Category Archives: South Pole Moon

Friday / 7 February 2020

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SSTL Lunar Pathfinder Data Relay To Provide Communication With South Polar Region By 2022

UK Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) Building Lunar Pathfinder Data-Relay; 280-Kg Spacecraft Is Intended To Provide Affordable Communications With S-Band And UHF Links To Missions On Surface, And X-Band Link To Earth; Will Enable Lunar Polar And Farside Missions With An Alternative To Earth-Based Deep Space Networks; Planned For Launch In 2022, Lunar Pathfinder Will Operate In Elliptical Orbit For Long-Duration Line-Of-Sight Visibility Of South Polar Region And Aitken Basin; Sue Horne Of UK Space Agency Talks Of Communicating From Lunar Orbit To Surface

Credits: NASA, SSTL

Tuesday / 28 January 2020

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TRAILER Robotic System Under Development By ESA For South Poles Of Earth And Moon

ESA Technology Development Element Program Contracts With French COMEX Company And Vienna-Based Liquifer Systems Group, Directed By Barbara Imhof, To Develop TRAILER Robotic System; Two Robots, The Highly Mobile TRACTOR And Trailer Unit WAIN, Will Be Controllable From Earth Or Lunar Orbit; Rovers Will Be Tested In Antarctica By 2021 For Eventual Use In South Pole-Aitken Basin Of Moon; ESA Also Developing HERACLES Lander To Place Payloads Supporting Humans On Lunar Surface

Credits: Liquifer Systems, Moon Village Association,  ESA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 17-20 Jan 2020

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Canada Space Program Accelerates With LEAP Program And Participation In Lunar Efforts

Veteran Canada Astronaut And Former ISS Commander Chris Hadfield (L) Emphasizes International Cooperation, Says Moon Is Next Logical Step With ‘Eternal Power’ Available At Lunar Poles; Cosmologist Renee Hlozek Contributes To Discussions About The Universe; Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP) Will Award Contracts Up To US$2M To Qualifying Canada Companies; Minister Of Innovation, Science, And Economic Development Navdeep Bains (R) Says Canada Will Maintain Lead In Robotics And Space-Related Fields

Credits: CSA-ASC; Moon Express Canada

Friday / 20 December 2019

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Chandrayaan-3 Planning Rush To Lunar Surface In 2020

Indian Space Research Organization Planning Chandrayaan-3 At Full Speed For November 2020 Launch; Mission Will Include Propulsion Module, Lander And Rover; 682-Kg Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter Is Successfully Operating In Lunar Polar Orbit; Orbiter High Resolution Camera And Onboard Terrain Mapping Camera-2 Will Be Part Of Chandrayaan-3 Mission, Which Will Likely Land In South Pole Region; India Partnering With Japan On Joint Lunar Polar Exploration Mission, Which Could Become Chandrayaan-4

Credits: ISRO

Tuesday / 3 December 2019

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Korea Lunar Mission Modified Orbit Plan Raises Questions With NASA

South Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, In Planning Since 2016, Adds Mission Weight And Changes Orbit; Ministry Of Science Plan For US$150M KPLO Changes Dec 2020 Launch To July 2022, From 100-Km Circular Orbit To 100 x 300-Km Ellipse; NASA, Which Plans To Contribute ShadowCam Instrument To Survey South Pole, Prefers Circular Orbit To Maximize Science Returns; Korea Aerospace Research Institute Will Hold Further Discussions At NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, To Continue Lunar Orbit Mission

Credits: KARI, NASA

Tuesday / 26 November 2019

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Roscosmos Looks To Lunar South Pole Telescopes For Asteroid Warning

Russia Plans To Operate Telescopes At A Lunar South Pole Base To Monitor Potentially Hazardous Earth-Approaching Asteroids And Comets; Roscosmos Preparing For Uncrewed Lunar Landing In 2021 And Possible Human Landing By 2030; Robot Systems Will Maintain South Pole Telescopes Along With Periodic Visits By Cosmonauts; Alexander Bloshenko (L) Of Roscosmos Discusses Mining Helium-3, But Only After Nuclear Fusion And Lunar Industries Are Both Well-Established; Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin (R) Remains Open To Cooperation With China For Building Lunar Base

Credits: Roscosmos

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 1-4 November 2019

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Where Will Artemis Land?

Artemis 3 Mission, To Land Next Man And First Woman On The Moon, Planned To Spend Up To 6.5 Earth-Days On Surface; Landing Announced For South Polar Region In 2024; Shackleton Rim Near South Pole Is Possible Site Of Future Settlement; Long-Term Radiation Exposure Expected To Be A Hazard; City-Sized Lava Tubes Discovered In Equatorial Regions Like Marius Hills Seen As Possible Shelters; GRAIL Gravity Probe Finds Moon Full Of Hidden Lava Tubes

Credits: JAXA, Kaguya, NASA, JPL, Caltech, MIT, GSFC, Lockheed Martin Corp.

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 20-23 Sep 2019

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China-Russia To Cooperate On Chang’e-7 And Luna-26

Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin (L) And Zhang Keqiang Of CNSA (R) Sign Cooperation Agreement In Saint Petersburg; Zhongguo Planning Chang’e-5 Sample Return And Chang’e-6 Mission To South Pole On Long March 5 Booster; Russia Planning Luna-25 Landing In South Pole Region In 2021; Luna-26 Orbiter To Cooperate With Chang’e-7 In 2023-24; Russia Hoping For Lunar Sample Return In 2028; Both Nations Will Open Joint Data Center For Lunar And Deep Space Research

Credits: Roscosmos, IAF, NAOC

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 13-16 Sep 2019

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Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter And LRO Seeking Vikram Lander On Surface

India Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter On 8 September Has Located Vikram Lander On Surface; 1,470-kg Vikram Is Believed To Have Inverted 11 Minutes After Beginning Descent, Causing Loss Of Control 2.1 Km From Surface; NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Scheduled To Overfly Landing Site 17 Sep; LRO Will Attempt To Image Vikram And Laser Retroreflector; Lunar Night Will Cover Landing Site Near Manzinus C Crater Around 21 Sep; India Prime Minister Modi Says “ISRO Spirit” Has United Country, Forecasts “New Dawn And Brighter Tomorrow”

Credits: NASA, ISRO

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 6-9 Sep 2019

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India Attempts First Moon South Pole Landing – In Peace For All

India Chandrayaan-2 Makes Historic Attempt At Landing In South Pole Area, Likely Region Of Future Human Settlement / International Moon Base; 682-kg Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter To Operate In Lunar Polar Orbit For >1 Year; 1,470-kg Vikram Lander And 27-kg Pragyan Rover Have Not Signaled Yet; PM Modi States ‘Whatever Has Been Accomplished So Far Is No Small Feat; We Remain Hopeful & Will Continue Working Hard On Our Space Programme’; India And USA Lunar Orbiters May Try To Locate / Image Craft On Moon Surface

Pictured: Prime Minister Modi (R) And ISRO Chair Sivan (L) At Bengaluru Monitoring Centre 7 September 2019 (India Standard Time)

Credits: ISRO, Times of India