Category Archives: Heritage Sites

Tuesday / 26 March 2024

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Chandrayaan-3 Landing Site Now Officially Designated Statio Shiv Shakti by International Astronomical Union

IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature on 19 March declares area around Vikram lander between Manzinus C and Simpelius N craters (-69.37°, 32.32°) Statio Shiv Shakti (Shiva Shakti Station) after Hindu deities which symbolize masculine and feminine energies in recognition of 4th national soft-landing on Moon; Chandrayaan-1 probe impact site ‘Jawahar Point’ and Chandrayaan-2 crash site ‘Tiranga’ have also been submitted to IAU; Shiva and Shakti are also invoked by Max Planck Institute astronomers for metal-poor 12-13 billion year old stellar streams thought to be proto-galactic fragments observed by Gaia Space Observatory and Sloan Digital Sky Survey; Rubin crater between Amundsen and Demonax B crater (-82.82°, 77.65°) was also named on 19 March after the American astronomer Vera Rubin

Credits: Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, USGS, IAU

Tuesday / 26 Sep 2023

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NASA Team Suggests Framework for Consideration of Space Exploration Ethics in Artemis Era

Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy (OTPS) report Artemis, Ethics and Society: Synthesis from a Workshop complies perspectives from 55 participants who gathered at NASA HQ to develop framework for moral evaluation of space exploration within the context of Artemis program and Artemis Accords, which proclaims ‘benefit for all humankind’, echoing Outer Space Treaty, National Aeronautics and Space Act, Moon Agreement; ~140 ethical / social issues deliberated under categories including definitions, decision-making, cultural values, sharing, environment, policy, and colonialism; OTPS to utilize proceedings to conduct internal study on key policy implications and open conversation to international partners

Pictured: Zachary Pirtle, Katherine McBrayer, Alyse Beauchemin of OTPS; Credits: NASA

Tuesday / 13 June 2023

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NASA Scientists Contend Hospitable Conditions for Life at MSP Ought to be Consideration of Human Moon Landings

Prabal Saxena, Heather Graham, Natalie Curran, Betsy Pugel, Andrew Needham, and Noah Petro of GSFC and Aaron Regberg of JSC (L-R) show areas around Moon South Pole being analyzed for Artemis III and other future human missions are relatively conducive to certain microorganisms (B. subtilis, D. radiodurans) due to surface topography (75% protection from solar UV radiation south of 83.5°S) and temperature (maximum < 323 K) in paper presented at 25 May Artemis III Candidate Landing Regions Workshop; Study co-author Heather Graham tells Leonard David of Space.com that humans most “likely vector” for life on Moon

Credits: NASA, LinkedIn, LSSW, GSFC, JSC

Tuesday / 28 March 2023

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Institute on Space Law & Ethics to Consider Moral Theory for Off-Earth International Conflict Resolution

Space heritage preservation organization For All Moonkind (FAM) to engage legal and philosophical issues around human activity, resource utilization and hostilities with newly launched institute; President (L-R) Michelle Hanlon of UMiss Air and Space Law cites recent use of commercial Earth observation in the Russia-Ukraine War as highlighting need for ethical investigation and understanding; SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell has spoken on non-weaponization of Starlink; FAM Institute on Space Law & Ethics cofounders include Dan Hawk of United First Nations Planetary Defense, Space Analyst Namrata Goswami, SETI scientist John Rummel

Credits: For All Moonkind Institute on Space Law and Ethics, LinkedIn, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28-31 Oct 2022

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NASA Economic Impact Study Shows US$71.2B Effect on Output, NASA OTPS Issues Lunar Exploration Policy Recommendations

While NASA itself employs some 19,000+ civil servants, its operations support an estimated 339,600 jobs nationally, per Economic Impact Report generated by IMPLAN modeling software, compiled by researchers at Voorhees Center in Chicago; Study estimates 1,000,000+ people in 90 nations employed in $469B global space industry; Lunar Landing and Operations Policy Analysis issued by Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy identifies 7 lunar challenges / mitigation approaches: Landings, Surface Operations, Surface Movement, Radio-Frequency Interference, Areas with Special Characteristics, Unexpected Activities and Human Heritage Protection

 

Pictured: (TL-TR) Amanda Hernandez, Gabriel Swiney (NASA OTPS), (BL-BR) Yittayih Zelalem, Joshua Drucker, Zafer Sonmez (Voorhees Center); Credits: NASA, NSS, LinkedIn

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

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 30 Apr – 3 May 2021

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Ad Astra Michael Collins, 10 Apollo Moonwalkers / Orbiters Remain As Multi-World Generational Bridge For Artemis Continuity

Apollo 11 & Gemini 10 Astronaut, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum Director, Author Michael Collins Has Passed At Age 90; Eulogized By President Joseph Biden As “Equal Partner” In First Human Moon Landing, Exemplifying “Importance Of Collaboration”; A Prolific Thinker, Collins Wrote In 1974 Autobiography Carrying the Fire, “Future Flight Should Include A Poet, A Priest And A Philosopher”; Buzz Aldrin, David Scott, Charles Duke And Harrison Schmitt Are Last Crewmembers To Land On Moon, With Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, Bill Anders, Tom Stafford, Fred Haise And Ken Mattingly Reaching Lunar Orbit

Credits: NASA

Friday / 12 Mar 2021

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For All Moonkind Launches Detailed Moon Registry Of Important Lunar Areas, Items

Incoming National Space Society President And For All Moonkind Founder Michelle Hanlon Says Curated Gallery Of 50+ Years Of Moon Landing Sites, Spacecraft, Experiments, Flags And Related Mementos Will Aid “International Recognition And Protection” Of Sites With “Universal Historic Value”; Visual Database Content Will Be Open / Crowd Sourced With Accuracy To Be Verified By Blockchain Technology Provided By TODAQ Of Toronto; “A Worthy Cause” Says 12th Moonworker Harrison Schmitt, While Charlie Duke, 10th Person To Walk On Moon, Says “I Can’t Wait For Someone To Go Back And Find The Picture Of My Family That I Left Behind”

Credits: NASA, For All Moonkind, NSS

Friday / 28 Aug 2020

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Lunar Ice Deposits May Be In Jeopardy Of Contamination From Lander Exhaust

Ancient Lunar Ice, Possibly Trapped In Permanently Shadowed Craters For Billions Of Years, May Offer Insight Into Origin Of Water In Solar System; Johns Hopkins / UT-Austin Study Warns Computer Simulations Show Exhaust From 1,200-kg Lunar Lander, Approximately The Size Of CLPS Vessels Peregrine (Astrobotic) And Nova-C (Intuitive Machines) Set To Launch In Second Half Of 2021, Would Cause 30-40% Of Lander Vapor To Remain 2 Months Later, Creating Anthropogenic Atmosphere, With 20% Eventually Solidifying Around Poles

Pictured: Study Authors (T-B) Parvathy Prem, Dana Hurley, Philip Varghese
Credits: JHU, UT-Austin, NASA, Masten, IM, Astrobotic

Tuesday / 30 June 2020

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SpaceMonth July 2020: Moon, Mars, Galaxy Stars Provide Stronger, Transcending Reality Over Covid Alien Virus

July Is De Facto Space Month, Starting With Canada, USA Founding Celebration On 1st And 4th; 14 July Starts Month-long Mars Launch Window For UAE-Japan HOPE, USA Endeavor, PRC Tianwen-1; 51st Observation Of Apollo 11 Moon Launch, Landing And Return 16, 20, 24 July Respectively; Space Exploration Day 20 July Marks Humankind Beginning As Multi World Species With 1st Human Landing On Another World, 1969 Luna, 1st USA Robotic Landing On Another Planet, 1976 Mars; Advances In Biomedical Sciences Inexorably Linked To Space Travel Technology

Credits: UAESA, CNSA, NASA, KSC