Category Archives: South Pole Moon

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 20-23 Jan 2023

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2 Newly Arrived Moon Orbiters May Be Joined by at Least Half-Dozen Landers in Coming Months

As NASA / Advanced Space Capstone continues pathfinder mission of NRHO (so far finding Δv orbital maintenance requirements to be substantially less than expected) and KPLO Danuri prepares to begin science operations in Feb, ispace Hakuto-R lander should start return towards cislunar space after having reached furthest point in nearly 5-month fuel-efficient trajectory (1,400,000 km); Astrobotic PM-1 (with Project Kuiper and Celestis) and Intuitive Machines IM-1 (with DOGE-1) to follow NET Q1 2023, JAXA SLIM (with XRISM) NET April, ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET June, Roscosmos Luna-25 NET July

Credits: JAXA, ISRO, Roscosmos

 

Friday / 20 Jan 2023

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Happy 93rd Birthday to Buzz Aldrin as Artemis Generation on Cusp of Resuming Human Activity on Moon 

In a recent op-ed tribute to Apollo 7 Astronaut Walt Cunningham, second person to reach lunar surface Buzz Aldrin reiterates “Human exploration is essential. We must return to the Moon, and then go farther”; The first woman will walk on Moon with Artemis 3 (landing NLT 4 July 2026), a historic event which may be advanced at upcoming State of the Union address 7 Feb; Where crew will land within South Pole area TBD, sites under consideration will be discussed at NASA-sponsored Lunar Science Surface Workshop 4-5 April

Credits: NASA, Twitter / @TheRealBuzz

Thanksgiving Holiday Edition
Wed-Mon / 23-28 Nov 2022

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8 International Lunar Missions May Follow Artemis 1, Capstone, Danuri in Remainder of 2022 and 2023

As Artemis Orion spacecraft occupies cislunar distant retrograde orbit (130 x 64,000 km) with splashdown expected 11 Dec, NASA Capstone tests cislunar near rectilinear halo orbit (1,600 x 70,000 km) and KARI Danuri on course to reach 100km lunar orbit 16 Dec, numerous global efforts work to follow with ispace M1 launching NET 29 Nov 2022; Throughout 2023: Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One NET Q1, Intuitive Machines IM-1 NET March, JAXA SLIM NET April, ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET June, Roscosmos Luna-25 NET July; IM-2 and Turkish Space Agency AYAP-1 aim for late 2023

Credits: NASA, KARI, Astrobotic, IM, JAXA, ISRO, TSA

Friday / 4 Nov 2022

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Astrobotic PM1 Advances with Precision Landing Validation as BE-4 Engines Being Integrated on Vulcan Centaur

100-km test flight of Optical Precision Autonomous Landing system aboard King Air B200 twin turboprop confirms functionality 9 km above mountainous northern region of Mojave Desert analogous to lunar surface while providing Astrobotic with data to be utilized for US$79.5M Peregrine Mission 1 to Lacus Mortis (NET Q1 2023) and $320.4M Griffin Mission One to Nobile Crater (NET Nov 2024); Meanwhile Blue Origin working with ULA to complete Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle with BE-4 LNG / LOX (“methalox”) engines at Decatur, Alabama ULA facility

Credits: Astrobotic, ULA

Tuesday / 1 Nov 2022

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Lunar Flashlight to Prospect for Water on Moon, Launch with ispace Mission-1 NET 22 November

Utilizing 4 shortwave IR lasers (1.064, 1.495, 1.85, 1.99 μm) and indium gallium arsenide spectrometer, 6U / 14kg Lunar Flashlight 2-month nominal cubesat mission led by PI Barbara Cohen of NASA GSFC to search for water ice hidden within permanently shadowed regions on Moon from 15 x 70,000 km elliptical near-rectilinear polar orbit with ~6 day period; Lunar Flashlight now launching with Hakuto-R M1, which has arrived at KSC for launch on SpaceX F9 NET 22 Nov carrying UAE Rashid rover, Canadensys-built 360° cameras, JAXA spheroid robot

Credits: NASA, ispace, Wikipedia

Tuesday / 25 Oct 2022

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Artemis Moon Return Advances with Analog Training, 3 Orion Capsules on Order as Cost Transparency Urged

NASA analyzing data gathered by NASA / JAXA Astronauts Drew Feustel, Zena Cardman, Jessica Meir, Stan Love, Akihiko Hoshide, Norishige Kanai during nighttime Moonwalk simulation (JETT field test #3) and 3-day pressurized rover sojourn (D-RATS) near Flagstaff AZ; Lockheed Martin to build Orion additional crew capsules for Artemis missions 6-8 at cost of US$1.99B; Wayne Hale of NASA Advisory Council recommends PPP contract details be public, expresses concern on program architecture and 1-way Starship landing test; Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine joining Advisory Board of CLPS provider Firefly

Credits: Lockheed Martin, NASA

Friday / 7 Oct 2022

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CNSA Offering Payload Rideshares on Chang’E-7 MSP Lander Launching NET 2026

International science experiments / technology demonstrations encouraged to apply for space on Chang’E-7 Moon mission to a crater rim within South Pole-Aitken basin less than 5° from Moon South Pole; Announcement of Opportunity specifies payload parameters: 300mm×150mm×150mm maximum physical dimensions, -180°C to 80°C lunar surface operating temperature, ≤10kg mass, ≤50W power consumption; Applicants to submit letter of intent by 1 Feb 2023 for 1 April preliminary selection, full proposals due 1 June 2023

Credits: CNSA

Tuesday / 27 Sep 2022

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ESA to Send 2 Astronauts to Lunar Gateway, 1 to Moon Surface with NASA / Artemis Program by End of NLT 2029

Joint Statement on Lunar Cooperation Activities, signed by ESA Director Aschbacher / NASA Administrator Nelson, outlines Europe contributions – Service Module for Orion, I-HAB and ESPRIT modules for Gateway; At least 3 seats for ESA Astronauts secured in exchange: 2 Astronauts on orbital missions, likely Artemis 4 (NET 2027) & Artemis 5 (NET 2028), 1 on later surface mission TBD; Candidates for Europe Moon Astronauts include Samantha Cristoforetti (IT), Thomas Pesquet (FR), Tim Peake (UK), Alexander Gerst (DE), Matthias Maurer (DE), Luca Parmitano (IT) and Andreas Mogensen (DK)

Pictured (L-R): ESA Director Josef Aschbacher, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson; Credits: ESA, NASA, Twitter

Tuesday / 20 Sep 2022

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Moon South Pole is Target for Increasing Number of International Robotic and Human Missions 2023-28

CLPS provider Intuitive Machines to redirect IM-1 mission NET Q1 2023 from mid-latitude to MSP at NASA request, IM-2 already slated for Shackleton Connecting Ridge (89.5°S); ISRO Chandrayaan-3 targeting 71°S NET Feb 2023; Roscosmos Luna-25 aiming for 70°S NET 2023; Astrobotic to deliver VIPER rover to 85°S NET Nov 2024; CNSA Chang’E-7 to land near (L-R) Shackleton (90°S), Nobile (85°S) or Haworth (87°S) craters NET 2026; Artemis 3 to target 1 of 13 regions within 6° of MSP via SpaceX HLS; 6.25-day Polar Sortie Mission and 33-day Polar Excursion Mission on 2nd HLS to be awarded May 2023, launch NET 2028

Credits: NASA, IM

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 16-19 Sep 2022

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IAC73 Gathers Lunar Exploration Community, Optimal Landing Sites Including 4,990-m Malapert Under Consideration

Engaging 6,500+ world space professionals, International Astronautical Congress 2022 in Paris will be site of numerous high-level discussions during first Moon Exploration session 19 Sep: (L-R) Tatsuaki Hashimoto of JAXA to update on Omotenashi 6U CubeSat / micro-lander, to be deployed by Artemis 1; Daniel Andrews of NASA to share news on VIPER launching NET 2024; Steve Durst of ILOA Hawaii to present 5 Moon Missions September 2022 Update and rally support for prime South Pole landing area with Malapert Mountain: Moon High Ground Point E Awaits Landers interactive presentation

 

Credits: NASA, JAXA, ILOA