Category Archives: Cislunar Space Development

Wednesday / 29 June 2016

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Russia Industry To Prepare Lunar Orbital Station Proposal For ISS Partners

LED-6-28-16

RSC Energia Working On Configurations, Elements, Interfaces Of International Habitable Periodically-Tended Circumlunar Platform; Proposals To Be Submitted To Heads Of ISS Partner Agencies 1st Half Of 2017, Working Group Signed Into Existence Late 2014; Scenarios In Line With National Interests Of Partners Including Human Exploration Of Lunar Surface, Mars, Asteroids; Sergei Krikalyov, Director For Human Spaceflight At Roscosmos, Notes Logic In Establishing Permanent Human Moonbase Using Circumlunar Station For Temporary Visits & Transfers

Credit: NASA, RSC Energia

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 24-27 June 2016

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Lunar CubeSats Queuing Up For Unique Boost Toward Moon

LED-6-24-16

13 CubeSats Hitching Ride To Translunar Space Aboard SLS EM-1 Test Flight 2018; Each No More Than 6 Units, 14 Kg; 10 Payloads Already Confirmed; 7 Selected By NASA Through NextSTEP (SkyFire, Lunar IceCube), Human Exploration & Ops Mission Directorate (NEA Scout, BioSentinel, Lunar Flashlight) And Science Mission Directorate (CuSP, LunaH-Map); 3 International; 3 TBD Pending Outcome Of CubeQuest Challenge; SLS Will Release Primary Payload Orion On Lunar Trajectory, Then 13 CubeSats To Deploy From Stage Adapter

Credit: NASA, Morehead State University

Friday / 24 June 2016

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China Chang’e-5 Propulsion System Completing Tests, Hainan Spaceport Maiden Launch 26 June

China Human Moon, CE5

CE-5 Sample Return Mission On Track For 2017 Launch With Lander, Rover, Orbiter Completing Final Propulsion System R&D, General Assembly & General Testing At CASC; China In Prime Position To Help Lead Effort To Put Humans On Moon With Inaugural Hainan Spaceport / Moonport Launch Of Long March 7 On 26 June, Development Of Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Tiangong-2 Space Lab Launch NET Sep, Long March 5 Launch Sep-Oct, Tiangzhou-1 Crewed Launch Apr 2017, CE-4 In 2018, CE-6 In 2020

Credit: CASC, CNSA, China.org.cn, Xinhua, CCTV News

Thursday / 23 June 2016

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Multiple Human Moon Missions Evolving As Major National / International Goals

LED-6-22-16

Astronaut Tim Peake Has New Focus On Lunar Missions As ESA Plans To Establish A Cislunar ‘Deep Space Habitat’ For Lunar Surface & Solar System Exploration; Dave Parker Of ESA Human Spaceflight Cites Upcoming Discussions At Ministerial Conference In Lucerne, Switzerland In December; China Manned Space Program Deputy Chief Zhang Yulin Recently Proclaimed The Goal Of ‘Crewed Lunar Exploration’, With Analysts Predicting This Could Be Achieved As Soon As 2020s; Russia Plans To Permanently Station 12 Cosmonauts On Lunar Surface, Starting With 2-4 People By 2030

Credit: ESA, Roscosmos, CNSA

Thursday / 16 June 2016

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GLXP Teams Flying Under The Radar Continue To Make Headway

GLXP 6,2016

With 16 Teams From 13 Countries Remaining – Malaysia Team Independence-X Working On SQUALL Lander & BLIZZARD Rover Featuring Continuous Track Propulsion & Able To Fit Into 1.5U CubeSat; Croatia, Australia Team STELLAR Developing 4-Wheeled Rover With Support From 6 Companies & 14 Team Members, Produces Video Of Lunar Vision; Italy Team Italia With Expert Help From Thales Alenia Space & Polytechnic University Of Turin Furthering AMALIA Lander & ~10-kg Rover; Canada Team Plan B Supported By More Than 39 Volunteers Is Advancing 4-kg 2-Wheel Rover & Landing System

Credit: GLXP, Team Independence-X, Team STELLAR, Team Italia, Team Plan B

Wednesday / 15 June 2016

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China Moon South Pole CE4 Details Emerging For 2018 Mission

LED-6-14-2016

Liu Tongjie, Deputy Director Of CNSA Lunar Exploration & Space Program Centre Highlights Launch Of Critical CE4 Communications Relay Satellite To Halo Orbit Of Earth-Moon L2 In Late-May Or Early-June 2018; Followed ~6 Months Later By Launch Of Lander To South Pole Aitken Basin Fitted With Descent, Terrain Cameras; Main Payload Is Low-Frequency Radio Spectrometer; 3 International Payloads From Netherlands, Sweden, Germany; Rover With Panoramic Camera, Ground-Penetrating Radar, Infrared Spectrometer

Credit: CNSA, NAOC-CAS, CNS, JAXA (Topographical map of Moon farside based on Kaguya data, Aitken basin approximately 2,500km in diameter and 13km deep circled, red represents high elevation, purple represents low elevation)

Friday / 10 June 2016

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Exploring The Galaxy From The Moon, Study Validates ‘Lunar Occultation Technique’

Lunar Occultation Tech

Richard Miller (L) From University Of Alabama – Huntsville & David Lawrence Of JHU/APL Using Data From Lunar Prospector Gamma Ray Spectrometer To Find Pattern Of Occultations Generated By Moon For Detecting & Characterizing Objects In Universe Whose Properties Change Over Time; Lunar Orbiter & Surface Missions Will Take Advantage Of Moon Unique Characteristics Including No Atmosphere, No Magnetosphere, Low Electromagnetic Interference From Earth, Well-Understood Radiation Background, Stable Platform, And Offer Cost Effective Way To Study Galaxy Without Diminishing Quality

Credit: Richard Miller, David Lawrence, UAH, JHU/APL, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 3-6 June 2016

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SSR / PTMSS In Golden CO To Advance In Situ Resource Utilization

LED-6-3-16

Space Resources Roundtable (SRR), Planetary & Terrestrial Mining Science Symposium (PTMSS) In Collaboration With Colorado School Of Mines (CSM) And Lunar & Planetary Institute (LPI) Will Convene The 7th Joint Meeting On June 7-9 In Golden, Colorado; There Is Renewed Interest Worldwide In ISRU Activities And The Program Will Cover Related Issues With Regards To Moon, Mars And Asteroids Over 9 Technical Sessions; SRR Is Led By Angel Abbud-Madrid (T) Of CSM And The Program Speakers Includes John Hamilton (B) Of PISCES (Hawaii), Byung Chul Chang Of ISERI, Hanyang University (South Korea), Numerous NASA Representatives, And Others

Credit: SRR / PTMSS, CSM, PISCES

Friday / 3 June 2016

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Astrobotic Signs More Partners For Lunar Lander Development, Payload Delivery Services

Astrobotic Lunar Delivery

Astrobotic CEO John Thornton Unveils New ~1.5-meter Tall Peregrine Lander, New Partners DHL & Airbus Defence And Space, Adding To Existing Support From Aerojet Rocketdyne & NASA CATALYST Program; Astrobotic Stacking Up Contracts & Agreements For Lunar Delivery (US$1.2M/kg To Surface) Including GLXP Teams AngelicvM & Hakuto (With 2 Rovers), Payloads From Mexican Space Agency, DLR, Astroscale, Lunar Mission One, Elysium Space, Carnegie Mellon University & Celestis, Stating “Launch Procured From SpaceX” Q4 2017 To Lacus Mortis Without Verified Launch Contract As Of Yet

Credit: Astrobotic, AngelicM, Hakuto, AEM, Elysium, CMU, LM1, DLR, Celestis, Astroscale, GLXP

Thursday / 2 June 2016

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3 International Lunar CubeSats To Join Orion/SLS On Cislunar Journey

LED-6-1-16

Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) First Test Flight Of New Space Launch System With Uncrewed Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle On 21-Day Circumlunar Trajectory NLT Nov 2018; Will Also Carry And Deploy 10 Other CubeSat Missions; Latest Announcement Introduces JAXA EQUULEUS (EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U Spacecraft) And OMOTENASHI (Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor), As Well As ASI / Agrotec ArgoMoon

Credit: NASA, JAXA, AIS / Argotec