large granitic structure, per research led by Planetary Science Institute, drawing primarily from Chang’E-1 & 2 four-channel (3-37 GHz) radiometric datasets paired with LRO Diviner IR, Chandrayaan-1, GRAIL, and Apollo readings; If confirmed, find may alter understanding of lunar volcanism / water on Moon timeline; Study lead Matthew Siegler of SMU to present in-person at Goldschmidt Conference in Lyon, France on 12 July

Pictured: Study authors (L-R) Matthew Siegler, Jianquing Fang of PSI; Credits: NASA, GSFC, ASU, WUSTL

Friday / 29 July 2022

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LRO Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment Analysis Shows Moon Pits Offer Habitable Thermal Profile

100m-diameter depression within Mare Tranquillitatis maintains baseline -43°C during ~14 Earth-day lunar night (vs -173°C surface average), 17°C during lunar day (vs 127°C) due to distinct cavity overhang, per study of DLRE data led by Tyler Horvath and David Paige of UCLA, Paul Hayne of CU Boulder; Moderate temperatures may enable extended human habitation, exploration; First surface-based thermal images to be obtained with Lunar Compact InfraRed Imaging System, expected to launch to MSP NET Nov 2023 on Masten Mission One

Credits: NASA, GSFC, Arizona State University, ESA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 10-13 June 2022

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NASA Moon Orbiter Awaiting New Launch Window as CLPS Providers Race to Achieve Moon Landings

While CAPSTONE is fueled and integrated with Photon spacecraft bus within Electron fairing at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on Māhia NZ, new mission schedule is pending per NASA PAO; When launched Capstone to travel 1,549,798km from Earth before settling into NRHO; Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines working to land by EOY; Image of BE-4 flight engine shared by ULA CEO raises hopes for Vulcan Centaur readiness but 2022 integration / launch of Peregrine doubtful; IM welcomes Lunar Flashlight cubesat as co-payload on Falcon 9 launch nominally set for 22 Dec

Credits: NASA, Rocket Lab, Tory Bruno / Twitter

Friday / 10 December 2021

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Colorado School of Mines and Industry Investigate Sustainable Lunar Resource Extraction

A world leader in terrestrial excavation technology, Colorado School of Mines is fostering new generation of engineers intent on Moon prospecting within Center for Space Resources directed by (L-R) Angel Abbud-Madrid; Graduate student Justin Cyrus, in possession of precedent-setting US$0.10 NASA contract for Lunar extraction, plans Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) to support Nokia LTE buildout NET Q4 2022; Startup Petra, led by Tesla cofounder Ian Wright, working on thermal boring machine ‘Swifty’ capable of 982° C heating while moving through rock at 12m / hr; $30M raised after Sioux Quartzite demonstration

Credits: CO School of Mines, NASA, Twitter, Youtube

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 21-24 Feb 2020

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USA, PRC Lunar Probes Break Records Operating From Orbit And On Surface

Chang’e-4 Yutu-2 Operates During 15th Lunar Day In South Pole-Aitken Basin, Longest Duration Of Any Rover In Moon History; Completes Over 367 Meters Travel And Discovers Younger Rocks In 3.6-Billion Year Old Von Karman Crater On Far Side; Netherlands-China Low Frequency Explorer Operates Aboard Queqiao Orbiter, Gathering Astronomy Data In 21 Cm Range; Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, In Orbit Since September 2009, Scouting Landing Sites For Artemis Human Lunar Landings

Credits: NASA, CLEP, CNSA