Category Archives: Lunar Rovers

Friday / 2 Sept 2022

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As Danuri Orbiter Approaches L1 Trajectory Correction, KARI Seeks Funding for 2031 Moon Lander

Nearing Lagrange Point 1, ~1.5 million km (0.01 AU) distant from Earth, Korea Aerospace Research Institute preparing to execute Trajectory Correction Maneuver 2 Sept (14:00 KST, 05:00 UTC) to propel 678-kg Danuri spacecraft away from Sun gravity towards Moon per fuel efficient ballistic lunar transfer protocol; Meanwhile KARI, led by (BR) Lee Sang-Ryool, reportedly requesting US$459M (₩618B) from South Korea government to support 1,800-kg Moon lander powered by solar & RTG, carrying 15-kg rover, to launch NET 2031 on next generation Nuri rocket

Credits: KARI, Korea Ministry of Culture

Friday / 22 July 2022

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ispace Conducting Final Testing on HAKUTO-R Flight Model for November Launch Window

Operating in Japan, USA and Luxembourg, ispace may reach Moon surface within 2022 with Hakuto-R undergoing final thermal vacuum, vibration and function checks at IABG Space Centre near Munich Germany; Flight-ready Mission 1 lander expected to ship to KSC in Sep, launch via SpaceX F9 NET Nov carrying UAE MBRSC and JAXA rovers, flight computer and cameras from Canada enterprises Mission Control Space Services and Canadensys, NGK solid-state battery, engraved panels with supporter names

Credits: ispace

Friday / 8 July 2022

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China Moon Rover Prepares For 45th Lunar Day of Exploration as NASA Declares “New Race To Space”

Yutu-2 now in sleep mode, conserving electricity generated during day via PV panels while relying on RHU heating to survive 44th lunar night; In total Yutu-2 has traversed 1,239.88 m within Von Kármán crater on Moon farside South Pole–Aitken basin over 1,282 days of operations, while Yutu traveled 114 m; Despite prognostication from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson speaking to German newspaper Bild expressing concern over “China landing on the moon and saying: It’s ours now, and you’re staying out”, there are no signs of such an effort

Pictured: Yutu-2 (L), Yutu (R); Credits: CNSA

Canada-USA Holiday Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 1-4 July 2022

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Closest Neighbors Canada and USA Advance Mutually Beneficial Moon Missions

North America nations share holiday weekend commemorating national foundations: Canada observes 155 years since Federation on 1 July, while USA observes 246 years since Independence Declaration 4 July; Building on ~500 past space agreements between nations, CSA-ASC to provide robotic grappler Canadarm3 for Lunar Gateway, launching NET Nov 2024, and Canada astronaut to join NASA Artemis 2 crew on mission around Moon NET May 2024; MDA working with Lockheed / GM on unpressurized, driver-optional rover for Artemis surface exploration; Canadensys supplying high definition cameras for International Lunar Observatory Association precursor mission ILO-X

Pictured: CSA-ASC Astronaut David Saint-Jacques, NASA Anne McClain
Credits: NASA

Friday / 1 July 2022

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China and India Working on Spacecraft Technology for Crewed and Automated Moon Exploration

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) prototyping new hydrolox rocket engine for lunar version of ‘New-Generation Manned Launch Vehicle’ / Long March 5DY, with component check, fault detection and ignition tests achieved; Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) advancing Chandrayaan-3 redesign, improving lander legs, sensors and propulsion system, with ongoing testing at ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri; China aiming for human Moon landings within 2020’s decade, India 2nd robotic landing attempt likely to occur NET 2023

Credits: CNSA, ISRO

Tuesday / 21 June 2022

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UAE Rashid Rover on Track for November Launch for Moon Landing on ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1

Deigned by Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre engineers at Dubai ‘Silicon Oasis’, 10-kg Rashid Rover now in France for CNES thermal / vibration testing; Integration with Series 1 Lander to follow at ispace facility in Germany, with arrival of lander / rover at KSC NET September; SpaceX Falcon 9 launch window opening early November; M1 will also carry payloads from JAXA (2-wheeled spheroid rover), Canadensys (2 360° cameras), NGK (solid state battery experiment), Mission Control Space Services (AI flight computer)

Pictured: Emirates Lunar Mission Director Hamad Al Marzooqi
Credits: ispace, MBRSC, Twitter
 
 

Friday / 3 June 2022

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Businesses Develop Moon Infrastructure Technology with Canadian Space Agency Support

CSA-ASC funding 5 companies to advance Lunar Surface Exploration Initiative with 7 studies (~US$200K/ea, $1.4M total) on agricultural science, avionics/comms, mining/ISRU, power; Canadensys (Bolton ON) to study lunar greenhouse, modular rover concepts; MDA (Brampton ON) to study nuclear power generation, autonomous robots / rovers; MPB Communications (Pointe-Claire QC) to study Earth-Moon optical comms, Canadian Space Mining Corporation (Toronto ON) to study lunar prospecting; Honeywell Ltd. of Canada (Ottawa ON) to study Moon surface / orbit communication network

Credits: CSA-ASC, Canadensys, MDA, MPB Communications, Honeywell, Canadian Space Mining Corporation

Tuesday / 26 April 2022

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Japan Enterprises to Offer First Lunar Lander and Rover Insurance for Moon Missions

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance will indemnify HAKUTO-R lander mission sequence beginning NET Q4 2022 for ispace under newly signed MoU, with The Nikkei reporting an expected US$80M coverage level will cost lander companies $8M; Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance offering financial liability protection for mobile payloads that may suffer damage in-transit / on lunar surface with first customer Dymon of Tokyo, whose 498-g lunar rover YAOKI (touted as “world’s smallest lunar rover”) is slated for late 2022 mission with Astrobotic

Credits: ispace, Dymon, MSI, TMN

Tuesday / 1 March 2022

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Space Agencies Looking for Next Generation of Lunar Vehicles May Consider Tapping Electric Car Industry

2 USA commercial teams, 1 composed of Northrop Grumman, AVL, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, Michelin (with Moon workers Harrison Schmitt and Charles Duke serving in advisory roles) and partnership between Lockheed Martin, General Motors compete for contract to build modern Lunar Terrain Vehicle; JAXA works with Nissan and Toyota on electric and hydrogen powered concepts; Researchers at Keck Institute for Space Studies (Caltech) promote utilization of off-the-shelf components from production electric automobiles to minimize R&D cost of bespoke vehicles

Credits: NASA, Northrop Grumman

Friday / 4 February 2022

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India to Launch Chandryaan-3 Lander / Rover in August to Explore Moon South Pole Region

ISRO intends to launch Chandryaan-3 via GSLV Mk 3 NET August, soft-landing near originally planned Chandryaan-2 site; Area is within southern lunar highlands ~160km from Boguslawsky crater, preferred landing site of Roscosmos Luna-25 aiming for 23 July launch, and ~350km from South Pole-Aitken basin, an area currently being investigated by CNSA Yutu-2 rover from Chang’e-4 mission with sample return planned for Chang’e-6 NET 2024; Spectral analysis from Chandrayaan-1 orbiter indicates site is rich in iron (4.2%), magnesium (5.4%), calcium (10%) and titanium (0.3%)

 

Credits: ISRO