Friday / 4 March 2022

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Errant Rocket Stage of Disputed Origin Hurtling Toward Moon to Impact Lunar Farside Friday

Astrodynamic modelling suggests 4 ton object of uncertain origin most likely is spent upper stage of LM-3C, used during Chang’e 5-T1 test mission, and will strike Moon at ~2.58 km/s; 18th Space Control Squadron, charged space tracking for USSF, confirms rocket did not reenter Earth atmosphere but tells Space News “we cannot confirm the [rocket’s] country of origin”; NASA LRO documents predicted impact site within Hertzsprung Crater for scientific comparison once impact occurs 4 March 02:25 HST; X-band signal emanating from Chang’e-5 spacecraft reveals it occupies Distant Retrograde Orbit, pre-empting USA plans to pathfind strategic trajectory

Credits: NASA, ASU

Tuesday / 1 March 2022

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Space Agencies Looking for Next Generation of Lunar Vehicles May Consider Tapping Electric Car Industry

2 USA commercial teams, 1 composed of Northrop Grumman, AVL, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, Michelin (with Moon workers Harrison Schmitt and Charles Duke serving in advisory roles) and partnership between Lockheed Martin, General Motors compete for contract to build modern Lunar Terrain Vehicle; JAXA works with Nissan and Toyota on electric and hydrogen powered concepts; Researchers at Keck Institute for Space Studies (Caltech) promote utilization of off-the-shelf components from production electric automobiles to minimize R&D cost of bespoke vehicles

Credits: NASA, Northrop Grumman

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 25-28 Feb 2022

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Flagship Boeing SLS and SpaceX Starship Race to Achieve Deep Space Ascendency as Global Fleet Preps for 2022 Moon Missions

NASA planning Artemis I wet dress rehearsal NET March, inaugural flight of US$17B Space Launch System within 3 defined windows: 7-21 May, 6-16 June, 29 June – 12 July; Human Moon flyby Artemis II NET May 2024; Starship (SN20 / BN4) undergoing engine reconfiguration, now with 33 Raptor 2 engine specification on Super Heavy; Initial SLS variant Block 1 anticipated to make ~ 4000t thrust, BN4 ~ 7500t, Saturn V by comparison made ~ 3500t; Roscosmos, ISRO, KARI, JAXA, ispace, Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic also striving for 2022 Moon exploration

Credits: NASA, SpaceX

Friday / 25 February 2022

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Phase 2 of ‘Watts on the Moon’ Opens 3-Segment, 30-Month, US$4.5M Challenge to Enable Lunar Surface Power Transmission & Energy Storage

Running on HeroX crowdsourcing platform, NASA Centennial Challenges calls for USA team proposals for energy infrastructure concepts supporting long-term Moon operations; Open 23 Feb 2022 with competition end scheduled 11 Sep 2024, 285 teams with 3.3K innovators registered so far; Phase 1 winners (21 May 2021, totaling 500K) were Astrobotic, Astrolight, KC Space Pirates, Michigan Tech University, UC Santa Barbara, Skycorp, Team FuelPod; International missions planned near Boguslawsky, Nobile, Shackleton Rim, Malapert Mountain, Haworth Crater, Simpelius N to help determine solar illumination & resources for crew landing projected 2025 / Artemis 3

Credits: NASA, HeroX

Wednesday / 23 February 2022

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JAXA-led Consortium Contracts with Ark Edge Space to Develop Cislunar Communication / Positioning Plan

Artemis member Japan advancing lunar network concept with Tokyo-based company Ark Edge Space, recently capitalized with US$3.5M seed investment, conducting study of lunar satellite constellation linked to Earth; Managed by JAXA with industry (Kiyohara Optical, ispace, KDDI Corp, Mitsubishi) and academic (University of Tokyo) partners, effort is part of ministerial STARDUST (Strategic Programs for Accelerating Research, Development and Utilization of Space Technology) initiative; ESA Moonlight, UK / SSTL Lunar Pathfinder, NASA LunaNet, IM Lunar Telemetry and Tracking Network striving to achieve similar functionality

Pictured: Takayoshi Fukuyo (L), Shuhei Matsushita (R)
Credits: NASA, JAXA, Ark Edge Space
 

Weekend Edition
Fri-Tues / 18-22 Feb 2022

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Leading Geostrategic DC Think Tank Emphasizes Importance of Cislunar Space, Chronicles Global Exploration Efforts

Deputy Director of Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Kaitlyn Johnson compiles international missions to Moon surface and surrounding space, 2022 highlights include: USA CAPSTONE orbiter (19 March); Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic CLPS missions; Artemis 1 lunar flyby + payloads Lunar Icecube, LunaH-Map and international rideshares from Japan (EQUULEUS, OMOTENASHI), Italy (ArgoMoon); Russia Luna 25 lander (MSP, May); India Chandrayaan-3 lander (August); Japan SLIM lander; Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter with USA rideshare ShadowCam; China Chang’e-3,4,5 operating on Moon + orbital relay satellite Queqiao, Chang’e-6,7,8 following

Credits: CSIS

Friday / 18 February 2022

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Precision Technology for Landing Within Shadowed Regions of Moon Surface Sought by NASA

Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge No. 1 offers ≤US$650,000/ea for 3 proposals on lunar landing sensing systems designed to function absent light from ≥250m altitude – a common condition especially in Moon polar regions rich in volatiles such as hydrogen, oxygen, water termed Permanently Shadowed Regions, cold traps on crater floors that are seldom / never illuminated; Hardware such as optical, radar and lidar sensors coupled with machine learning software are likely approaches to challenge; Submissions accepted until 19 May 17:00 PDT

Credits: NASA, Masten, Astrobotic

Tuesday / 15 February 2022

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Object on Course for Farside Lunar Impact Now Thought to be CNSA Chang’e 5-T1 Rocket Stage

Following consultation with Jon Giorgini of JPL, astrometry expert Bill Gray reevaluates premise used to determine identity of item on Moon impact trajectory (WE0913A – first observed by Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson AZ), ruling out Falcon 9 stage (2015-007B) and instead positing object is spent stage used to propel Chang’e 5-T1 lunar orbiter / return capsule (2014-065B); Gray advocates astrometry software, Guide, be utilized in “official, funded manner” on “international basis” to track deep space debris in light of increasing missions to cislunar space including human Moon landings

Credits: NAOC, CNSA, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 11-14 Feb 2022

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Wayward Falcon 9 Likely 1st USA Object to Impact Moon Since LADEE as Starship Prepping to Fly NET March  /// Corrected 14 Feb

Upper stage that inserted NOAA DSCOVR to Sun-Earth L1 in 2015 likely striking near Sea of Tranquility (5.18°N, 233.55°E) on Moon far side 4 March at 12:25:58 UTC, marking 1st USA impactor since 2014; Space archeologists and Moon heritage conservationists eager to study latest artificial object on Moon while cautious of debris considerations; Elon Musk says Starship prototype (Booster 4 / Ship 20) may be ready to orbit NET March pending FAA clearance from Starbase TX; CAPSTONE slated for 19 March, Artemis 1 / SLS NET April followed by Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, Luna-25, Chandrayaan-3, KPLO, ispace; SLIM and IM-2 also possible in 2022

Credits: SpaceX, NASA

Friday / 11 February 2022

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New Analysis of LCROSS Impact Plume Suggests Cometary Source of MSP Volatiles

Revised assessment of data collected by LCROSS and LAMP instrument aboard LRO during 2009 Centaur rocket impact focuses on elemental prevalence of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur compared to carbon; Study authors from Southwest Research Institute, Johns Hopkins APL, Aix-Marseille University, UT San Antonio conclude comet origin best fits composition profile, that 1-3 m of regolith within Cabeus crater (84.9°S, 35.5°W) may predate latest volcanism (~1 Gya) and “returning humans to the Moon presents an unprecedented opportunity to determine the origin of volatiles stored in PSRs”

 

Credits: NASA