Category Archives: South Pole Moon

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

Labor Day Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 30 Aug – 2 Sep 2019

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New Race To New South Pole:
Malapert Mt, Shackleton Rim In 2021?

USA Artemis Hopes To Land First Woman And Next Man On Lunar South Pole In 2024; India Chandrayaan-2 To Land At 70° S On 7 September; Chandrayaan-3 Planned With Japan Cooperation; Zhongguo Chang’e-4 Operating On South Pole-Aitken Basin With Chang’e-5 And Chang’e-6 Under Construction; Russia Luna 25 Hoping To Reach Polar Region In 2021; Moon Village Association Forecasts International Lunar Base; Blue Origin And SpaceX Among International Enterprises Racing To Bring Payloads To South Pole

Credits: ILOA, SPC, Canadensys Aerospace, ISRO, CNSA, Lockheed Martin, ESA, Roscosmos, SpaceX, Blue Origin

Tuesday / 27 Aug 2019

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BIG Challenge Seeks Ideas For Permanently-Shadowed Regions Of Lunar South Pole

NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate Is Sponsoring Breakthrough, Innovative & Game-Changing Idea Challenge; BIG Seeks Capabilities To Study Dark Permanently Shadowed Regions Of Moon; Craters And Caves In Lunar Polar Regions Have Remained Hidden For Billions Of Years; Proposals May Include Collecting Lunar Regolith, Transporting And Storing Water; Competition Is Open To Space Grant-Affiliated Universities; Separately ESA Open Space Innovation Platform Is Seeking Ideas For Detecting, Mapping And Exploring Permanently Shadowed Lunar Caves

Credits: NASA, JAXA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 August 2019

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Chandrayaan-2 In Lunar Orbit Prepares For Landing And Chandrayaan-3 Joint Lunar Mission

India Chandrayaan-2 Photographs Moon From 4,212 km x 118 km Orbital Ellipse, Will Perform Another Orbit Change 28 Aug; 1,470-kg Vikram Lander And 27-kg Pragyan Rover Scheduled To Land 7 Sep Near Manzinus C And Simpelius N Craters At 70° S Latitude; Project Director M Vanitha (L) And Mission Director Ritu Kridhal (R) Expect To Operate 14 Days On Surface; ISRO In Talks With JAXA Planning Chandrayaan-3 Joint Lunar Polar Exploration Mission In 2023

Credits: ISRO

Friday / 9 Aug 2019

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Chang’e-4 And Yutu-2 Rover Complete Eighth Lunar Day

Zhongguo Chang’e-4 Completes Eighth Day On Lunar Farside; Yutu-2 Rover Completes 271 Meters Travel, 33.13 Meters During Lunar Day 8, Expected To Wake For Day 9 Activities On 24 Aug; Rover Will Continue West From Von Karman Carter Landing Site In South Pole-Aitken Basin At 45.5° South Latitude; Netherlands-China Low Frequency Explorer Aboard Queqiao Orbiter Will Soon Begin Radio Astronomy Observations In Frequency Range From 1 To 80 MHz

Credits: CNSA, NCLE, Phil Stooke