Team Puli With IndieGoGo Campaign Plans To Send Rover To Moon-Like Mauna Kea In Hawai`i, Have It Take HD Video, Move 500 Meters, Test / Control Systems From Budapest, Hungary 12,552 Km Away; Team Indus Based In New Delhi, India Running Competition To Develop Lunar Rover Designs; Red Whittaker Of Astrobotic Discusses Griffin Lander / Red Rover Mission To Investigate Lacus Mortis 44.962° N, 25.61° E
Image Credit: GLXP, Puli, Indus, Astrobotic, IFA
Chang’e-3 Now Scheduled For Launch Dec 2013; While Confirming Mission Shifting From Design To Launch Phase, CNSA / Lunar Program Chief Commander Ma Xingrui Acknowledges 1st China Attempt To Land On Planetary Body Is “An Extremely Difficult Mission That Carries Great Risk;” Crewed Lunar Missions Could Follow If China Decides To Combine Human Spaceflight & Lunar Exploration Programs
Image Credit: CNSA
1st Canada Astronaut To Moon Could Come About Through International Collaboration; Global Exploration Roadmap Crafted By 14 Nations Includes Development Of New Space Station At Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange Point In Early 2020s; Canada Intends To Develop Lunar Rover, Have Canada Astronaut Control Rover From Orbit Or Lunar Surface; Canada Chairing ISECG This Year
Image Credit: NASA, University of Western Ontario
Project Morpheus VTVL Autonomous Vehicle Recently Passed 80-Second Tethered Test (#28) At Johnson Spaceflight Center Houston TX; Expected To Be Shipped To Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral FL Soon To Perform Untethered Flight Test; Aug 2012 Untethered Test Destroyed Prototype Lander Seconds After Takeoff; Team Hopes 70 Adjustments / Upgrades To Vehicle & Ground Systems Will Result In Success
Image Credit: NASA
Galaxy Forum Hawaii 2013 On Sat 17 Aug At University Hawaii Hilo, To Advance 21st Century Galaxy Education & Hawaii-Based Space / Moon Initiatives; Steve Durst (R) Of ILOA Will Update The Pacific Aloha Offshore Spaceport Initiative; ILOA Will Outline 4 Active Moon Missions & Global HQ Development Campaign; UHH Professor John Hamilton (L) Will Speak On PISCES Activities & Kim Binsted Of UH-NASA Will Report On The Mauna Loa HI-SEAS Mars Experiment; Distribution Of New ILOA Galaxy Map 2013 To All Participants
Image Credit: ILOA, PISCES, UHH, Sea Launch
China Set To Make 1st Soft Landing Moon Mission In December 2013 Says China Rocket Expert & CLEP Adviser Lehao Long (TR); RTG Will Power Rover & Keep It Operational For Up To 30 Years; Chief Lunar Scientist Ziyuan Ouyang S ays High-End Technology Has Solved Problem Of Large Temperature Variance; Mission Will Study Surface / Geological Structure Of Moon & Plasmasphere Electromagnetic Fields Above Earth
Image Credit: China Daily, CNSA
Barcelona Moon Team Revises Launch Date From June 2014 To June 2015; Spacecraft / Lunar Rover Competing For GLXP Will Launch Aboard Long March 2C Rocket With Upper Stage CTS2 For Lunar Transfer Orbit Insertion; Launch Contract Provided By China Great Wall Industries Corporation; Pictured: Team Leader Xavier Claramunt, President Of Galactic Suite
Image Credit: GLXP, Barcelona Moon Team
President & CEO Of Moon Express, Bob Richards (T), Says Company Has New Lander Concept For GLXP Mission Half The Size & Cost Of Original Projection; Utilizing Small Rocket Engines Fueled With H2O2, Developed By Chief Propulsion Engineer Tim Pickens (B), & Other Technological Advances, Team Believes It Can Deliver Craft To Moon For Under US$50M; Seeking Launch As Secondary Payload; Craft Will Use On-Board Propulsion To Travel From GTO To Moon
Image Credit: Moon Express
Team EuroLuna Leaders Recently Visited Bangalore, India To Meet With Antrix Senior Officials About Arranging Launches For Its Romit1 & Romit3 Spacecraft; Romit1 Will Be A Test Flight To Verify Computer, Radio, Camera Operations & Test Electric Ion Accelerator Rocket Engine; Romit3 Is The Craft That Will Land On Moon In Effort To Win GLXP; Romit1 Is Double-CubeSat With 10X10X20Cm Dimensions & ~2Kg Weight
Image Credit: EuroLuna; GLXP, ISRO
SHAO Director Xiaoyu Hong Says 65-M Radio Telescope In Shanghai Has Undergone 6 Months Of Calibration In Preparation For Chang’e-3 Moon Lander / Rover Mission; Team Will Use Kinematic Statistical Method Utilizing Both Ranging, VLBI Measurements & Ephemeral Data Of Motion Of Moon To Analyze Position Of Lunar Lander In Sinus Iridum During Upcoming Mission; 10 Minutes Of Data Acquisition Using This Strategy Can Reach 10-M Accuracy
Image Credit: SHAO, CNSA, NASA