China Robotic Lunar Lander Mission Chang’e-3 Passes Thermal Dynamic Trials, Testing Key Mechanical Performance Of The Lander Prior To Trial Run Of Propulsion System; New Superconducting Receiver Developed By 16th Research Institute, China Electronic Corporation Installed In New Deep Space Monitor And Ground Control Station; Receiver Expected To Also Support Future Mars Mission
Image Credit: CNSA, CLEP
SpaceIL co-Founder Yonatan Winetraub Says Incentive Of Inspiring This Generation Of Israeli & Jewish Children With The “Apollo Effect” Is Just As Important As Winning GLXP; Team Of 10 Engineers & Scientists Helped By 170 Volunteers To Create 35kg Spacecraft; Anonymous Donor Guarantees Over US$807K Funding; Israel Aerospace Industries, Technion & Weizmann Institute Providing Facilities / Assistance; 2015 Launch Planned
Image Credit: SpaceIL
China Exhibited New Radio Telescope Sunday Located At The Foot Of Sheshan Mountain In Shanghai; 4th Largest In World; Will Do Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI); Able To Receive 8 Frequency Bands And Communicate With Earth Satellites, Lunar & Deep Space Probes; Chang’e-2 Chief Designer Wu Weiren Hopes It Will Be Operational In Time To Support Upcoming Lunar Mission
Penn State Combines Total Interdisciplinary Expertise In Bid To Win GLXP; Team Includes Students, Faculty, Applied Research Laboratory Engineers; Leader Michael Paul Has Significant NASA Experience Including MESSENGER Systems Engineer / Points Out “…We’ll Be The First University In History That Explores Another Body In Space.”; Lunar Lion Spacecraft Combines Lander / Rover Requirements; January 2014 Launch To 5.5 Day Cruise To Moon With Powered Descent / Lift-Off From Lunar Surface For 500m Flight / Powered Descent
Image Credit: Penn State Lunar Lions, GLXP
Russia Federal Space Agency Announces Two Missions To The Moon: Luna-Globe Slated For 2015 Launch To Orbit Moon And Lunar-Resource Slated For 2017-8 Launch To Land On Lunar Surface; Luna-Globe Design Based On 2011 Lost Mars Craft Fobos-Grunt; Lunar-Resource Lander Will Study Soil Of Moon’s Southern Hemisphere Says Developer NPO Lavochkin; Next Mars Probe Attempt Not Till 2025 States Space Agency Chief Vladimir Popovkin
Image Credit: Roscosmos, NPO Lavochkin
ESA Preliminary System Requirement Review Puts €500M Price On 6 Month Mission To Place Rover / Other Experiments At Moon’s South Pole; Astrium Lunar Lander Study Phase B1 Major Results Include Precision Autonomous Soft Landing Test Results From TRON (Testbed For Robotic Optical Navigation) & LAMA (Landing And Mobility Test Facility); Nov ESA Ministerial Conference Decides Whether To Proceed With Study Phase B2 Leading To Preliminary Design Review
Image Credit: Astrium, ESA
Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Announces New Fleet Of Rovers Developed Under Exploration Science Mobility Project; Lunar Exploration Light Rover Mobile Lunar Lab With Sample Scoop Is Largest & Fastest / Upgradeable For Human Transport; Kapvik Micro-Rover Aids Humans By Doing Light Labor; 40 Academic / Industry Organizations Collaborating; Industry Minister Christian Paradis Notes Continuation of Canadarm / Dextre Legacy
Image Credit: CSA, Industry Canada, Carleton University
Chang’e-3, First China Lunar Surface Vehicle Will Employ Nuclear Power Supply Fueled By Plutonium 238, Making China 3rd Country After USA & Russia To Use Nuclear Energy In Space Exploration; Fuel Cells Developed By China Institute Of Atomic Energy; Chief Lunar Scientist Ziyuan Ouyang Says Fuel Cells Will Play Increasingly Important Role In Future China Deep Space Exploration
Image Credit: CIAE, CNSA, cas.cn
Program & Abstracts Now Available For 22-24 Oct 2012 LEAG Annual Meeting In Greenbelt Maryland; Presentations / Discussions On Science Objectives, Robotic Human Exploration Strategies & Technologies, Moon As Necessary Stepping Stone To Rest Of Solar System; Organizers Plan To Celebrate Apollo Legacy 40 Years After Apollo 17, Look Forward To Next Generation Of Lunar Missions; Pictured (BC): LEAG Chair Charles Shearer
Image Credit: LPI, NASA, University of New Mexico
National Astronomical Observatories Of Chinese Academy Of Sciences (NAOC) Set To Sign MOU With International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) Tuesday In Hawai`i; ILOA International Team Of Astronomers Will Conduct Galaxy / Astronomy Research With Lunar Telescope Aboard Chang’e-3 Lander (2013) For Global 21st Century Education, In Exchange NAOC Will Receive Observing Time On ILO-X & ILO-1 Mission Instruments (NET 2014-2015)
Image Credit: ILOA, NAOC