Category Archives: Astronomy from the Moon

New Year Edition
Friday-Monday
20 Dec 2024 – 6 Jan 2025

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Commercial Companies Preparing Lunar Landers for Launches Within 1-9 Months

 ispace, inc. (Tokyo: 9348) announced 10 Mission 2 milestones planned January to June 2025 for Resilience lander with commercial payloads and NASA project (to collect / image regolith) at Mare Frigoris ~60.5° N; aboard the same Falcon 9 will be Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 1, expecting touchdown ~March at Mare Crisium, 17° N, with 10 payloads from NASA, enterprise, academia; in February, Intuitive Machines (Nasdaq: LUNR) plans IM-2 launch via Falcon 9, arriving ~7 days later to Mons Mouton to prospect for water ice; Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 1 lander set to launch NET March on Blue Origin New Glenn rocket, carrying 3,000 kg of payloads; Astrobotic Griffin Mission One, flying NET Fall 2025 to Nobile Region, ~85° S, will carry MoonBox™ payloads for individuals

Credits: (clockwise from upper left) ispace, SpaceX, Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, NASA photo of Blue Origin lander, Firefly Aerospace

Friday / 13 December 2024

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ILOA-CSA Galaxy Forum China 2024 in Wenchang Impacts Global, Inter-Global Cooperation for Moon / Solar System

Experts from 13 countries at Galaxy Forum exchange visionary ideas on astronomy from the Moon, international human Moon landings, first women on the Moon, NewSpace commercial, lunar property rights, and planned international lunar base projects / payloads; Lunar talks included Wang Wei (CNSA, DSEL), Xuelei Chen (NAOC), Bernard Foing (ILEWG), Margarita Safonova (M. P. Birla, India), Jatan Mehta (Moon Monday), Boonrucksar Soonthornthum (NARIT), Mei Yang (CAST), Steve Durst (ILOA Hawai’i), many others; Galaxy Forum 2024 in Wenchang, near to Wenchang Space Launch Center and Wenchang Aerospace City, hopes to influence and advance robust, international, peaceful, scientific exploration of the Moon and complete Solar System in the 21st Century, with Aloha   

Credits: International Lunar Observatory Association, Chinese Society of Astronautics  

Friday / 22 November 2024

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Thailand GISTDA / NARIT Promote Moon Missions

Thailand Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), organizes Space Week, participates in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), counts 35,000 Thai businesses linked to space, signed Artemis Accords via director Pakorn Petchprayoon, signed MoU with muSpace / ispace for lunar collaboration; National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) does astronomy / related sciences, educates, signed with Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) / International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) via Executive Director Saran Poshyachinda for South Pole Moon base and precursors, will have 3 kg space weather monitor on Chang’E-7 orbiter NET 2026; Thai instrument or robot planned for Chang’E-8 lander NET 2028

Credits: GISTDA, NARIT, NASA

Friday / 15 November 2024

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Firefly Aerospace Aims for Moon Far Side

Firefly Aerospace, Texas, latest fundraising of US$175M, much from RPM Ventures, raises valuation to US$2B; majority owner is AE Industrial Partners; will launch via SpaceX Falcon 9 for first of 2 commercial Moon landings under NASA CLPS awards, delivering 10 instruments / experiments including LuSEE-Night, also Australian seismic SPIDER; after transport on 2,700 kg-payload-capacity Firefly Elytra Dark Transfer Vehicle in lunar orbit, lander Blue Ghost carries 150 kg to lunar surface, provides data / power / thermal resources for operations from Moon far side for 10+ days

Credits: Firefly Aerospace, Fleet Space, SpaceX, Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 1-4 March 2024

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Astronomy from the Moon and Earth Advancing with Near and Far Term Proposals / Missions

Numerous astronomy payloads are manifested on upcoming Moon landings including L-CAM (AstronetX) on ispace Mission 3 NET 2025 and LuSEE-Night (DOE) NET 2026 on Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 2 while more ambitious proposals compiled by Business Insider include the triangular Laser Interferometer Lunar Antenna (Vanderbilt University) for gravitational wave detection; Pantheon Habitat Made from Regolith, With A Focusing Solar Reflector (University of Arizona), a US$10B, 18 optical / IR telescope array with integrated living and farming space; 100,000-antenna FarView (Lunar Resources); Next generation terrestrial observatory to be supported by $1.6B NSF funding: either 25.4-m Giant Magellan Telescope on Cerro Las Campanas, Chile or Thirty Meter Telescope on Maunakea, Hawai’i

Credits: TIO, Firefly

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 Feb 2024

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IM-1 Commercial Moon Lander Odysseus Functioning and Receiving Power Despite Tip Over

The first USA craft to reach the lunar surface in 51+ years in communication with 100% battery charge ~2-3 km from intended landing site (80.2°S, 1.0°E), however orientation is off-nominal, with the 6-legged, phone box-sized lander thought to be resting on its side with ‘Panel E’ (with passive Moon Phases art installation mounted) facing down; Descent data from NASA payloads RFMG, NDL, LN-1 and SCALPSS awaiting transmission, as is imagery from independent astronomy payload ILO-X; EagleCam still planned to be deployed to record Odysseus; Precise position and location of Odysseus to be determined via LRO

 

Credits: Intuitive Machines

Friday / 23 Feb 2024

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Intuitive Machines Is First Commercial Operator Conducting Lunar Surface Communication and Exploration

Human enterprise is active on the Moon for the first time, with the Nova-C class lander Odysseus now in communication with ground controllers at IM Mission Control in Houston TX via Goonhilly Station in UK following 5:24 CST (23:24 UTC) soft landing touchdown near Malapert A crater; NASA Director hails CLPS ‘cosmic bridge’ of public-private cooperation that led to commercial Moon mission carrying 6 NASA and 6 independent payloads including Astronomy from the Moon precursor ILO-X, which will conduct the first imaging of the luminous Milky Way band in visible spectra; Intuitive Machines founder Kam Ghaffarian looking forward to achieving ‘daily trips to the Moon’ while envisioning interstellar travel as ‘ultimate destiny for humanity’

 

Credits: International Lunar Observatory Association, Intuitive Machines

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 5-8 Jan 2024

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Thailand Pursuing Astronomy from the Moon, Astropark Astronomy Outreach, and International Partnerships

National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) and Mahidol University preparing to conduct cislunar cosmic ray measurement with Sino-Thai Sensor Package for Space Weather Global Monitoring payload on China National Space Administration (CNSA) Chang’E-7 launching to MSP NET 2026; 2.4-m Thai National Telescope, 40-m Thai National Radio Telescope advancing astrophysics; Princess Sirindhorn AstroPark raising public astronomy awareness through initiatives such as Night at Museum; NARIT is an independent signatory to International Lunar Research Station through Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL), as is International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA Hawai’i), Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) and Adriatic Aerospace Association (A3)

Credits: NARIT; Pictured: NARIT Executive Director Saran Poshyachinda (R) and DSEL Chairman of the Management Committee Guan Feng (L)
 

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 3-6 Nov 2023

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Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines Prepare for Tandem Approach to Lunar Surface

Task Orders 2-AB and 2-IM, the first of the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services, set to be fulfilled soon: 1.9-m tall, 2.5-m diameter Astrobotic Peregrine awaiting integration with ULA rocket at Astrotech Space facility in Titusville FL with launch planned for 24 Dec from SLC-41, CCSFS carrying 21 payloads (6 NASA, 15 independent); 4.3-m tall, 1.5-m diameter Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander now targeting late Nov shipping to KSC and 12 Jan 2024 launch from LC-39A carrying 11 payloads (5 NASA, 6 independent); With Peregrine taking ~1-month transfer vs Nova-C ~1-week, the 2 USA landers may reach Moon surface mere days apart

Credits: Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 13-16 Oct 2023

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Astronomy from the Moon is Increasing Focus of International Moon Missions

Unique vantage of lunar surface is attracting multitude of astronomy initiatives: ILO-X Galaxy imaging precursor instrument suite launching on Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander NET Nov 15; AstronetX Lunar-based Camera (L-CAM), led by Tabetha Boyajian of LSU, may launch on ispace Mission 2 NET 2024; Dipole antenna LuSEE-Lite heading to Schrödinger Basin aboard Draper / ispace APEX 1.0 lander NET 2025, while 4-monopole antenna LuSEE-Night expected to launch to Moon far side in late 2025 / early 2026 on Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lander; CNSA Chang’e-8 to conduct soft-x-ray (<3 KeV) observation NET 2028

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