CRaTER Instrument Aboard LRO Continuing To Characterize Global Lunar Radiation Environment & Its Biological Impact; CRaTER Website Converts Data From The 6 Instrument Detectors Into Music; Music Shifts From Major To Minor & Main Instrument Transitions Among 8 Options From Piano To Banjo As Cosmic Ray Count Increases; CRaTER Data Critical For Human Moon Mission / Lunar Base Construction Preparations
Image Credit: NASA, Business Insider
ISRO Chairman Radhakrishnan Confirms India Working To Conduct Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter / Lander / Rover Moon Mission In 2016; Mission Will Be Launched By GSLV & Include Indigenous Lander & Rover; Major Mission Objective Is To Demonstrate India Capability To Soft-Land On Lunar Surface; Orbiter Will Carry 5 Payloads, Lander / Rover Payloads Will Be Finalized Once Weight / Volume / Power Constraint Of Lander Confirmed
Image Credit: ISRO
LADEE Measuring Changes In Lunar Atmosphere Caused By Chang’e-3-Released Dust & Exhaust, Comparing To Baseline Data Collected During Full 29.5-Day Lunar Cycle Prior To China Arrival; LRO Scans Landing Site With LAMP Instrument Looking For Exhaust Plume Signature, LROC Able To Image Lander / Rover At ~2m / Pixel, Will Attempt Image On 24 Dec; ARTEMIS Spacecraft Look For Plume Signatures In Plasma & Magnetic Field
Image Credit: NASA, CCTV
Dec Moon Landing Of China Chang’e-3 Could Provide NASA LADEE Orbital Mission Unique Opportunity To Collect Data On Ejected Dust From Descent Engines; Valuable For Planning Future Missions, Heritage Site Preservation, Lunar Base Development; Current USA Policy Impeding NASA From Arranging Such Collaboration With China; Apollo Moonwalkers Advocate For NASA To Begin Cooperation With China On Human Moon Return
Image Credit: NASA, CLEP, CNSA
ARES Institute Raises Over US$15K Via Kickstarter Campaign; Mission To Demonstrate Ability Of Spacecraft To Navigate Itself Into Lunar Trajectory & Lunar Orbit With Solar Sail; Spacecraft Will Utilize CubeSat Design, Volume ~1000 Cubic Cm; Applying For Low-Cost / No-Cost Launch Under NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative, Due Date For CLI Proposals 26 Nov 2013; Project Leader Matthew Travis Says Mission Achievable For Under $100K
Image Credit: lunarsail.com
Lunar Atmosphere & Dust Environment Explorer Now In 250-Km Near-Circular Equatorial Orbit; Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration To Begin 17 Oct, LADEE To Link Up With Ground Stations In New Mexico, California & Canary Islands, Achieve Downlink Speed 622Mbps / Uplink Speed 20Mbps, Technology Could Revolutionize Deep Space Communication; Around 11 Nov Probe Will Drop To ~50Km Altitude For 100-Day Science Mission
Image Credit: NASA
US$280M Probe Now Orbiting Moon Once Every 4 Hours After Completing 2nd Orbit Insertion Maneuver Early Wed Morning; 3rd Maneuver Planned For Sat 12 Oct Will Move LADEE From Elliptical To Circular ‘Commissioning’ Orbit (250-Km Altitude); Mission Scientists Will Use This Time To Test Science Instruments & Conduct Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration Before Dropping To 50-Km To Begin Science Operations In Late Nov
Image Credit: NASA
US$280M Probe Completes 2nd Burn Perfectly, No Longer Needs Additional Burn To Reach Desired High Elliptical Orbit; When LADEE Reaches Moon Gravitational Field On 6 Oct It Will Make 197-Second Retrograde Burn Reducing Velocity To 267 Meters Per Second For Lunar Orbit Capture; Craft Will Then Perform 40 Days Of High-Altitude Science Checkouts & LLCD Operations Before Dropping To 50-Km Altitude To Begin 100-Day Science Operations
Image Credit: NASA
ARTEMIS Teams With THEMIS & GOES 13 / 15 Spacecraft To Track Sun Energy As It Hurtles Around Earth Magnetosphere, Forms Aurora (Substorm); Results Published In Science 27 Sep Show Small Events Unfolding Over 1 Millisecond Can Result In 30-Minute Energy Flows & Cover Area 10x Larger Than Earth; Can Help Scientists To One Day Predict Space Weather; Lunar Orbiters Offer Unique Perspective Of Magnetotail, Through Which Moon Travels 1x Month
Pictured: ARTEMIS & THEMIS P.I. Vassilis Angelopoulos (T) & Project Manager David Sibeck (B)
Image Credit: NASA, JPL / Caltech, Berkeley
More Details Of Russia Lunar Exploration Plans To Emerge At 4th Moscow Solar System Symposium, 14-18 Oct; Updates On Luna-Glob (~2016) & Luna-Resource (~2017), Lunar Polar Sample Return Mission (~2019); RSC Energia Chief Designer Of Human Systems Nikolay Brukhanov To Speak On Russia Plans For Human Moon Missions; Successfully Finishing What It Started – Human Moon Mission – Will Strengthen Russia Credibility As Space Power
Image Credit: IKI, RussianSpaceWeb.com