Friday / 3 March 2023

Posted on by

Moon Time Standardization May Advance International Cislunar Communication, Navigation Capabilities

Interoperable ‘LunaNet’ communication / navigation protocol initiative will require agreement on common time on & around Moon similar to Coordinated Universal Time on Earth & Earth orbit, per ESA statement; Standard Moon time would enable NASA Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Systems, ESA Moonlight and other nodes in Moon network to share spatial measurement as with Earth-based International Terrestrial Reference Frame used by GNSS; Nature and composition of governing organization and whether to fix Moon time to Earth time or create independent local selenocentric system TBD by lunar stakeholders

Pictured: ESA Moonlight Navigation Manager Javier Ventura-Traveset, ESA Navigation Engineer Pietro Giordano; Credits: ESA, NASA, Twitter

Tuesday / 28 Feb 2023

Posted on by

Lunar Crew Module / Lander Mockups on Display as CMSA to Announce Taikonauts for Shenzhou-16 & 17

30 years of steady progress toward and realization of human exploration in space (27 missions / 10 crewed) being celebrated at 3-month exhibit at National Museum of China in Beijing featuring models of China Manned Space Agency next-generation crewed spacecraft and lunar surface lander, which are to be launched via 25,906 kN-thrust Long March 10 (formerly LM-5DY) rocket in 2020s; 6 crewmembers for next 2 missions to Tiangong Space Station to be revealed as international astronaut exchanges under consideration

Pictured: (T-B) CMSA Director Hao Chun, Taikonaut Yang Liwei, CMSA Deputy Chief Designer Chen Shanguang; Credits: CMSA, CGTN screengrab, Wikipedia

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 24-27 Feb 2023

Posted on by

International Moon Missions Operating in Lunar Orbit as Wave of Landers Approach / Prep for Launch

 NASA / Advanced Space CAPSTONE orbiter prepares for spacecraft-to-spacecraft positioning test with LRO; KPLO Danuri imaging heritage areas – first robotic Moon landing (Luna-9) site in Oceanus Procellarum, first lunar rover (Lunokhod 1) landing site in Mare Imbrium – and Earth phases; ispace progressing on ballistic lunar transfer, now moving at ~520 m/s, will soon begin control burns to decrease speed on approach, landing expected NET late April; JAXA SLIM launching NET April; Astrobotic Peregrine to launch on inaugural Vulcan Centaur flight NET 4 May; Intuitive Machines launching Nova-C NET late June

Pictured: ispace Spaceflight Operations Engineer Sam Richards; Credits: KARI, ispace, LinkedIn

Friday / 24 Feb 2023

Posted on by

India Chandrayaan-3 Major Modules and Rover Advance Toward June-July Launch, Pass Key Tests

 Aiming for ~110km east of Chandrayaan-2 attempted landing site, Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module, lander and 26-kg rover undergoing major evaluations at U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru for NET June launch to 70.83°S, 22.67°E; Passing Electro Magnetic Interference/ Electro Magnetic Compatibility (EMI-EMC) tests early February for radio-frequency communication links between modules allows further subsystems & payload checks to continue; Mission will use Indian Deep Space Network for Earth comms and has agreements with NASA Deep Space Network & Estrack network as backups

Credits: ISRO, TAVD / URSC

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 17-20 Feb 2023

Posted on by

Companies Race to Develop and Deploy ISRU Techniques to Extract Building Materials and Oxygen on Moon

Blue Origin is latest entrant in effort to establish manufacturing processes for lunar buildout with Blue Alchemist molten regolith electrolysis extraction of Fe, Al, Si / PV cell & wire printing; Lunar Resources of Houston TX plans FarView Observatory construction via molten oxide electrolysis and is conducting 9-month NIAC feasibility study of MSP pipeline to deliver oxygen gas byproduct; ESA working to develop molten salt electrolysis with Metalysis of UK; Helios of Israel working with Eta Space of Florida on similar system; CO School of Mines to gather lunar prospectors 6-9 June at Lunar Resources Roundtable in Golden

Credits: Blue Origin, NASA, Lunar Resources, Helios, Metalysis

Friday / 17 Feb 2023

Posted on by

Mountain at Moon South Pole Named in Honor of NASA Apollo-era Mathematician Melba Roy Mouton

The 6,096-m high mountain on the western rim of Nobile Crater (~85.4°S, 37.5°E) is now officially known as Mons Mouton after NASA Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) team nomination to IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature; Situated just a few km east of Leibnitz Beta Plateau, Mons Mouton is to be the site of the 100-day VIPER mission to be delivered via Astrobotic Griffin lander NET Nov 2024; Mons Mouton is also 1 of 13 sites selected by NASA fo Artemis 3 human landings NET 2025

Pictured: Melba Roy Mouton, WGPSN Organizing Committee members Rita Schulz, Debra Elmegreen, José Espinosa; Credits: IAU, NASA

Tuesday / 14 Feb 2023

Posted on by

ISRO Preparing Host of Advanced Science Payloads for Chandrayaan-3 Lander, Rover and Propulsion Modules

Launching NET June, Chandrayaan-3 is targeting a 4 x 2.4-km site between Manzinus N and Manzinus U craters (69.37°S, 32.35°E), ~109km east of planned landing site of Chandrayaan-2 (2019); 1,726-kg lander will carry 7 science instruments including Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) and 9 sensors; 26-kg rover outfitted with Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) and Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS); 2,148-kg Propulsion Module will host Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) at 100-km polar orbit; Surface operations to be conducted over 1-lunar day / ~14 Earth days

Credits: ISRO, CNSA, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 10-13 Feb 2023

Posted on by

Independent / Commercial and National Moon Missions Working to Join Chang’E-3 & 4 Operating on Lunar Surface

ispace striving to conduct 1st commercial activity on Moon with landing of Hakuto-R, collection of regolith under US$5,000 NASA contract; ispace Lead Spaceflight Operations Engineer Angel Milagro updates on M1 progress (now 1,200,000 km from Earth), on track for April landing; JAXA SLIM launching NET April to Shioli crater; Ars Technica forecasts Astrobotic launch to Gruithuisen Domes NET May; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 targeting plain between Manzinus N and U craters NET June; Intuitive Machines launching to MSP on SpaceX F9 NET late June; Roscosmos Luna-25 may launch to Boguslawsky crater NET July

Credits: ispace, JAXA, IM, Astrobotic, LinkedIn

Friday / 10 Feb 2023

Posted on by

Capstone Lunar Orbit Pathfinder Team Attempting to Establish 2-Way Communication / Navigation Link with LRO

Led by Advanced Space, Capstone mission on 13th orbit of Moon, will soon exceed 3 months in 1,500 x 75,000-km near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), the intended path of Lunar Gateway human waystation (launching NET Nov 2024); The Terran Orbital-built 6U CubeSat has ~56% fuel (120 m/s ΔV) remaining, on track to surpass 6-month goal in orbit following 11-day command loss / recovery; Team working to validate spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation tech demonstration Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System with LRO, and attempt stand-alone navigation with Chip Scale Atomic Clock measurement of DSN radio signal

Pictured: Advanced Space CEO Bradley Cheetham; Credits: Advanced Space, NASA, Terran Orbital

Tuesday / 7 Feb 2023

Posted on by

Artemis 2 ‘Mega Moon Rocket’ Construction on Track for 2024 Crewed Mission as SpaceX Starship Preps for Orbital Test

Build of next NASA Moonship advances with Artemis 2 SLS core stage nearing completion / integration with 4 Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines at Michoud Assembly Facility; Sets of SRBs for Artemis 2 & 3 await vehicle readiness at Utah Northrop Grumman plant; Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) in final assembly at Florida ULA factory; Orion European Service Module build progressing at KSC Neil Armstrong Building with acoustic tests slated for spring; Orbital test of Starship, the SpaceX vehicle planned to land Astronauts on the Moon (NLT 4 July 2026) may launch orbital test in March if imminent static fire of 33-Raptor engine Super Heavy prototype is successful

Credits: NASA, SpaceX