Golden Spike Company Discussing Advanced Mission Concepts Including Landing Sites Of Interest (South Pole Moon) & Sample Return Missions After Integrating Input Gathered At Recent Workshop With International Lunar Scientists; Robotic-Human Missions Would Involve A Nation Sending Own Rover & GSC Astronauts Retrieving / Returning Rover Samples; GSC Will Host Another Forum In March 2014
Image Credit: NASA, GSC
Back To The Moon For Good, Educational Fulldome Show To Debut In Over 80 Planetariums Around The World In Nov 2013; Narrated By Tim Allen, 25-Minute Show Features Insider Look At Teams Vying For US$30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, Animates Successful Launch / Landing / Tour Of Lunar Surface / Future Moon Settlement; Several GLXP Teams Now Planning To Launch Together To Save On Costs
Image Credit: GLXP, Disney / Pixar
Workshop On Science & Challenges Of Lunar Sample Return In ESA ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands On 18-19 Feb 2014; Event Co-Organized By NASA SSERVI & Russia IKI; Objectives: Discuss How Sample Return Missions Can Support Future Exploration, Scientific Priorities, Mission Requirements / Technical Challenges; ESA Intends To Cooperate With Russia On Moon Lander & Sample Return Missions, & With NASA On Human Missions
Image Credit: ESA, IKI, NASA
SOM 2013 Reunion Conference: Human Moon Missions – A Center For 21st Century Leadership, Friday 18 Oct; Talks Given By Visionary Entrepreneurs Advancing Cislunar Travel & Commerce, Moon South Pole As Destination Of Importance / Discovery; (L To R) SOM Alumni Club & ILOA Steve Durst, Golden Spike Co Alan Stern, Moon Express Adrian Adamson, Shackleton Energy Co Jim Keravala, Interorbital Systems Randa Milliron; Over 100 Stanford Alumni To Participate
Image Credit: SOM, ILOA, GSC, Shackleton, NASA
Aeronautics & Astronautics Department Chair Charbel Farhat (TR) Says His Stanford Students Dream Of Getting To The Moon; One Of Largest In Nation, Stanford Department Currently Has 200 Graduate Students & Dozens Of Undergraduates, 12 Full-Time Faculty Members; Proximate Access To Prestigious Internships: NASA Ames, Lockheed Martin, Loral Space; Cutting-Edge Research On Subjects Such As Spacecraft Design, Deep Space Machines
Image Credit: Stanford University
Evidence Of Origin Of Life (Volatile Compounds From Ancient Comets) May Be Found In Permanently Shadowed Craters At Lunar Poles; Russian Academy Of Sciences Space Research Institute Laboratory Head Igor Mitrofanov Says Studying Regolith From Moon Poles Will Provide Valuable Data About Both Moon & Comets; 2200-Kg Russia Luna-27 / Luna-Resurs South Pole Moon Lander (2017~2019) Will Feature Drill Capable Of Penetrating Up To 2 Meters Deep
Image Credit: Russian Academy of Sciences Space Research Institute
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
Imaging Of Historic Hardware / Landers On Moon Remains Important Area Of Study For LRO; Photometric Modeling Of Exhaust Plume Effects On Regolith Environment Using LROC-NAC Images Taken With Different Illumination Geometries Help Define Safe Operational Practices For Future Landing Sites; LROC Investigators Hope To Advance This Study With Before & After Images Of Chang’e-3 Landing Site
Image Credit: NASA, CNSA
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
China, India, Russia, USA All Planning Moon Missions In This Decade; UK, ESA, South Korea To Follow Post-2020; As Many As 3 GLXP Teams Could Also Land On Moon By 2015 Heralding Age Of Commercial Mining / Exploration; With Well-Funded Lunar Program, First Moon Lander In 37 Years (Chang’e-3 In Dec 2013) & Serious Study Of Human Moon Missions – China Is Leading Way & Compelling International Rivals / Partners To Keep Pace
Image Credit: Dreamstime, GLXP, History Channel