Wednesday / 18 September 2013

Posted on September 17, 2013 by LED Editor

Russia Continuing To Advance Lunar Exploration Agenda

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

Tuesday / 17 September 2013

Posted on September 16, 2013 by LED Editor

LRO Continuing To Produce Valuable Data

Release #15 Of LRO Data Now Available At Planetary Data System Archive; New Data Was Acquired Between 15 Mar & 14 Jun 2013, From CRaTER, Diviner, LAMP, LEND, LOLA, LROC & SPICE Instruments; 6 More LRO Data Releases Scheduled, Final Release In Mar 2015; LROC WAC Data Used To Create Time-Lapse Video Of Full Rotation Of Moon

Image Credit: NASA

Thursday / 12 September 2013

Posted on September 11, 2013 by LED Editor

Chang’e-3 Rally In Beijing As China Prepares For Launch

Chinese Academy Of Sciences (CAS) Holds Rally To Send Off Payload Testing Team For Chang’e-3 Lunar Explorer; Director Of Space Science & Applied Research At CAS Ji Wu, Senior CLEP Leadership Team Advisor Ziyuan Ouyang (T), CLEP Applications Chief Scientist Jun Yan (B) & Other Top Officials Present At Rally; About 80 Days Remaining Until Launch Of 1st China Lunar Lander / Surveyor

Image Credit: CLEP, CNSA, ILOA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 6-9 Sep 2013

Posted on September 6, 2013 by LED Editor

Launch Of Last Scheduled NASA Moon Mission As Lunar Experts Flock To NewSpace Companies

LADEE Launch — 6 Sep, 23:27 EDT, Wallops Island VA, Via Minotaur 5 Rocket — Promises To Provide Spectacular Show To East Coast USA Viewers; US$248M-Mission Will Test New System For Ultra-Fast Optical Data Transmission — 600 Mbit/s, Unravel Mysteries Of Lunar Atmosphere / Dust Environment, Premiere Common Spacecraft Bus; Next Flight Of The Bus Likely On Moon Express (ME) GLXP Mission NET 2015; ME Announces Paul Spudis New Chief Scientist, Jack Burns Added To Science Advisory Board

Image Credit: NASA, Moon Express

Thursday / 5 September 2013

Posted on September 4, 2013 by LED Editor

Current NASA Plan Derided By Apollo Legend

Chris Kraft, 1st NASA Flight Director, Says Many NASA Management Prefer Return To Moon As Next Step For USA / ISS Nations, Reluctant To Speak Up Due To Restrictions From Current Administrations; Congress, Astronauts & Partner Nations Also Prefer Moon Plan; Kraft Also Notes Great Possibilities For Science / Commerce On Moon; Lack Of Motivation / Inspiration Of Next Generation Of NASA Astronauts & Engineers Caused By Unrealistic & Unclear Exploration Plan

Image Credit: NASA, mit.edu

Weekend Edition / Fri-Tues 30 Aug-3 Sep 2013

Posted on August 30, 2013 by LED Editor

Neil deGrasse Tyson A Likely Advocate For Lunar Commerce

Tyson States It Is “Scandal That Private Enterprise Did Not Take Off Sooner;” Feels Space Shuttle Program Should Have Been Undertaken By Independent Business Leaving NASA Free To Conduct Deep Space Exploration; Believes Increased Government Investment In Space Is Needed To Facilitate Establishment Of Successful Lunar / Space Enterprise; Tyson Has Assisted Golden Spike Company In Advisory Role

Image Credit: Golden Spike Company, brainpickings.org

Friday / 30 August 2013

Posted on August 29, 2013 by LED Editor

Google Lunar X Prize Teams Advancing

GLXP Updates

Team Puli With IndieGoGo Campaign Plans To Send Rover To Moon-Like Mauna Kea In Hawai`i, Have It Take HD Video, Move 500 Meters, Test / Control Systems From Budapest, Hungary 12,552 Km Away; Team Indus Based In New Delhi, India Running Competition To Develop Lunar Rover Designs; Red Whittaker Of Astrobotic Discusses Griffin Lander / Red Rover Mission To Investigate Lacus Mortis 44.962° N, 25.61° E

Image Credit: GLXP, Puli, Indus, Astrobotic, IFA

Thursday / 29 August 2013

Posted on August 28, 2013 by LED Editor

China Moon Lander / Rover Moves Into Launch Phase

Chang’e-3 Now Scheduled For Launch Dec 2013; While Confirming Mission Shifting From Design To Launch Phase, CNSA / Lunar Program Chief Commander Ma Xingrui Acknowledges 1st China Attempt To Land On Planetary Body Is “An Extremely Difficult Mission That Carries Great Risk;” Crewed Lunar Missions Could Follow If China Decides To Combine Human Spaceflight & Lunar Exploration Programs

Image Credit: CNSA

Tuesday / 27 August 2013

Posted on August 26, 2013 by LED Editor

Canada Wants To Send Astronauts To Lunar Space

1st Canada Astronaut To Moon Could Come About Through International Collaboration; Global Exploration Roadmap Crafted By 14 Nations Includes Development Of New Space Station At Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange Point In Early 2020s; Canada Intends To Develop Lunar Rover, Have Canada Astronaut Control Rover From Orbit Or Lunar Surface; Canada Chairing ISECG This Year

Image Credit: NASA, University of Western Ontario

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 23-26 August 2013

Posted on August 23, 2013 by LED Editor

LADEE Launch To Achieve Multiple Firsts

Launch Of US$280M Mission, Scheduled For 23:27 EDT On 6 Sep, Will Be Visible To Tens Of Millions Of People Along America East Coast; First Lunar / Planetary Launch From Wallops Island Spaceport, VA; Inaugural Launch Of Minotaur 5 Rocket, 3 Of 5 Stages Made From Converted Cold War Ballistic Missiles; Debut Of Modular Common Spacecraft Bus Developed At NASA Ames, Smaller Version Of Which Will Be Used For Moon Express GLXP Mission