Category Archives: South Pole Moon

Wednesday / 15 June 2016

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China Moon South Pole CE4 Details Emerging For 2018 Mission

LED-6-14-2016

Liu Tongjie, Deputy Director Of CNSA Lunar Exploration & Space Program Centre Highlights Launch Of Critical CE4 Communications Relay Satellite To Halo Orbit Of Earth-Moon L2 In Late-May Or Early-June 2018; Followed ~6 Months Later By Launch Of Lander To South Pole Aitken Basin Fitted With Descent, Terrain Cameras; Main Payload Is Low-Frequency Radio Spectrometer; 3 International Payloads From Netherlands, Sweden, Germany; Rover With Panoramic Camera, Ground-Penetrating Radar, Infrared Spectrometer

Credit: CNSA, NAOC-CAS, CNS, JAXA (Topographical map of Moon farside based on Kaguya data, Aitken basin approximately 2,500km in diameter and 13km deep circled, red represents high elevation, purple represents low elevation)

Wednesday / 1 June 2016

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China Advancing Ambitious Lunar Plans, Strong Policy Support For Civil & Commercial Space Programs

LED-5-31-2016

CNSA Secretary General Tian Yulong Provides Details Of 2017 Chang’e-5 Mission; In Addition To Landing And Sample Return, Probe To Conduct Systematic Exploration Of North & South Poles From Orbit; Tian Also Notes Recent Discussions With ESA On Moonbase / Human Mission Cooperation; Draft Of 1st China Astronautical Law And “China’s Space Flight” White Paper Expected By End Of Year; Release Of Regulations / Other Documents Is In Preparation For Multiple Space Missions During 13th Five-Year Plan Period 2016 – 2020 And To Support Continued Development In The Aerospace Industry

Credit: CNSA, Beihang University

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 13-16 May 2016

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LRO Greatly Advancing Lunar Knowledge, Up For 2 Year Extension In September

LED-5-13-16

In Moon Orbit Longer Than Any Other Spacecraft LRO Continues Intensive Study From Highly Elliptical Path Flying As Low As 20km Over South Pole Every 117.2 Minutes; Noah Petro (Lunar Geologist) Studying Evolution Of Moon Today And Over Last Billion Years And John Keller (LRO Project Scientist) Examining Polar-Crater Water-Ice Deposits, Both At NASA GSFC, Are Among Thousands Of Scientists Worldwide Who Pour Over Data Releases From 7 Onboard Instruments; Project Team Has Requested Extension From NASA

Credit: GSFC, NASA

Friday / 13 May 2016

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ESA Lunar South Pole Drill Undergoing Tests For Russia Luna-27 Mission ~2021

Russia Luna Program 25-29

Ice Drill Prototype Intended To Penetrate 1-2 Meters Into Lunar Surface Near South Pole Being Tested At -140°C (Will Aim To Test At -240°C); Drill Developed For ESA By Finmeccanica Of Italy, Will Allow Samples To Be Chemically Analyzed & Resources Identified; Aligns With Russia Luna Program Launching From New Vostochny Cosmodrome At 53°N & 128°E To Set Up Future Human Base Beginning With South Pole Missions: Luna-25 Lander (2018), -26 Orbiter (2020), -27 Lander (2021), -28 Sample Return (2023), -29 Lander & Rover (2025)

Credit: ESA, Finmeccanica, Roscosmos, Anatoly Zak, RussianSpaceWeb, NASA, LROC, LCROSS

Friday / 15 January 2016

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Russia Continues 10-Year Commitment To Human Moon Missions, Perhaps Including 1st Woman To Moon

Russia Moon Plans

Russia Asserts It Plans To Realize A Human Moon Mission By 2027, Touch Surface By 2029 & Begin Establishing Habitable Moon Base; Will Use Angara Boosters, Develop Reusable Capsule; Seeking International Collaboration; Luna-25 Lander Aims To Launch 2018 (Picking Up From Luna-24 Successful Sample Return Mission 1976) To Boguslavsky Crater Near Moon South Pole; Recent Female Moon Simulation & Legacy Of Sending 1st Woman In Space, Russia May Try To Send 1st Woman To Moon

Credit: Roscosmos, ESA, NASA, Anatoly Zak / RussianSpaceWeb

Wednesday / 2 December 2015

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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Delivering Four Billion Measurements And Counting

1222015In Year 7, LRO Continues To Provide Information Useful For Decades Of Future Human Exploration; LRO Deputy PI Benjamin Greenhagen Comments “We Honor The Moon As A Global Scientific Legacy”; Data Reveals 5 Key Lessons According To B. Dorminey (Forbes Article): Recent Volcanic Activity Confirmed By Interior Temperature & Cooling Implies Moon Is Likely Still Tectonically Active; Lunar Surface Shows Extreme Temperature Variations Of –247 °C In Permanently Shadowed Regions To +123 °C In Areas Exposed To Up To 243 Consecutive Days Of Sunlight; Moon May Hold Water / Other Volatiles Useful For Life-Support As Well As Other Resource Utilization Potentials; Moon South Pole Aitken Basin Offers Potential Samples Of Lunar Rock Originating From Interior Mantle; LRO Radiation Measurements Could Help Minimize Future Human Moon & Deep Space Exploration Hazards

Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, LRO, LPI

Tuesday / 17 November 2015

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Virtual Workshop To Identify Preeminent Scientific Instruments For Lunar Polar Volatile Deposits

11172015The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) Holding First Virtual Workshop 18 Nov As Part 1 Of Related On-Going Series; Goal Of Workshop “Establish An Internationally-Coordinated Effort To Address Scientific Knowledge Gaps And Exploration Capability Gaps Related To Lunar Water Ice And Other Polar Volatiles”; Discussion To Be Moderated By Dr. James Carpenter (ESA) With Panelists Including Dr. Mahesh Anand (Open University), Dr. Ko Hashizume (Osaka University), Dr. Paul Hayne (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Dr. Paul Lucey (University of Hawaii), Dr. Igor Mitrofanov (Space Research Institute Of The Russian Academy Of Sciences) & Dr. Paul Spudis Of Lunar And Planetary Institute; Follow-Up Workshops To Be Held 16 Dec & 20 Jan

Credit: ISECG, ESA, LPI, University of Hawaii, NASA JPL

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 6-9 Nov 2015

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National Space Society Advocates Urgent Renewal For NASA Moon Missions

11062015Vital Studies Needed At Moon Lunar Poles To Verify Water Sufficiency For Sustainable Human Moon, Mars, Solar System Exploration; NASA-Funded Evolvable Lunar Architecture (ELA) Study Demonstrates Humans Could Return To Moon In 5-7 Years For US$10B & Establish Permanent Industrial Base Within 10-12 Years For $2.8B Per Year; Lunar Pole Robotic Survey Of Water Resources Imperative To Advance ELA In ~2020; Survey Reveals Commercial Enterprise Benefits By Supplying 200,000 Kg Of Propellant Per Year Placed Into Lunar Orbit Creating NewSpace Economies Via In Situ Resource Utilization

Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 30 Oct – 2 Nov 2015

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Prolific Accumulation Of LRO Data To Aid Science, Enhance Culture & Guide Future Exploration

LED-10-30-15

LRO In Elliptical Orbit Flying Just 20km Above South Pole, Area Of Very High Interest; Immense Data Resources Include Satellite Tool Kit Real-Time Visualization Display System, ACT-React QuickMap, CRaTER Live Sonification Design Project; Solar Powered Spacecraft Preparing For Next Eclipse 23 Mar 2016, After Successfully Navigating 3 Over Last 1.5 Years; Deputy Project Scientist Noah Petro Describes Eclipse Challenges: Loss Of Photo-Voltaic Power Generation, Temperature Drop Of Nearly 138°C In Only Minutes

Credit: NASA / GSFC

Friday / 30 October 2015

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China Planning Chang’e-5 Lunar Sample Return & 1st Ever Landing On Far Side With Chang’e-4

Chang'e Program

Chang’e-5 Being Developed For 2017 Mission While 5-T1 Test Service Module Remains In Lunar Orbit Gathering Data On Landing Sites & Rendezvous Procedures; Chang’e-4 Lander & Rover With Numerous Advanced Instruments To Launch Before 2020 To Far Side, With Relay Orbiter Launched ~2018 To L2; Chang’e-3 At 44.12°N 19.51°W In Lunar Day 24 Successfully Operating 1st Robotic Telescope On Moon; Zou Yongliao From Chinese Academy Of Sciences States “If We Can Place A Frequency Spectrograph On The Far Side, We Can Fill A Void [In Astronomy With Chang’e-4]”

Credit: Xinhua, CNSA, CSA, CCTV, China Space Website