Category Archives: Lunar Orbiters

Weekend Edition / Fri-Tues 7-11 Sep 2012

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Lunar Exploration Analysis Group Annual Meeting

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

Friday / 7 September 2012

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GRAIL Now In Extended Science Mission

Extended Science Phase Of GRAIL Mission From 30 Aug – 3 Dec; Spacecraft Will Take Even Closer Look At Lunar Gravity Field By Dropping To Average Orbit Of 23km (Compared To 55-km Orbit On Primary Mission); Objective Of NASA Mission Is To Generate The Most Accurate Gravity Map Of Moon & From That Derive Its Internal Structure / Evolution

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 31 Aug – 3 Sep 2012

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LRO Provides More Evidence Of Water At Moon South Pole

Mini-RF Radar On LRO Estimates Maximum Amount Of Ice Likely Inside Shackleton Crater; 5-10% Of Material In Walls Of The Permanently-Shadowed Crater Could Be Patchy Ice According To Team Led By Bradley Thomson Of Boston University; Instrument Detects Distinctive Radar Polarization Signature Of Water Ice To Depth Of 2m Below Surface; Mini-RF Currently Acquiring New Bistatic Radar Images To Locate Volatile Deposits Using Arecibo Radio Telescope 

Image Credit: NASA, bu.edu

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 24-27 Aug 2012

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LunarCubes Offer Opportunities For Affordable Moon Exploration

Miniaturized Spacecraft Have Been Successful In LEO Missions Costing +- US$300,000, Lunar Missions Could Be Accomplished For +-US$3M With Upgrades In Power, Protection From Extreme Radiation / Thermal Environment; UC Berkeley / UCSC Prposing CubeSat Probes For Impact Mission Into Lunar Swirls; GLXP Missions Will Provide Ample Opportunity For LunarCube Missions For Student / Faculty Teams

Image Credit: KARI, GLXP, Vermont Tech

Friday / 17 August 2012

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LRO Detects Helium In Lunar Atmosphere

Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) Spectrometer Aboard LRO Makes 1st Spectroscopic Observations Of Helium In Tenuous Lunar Atmosphere; LAMP Examined Ultraviolet Emissions In An Observation Campaign Spanning Over 50 Orbits; Measurements Confirmed Data From 1972 LACE Experiment Deployed By Apollo 17 (L); Next Question: Does Helium Originate From Inside Moon, Or External Sources?

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 3-6 Aug 2012

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LRO Continues To Provide Valuable Data / Images

Now In Extended Mission, LROC has Mapped Entire Moon 33 Times, Each Map With Different Photometric Geometry; About Every Month Spacecraft Makes New Mosaics Of North & South Poles; Found Over 160 Lunar Caves With ‘Skylights’; Project Scientist Richard Vondrak Says LRO Is “Just Getting Started”; Pictured: Recent LROC Oblique View Of Giordano Bruno Crater (35.9°N 102.8°E), Download Video Of Crater Here

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 1 August 2012

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Safe Havens For Future Lunar Explorers

LROC PI Mark Robinson Speculates Vast Lava Tubes May Be Present Under Lunar Surface Based On Kaguya, LRO Data; Such Caves Could Be Suitable Interim Shelters For Explorers; Scientists At Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Studying ‘Mini-Magnetospheres’, Magnetic Anomalies That Protect Areas Of Moon From Solar Wind; Data May Lead To Artificially Manipulated ‘Deflector Shields’ 

Image Credit: NASA, RAL

Friday / 27 July 2012

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China Lunar Exploration Program Advancing With Chang’e-2,3,4,5

China Chief Lunar Scientist Ziyuan Ouyang Provides Update On Chang’e Program; Chang’e-2 Has Left L2 After 235 Days Of Solar Observation, Now Heading For Rendezvous With Asteroid 4179, Will Arrive To Monitor / Explore Asteroid Around 1 March 2013; Chang’e-3 Lunar Rover Will Feature Atomic Fuel Cells, Radar To Explore 100m Below Surface; Chang’e-5 Sample Return Mission To Be Launched By Long March 5 Rocket Currently Under Development

Image Credit: CLEP, CNSA, CCTV

Thursday / 26 July 2012

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Team Phoenicia Helping To Facilitate Lunar Nanosat Missions

Team Phoenicia Agrees With Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems LLC & Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo To Collaborate On Lunar & Interplanetary Small Satellite Launch Opportunities; Cal Poly / Tyvak Will Utilize Team Phoenicia Excess Launch Capacity On GLXP & Future Lunar Missions; With Projected Costs Between US$5-10M, First Interplanetary NanoSat Missions Could Spark Revolution With Hundreds Of Missions To Moon, Asteroids, Mars & Beyond 

Image Credit: Team Phoenicia, Tyvak, CalPoly, NASA

Friday / 6 July 2012

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Far Side Of Moon A Pristine Environment To Observe Early Universe

Shielding From Earth Ionosphere & Radio Interference Required To Explore ‘Dark Ages’ Of Universe / Receive Radio Waves Below 100 Megahertz; Far Side Of Moon Seen As Ideal Location; Jack Burns / CU Boulder Team Proposing Dark Ages Radio Explorer (DARE) Lunar Orbiter To Collect Neutral-Hydrogen Signals From 80-420M Years After Big Bang; Ultimately Seeking To Deploy Large Antennas In 180-Km-Wide Tsiolkovskiy Crater  

Image Credit: NASA, University Of Colorado At Boulder