Category Archives: South Pole Moon

Thursday / 30 January 2014

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Moon Mining – A Rising Priority

MoonMining0114

Private Companies & Government Agencies See Moon Mining As Critical Step Towards Future Sustainability, Expansion Of Humans Through Solar System; China Eyeing Lunar Helium-3; Russia Planning Prospecting & Sample Return Missions By 2020; USA Likely To Collaborate With Japan, Korea, Canada, Private Companies To Achieve US$250M Resource Prospector Mission At Moon South Pole ~2018 To Advance ISRU Capabilities; Moon Mining Plans Lead Inevitably To Property Rights Considerations

Image Credit: NASA, Roscosmos

Friday / 24 January 2014

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Golden Spike & Draper Lab Evaluate
Moon Landing Sites

GSC MSP

Draper To Examine GSC Lunar Lander Concepts / Enhancements, Landing Sites, And Recommend Guidance System Architecture; Study Lead John West Notes Draper Has Provided GNC & Flight Computers For All Crewed Lunar Landings; Moon South Pole Near-Eternal Peaks Of Illumination With Temperature Constant -50° ± 10°C Should Be Considered For Simplifying Thermal Design / Reducing Energy Required, Gathering Unique Science & Volatile Data; Ben Bussey Study Shows Peak Near Shackleton Crater Would Be Illuminated 86% Over Lunar Year In 2020

Image Size: GSC, NASA

Thursday / 23 January 2014

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Clementine Mission Pivotal In Illuminating Importance Of Lunar Destination

OhClementine0114

Advocating For Strong USA Initiative To Realize Robotic & Human Missions To Lunar Poles ASAP, Paul Spudis Reviews Impact Of 1994 Clementine Moon Orbiter On America / World Space Policy; Over 71 Days Mission Collected >2M Images, 1st Global Topographic Map Of Moon, Revealed Aitken Basin / South Pole Features That Could Sustain Human Outpost: Peaks Of Near Permanent Sun Illumination, Evidence Of Water Ice / Hydrogen; Spudis On The Space Show Sunday 26 Jan

Image Size: NASA

Tuesday / 21 January 2014

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Morpheus Advancing USA Lunar Lander Capabilities

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Project Morpheus To Conduct Free Flight Test-6 Today At NASA KSC; Flight Test Last Week Performed Flawlessly Reaching 57m, Traversing 47m, Landing Within 28cm Of Target; New Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) Could Facilitate Lander Missions To More Challenging / Rewarding Sites Such As Moon South Pole; Current Lander Design Has Payload Capacity Of 500kg, Team Hopes To Scale Up To Accommodate Crew / Cargo

Image Credit: NASA

New Year / Holiday Edition
Wed 25 Dec 2013 – Fri 3 Jan 2014

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2020 Vision: Humanity A Multi World Species

LED-12-12-13Multi Nation Science And Commerce Human Lunar Expeditions 2019-2020 Preceded By Moon South Pole International Traffic Jam 2015-2016 With Robotic Landings From USA, PRC, Japan, India, Russia, as well as Moon Express / ILOA, Golden Spike, Shackleton Energy, Astrobotic, Lunar Lions, Others; NEOs, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn Next

Ad Astra — Happy New Year / Holidays To All

 Image Credit: NASA, ILOA, ME, Penn State Lunar Lions, Astrobotic Technology

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon 20-23 December 2013

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Russia Officials Foresee International Competition For Lunar Resources

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Russia Academy Of Sciences VP Lev Zelyony (B) Predicts International Rivalry Over Control Of Lunar Poles In Mid 21st Century Similar To That Of Arctic Shelf – Citing Increasing Value Of Extraterrestrial Water, Rare-Earth Metals; Vladislav Shevchenko (C) Of Moscow State University Says Cooperation Would Be Better Than A Race; Russia Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin (T) Feels Country Should Focus On Building Human Outpost On Moon

Image Credit: Komsomolskaya Pravda, Rianovosti, msu.ru

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 22-25 Nov 2013

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JFK 50 Years Downrange And Sputnik 2.0

JFK 50 Years & Sputnik 2

China Moon Landing Next Month
Likely To Energize USA New Space, Moon,
Solar System R&D, And Galaxy Awareness,
Including Moon South Pole Power Station Prototype

 

Image Credit: NASA, CNSA

Tuesday / 5 November 2013

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Huge China Moon Lander A Precursor To Human Module

chinaLander1113

Chang’e-3 Lander Is 42% Mass & Scale Of Apollo Lunar Descent Module (1200kg Unfueled), Apollo Veterans Aldrin (L) & Cernan Say Size & Design Indicate Craft / Mission Is Precursor To Human Descent Stage; Moonwalkers Encourage NASA / USA To Seek Cooperation With China On Human Moon Return, Form International Lunar Outpost Authority, South Pole Base For ISRU / Prepare For Mars Habitation

Image Credit: China Space News, NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 25-28 Oct 2013

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Golden Spike Company Moon Mission Science Concepts Advancing

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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

Friday / 18 October 2013

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Stanford On The Moon:
Human Moon Missions

SOM 2013

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