Category Archives: Lunar Communications

Tuesday / 15 October 2013

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LADEE Settling Into Lunar Orbit,
Preparing Communications Demonstration

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Lunar Atmosphere & Dust Environment Explorer Now In 250-Km Near-Circular Equatorial Orbit; Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration To Begin 17 Oct, LADEE To Link Up With Ground Stations In New Mexico, California & Canary Islands, Achieve Downlink Speed 622Mbps / Uplink Speed 20Mbps, Technology Could Revolutionize Deep Space Communication; Around 11 Nov Probe Will Drop To ~50Km Altitude For 100-Day Science Mission

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 2 October 2013

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LADEE In Final Phase Of Moon Trek

LADEElunarInsertion1013

US$280M Probe Completes 2nd Burn Perfectly, No Longer Needs Additional Burn To Reach Desired High Elliptical Orbit; When LADEE Reaches Moon Gravitational Field On 6 Oct It Will Make 197-Second Retrograde Burn Reducing Velocity To 267 Meters Per Second For Lunar Orbit Capture; Craft Will Then Perform 40 Days Of High-Altitude Science Checkouts & LLCD Operations Before Dropping To 50-Km Altitude To Begin 100-Day Science Operations

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 6-9 Sep 2013

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Launch Of Last Scheduled NASA Moon Mission As Lunar Experts Flock To NewSpace Companies

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LADEE Launch — 6 Sep, 23:27 EDT, Wallops Island VA, Via Minotaur 5 Rocket — Promises To Provide Spectacular Show To East Coast USA Viewers; US$248M-Mission Will Test New System For Ultra-Fast Optical Data Transmission — 600 Mbit/s, Unravel Mysteries Of Lunar Atmosphere / Dust Environment, Premiere Common Spacecraft Bus; Next Flight Of The Bus Likely On Moon Express (ME) GLXP Mission NET 2015; ME Announces Paul Spudis New Chief Scientist, Jack Burns Added To Science Advisory Board

Image Credit: NASA, Moon Express

Wednesday / 14 August 2013

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Pacific Space Access, Hawaii Moon Initiatives Featured At Galaxy Forum Event

Galaxy Forum Hawaii 2013 On Sat 17 Aug At University Hawaii Hilo, To Advance 21st Century Galaxy Education & Hawaii-Based Space / Moon Initiatives; Steve Durst (R) Of ILOA Will Update The Pacific Aloha Offshore Spaceport Initiative; ILOA Will Outline 4 Active Moon Missions & Global HQ Development Campaign; UHH Professor John Hamilton (L) Will Speak On PISCES Activities & Kim Binsted Of UH-NASA Will Report On The Mauna Loa HI-SEAS Mars Experiment; Distribution Of New ILOA Galaxy Map 2013 To All Participants

Image Credit: ILOA, PISCES, UHH, Sea Launch

Tuesday / 13 August 2013

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Children / Families Invited To Learn About Lunar Communication

GoddardKids

Elementary School-Aged Children To Attend Free Afternoon At NASA Goddard SFC On 18 Aug To Learn How Space Agency Sends / Receives Data & How Deep Space Communication Is Advancing Through LLCD Experiment Launching Aboard LADEE On 6 Sep; Hands-on Activities Will Demonstrate Complications Of Accurate Laser Pointing Over Great Distances (Moon 384,400Km From Earth), Teach How To Tune-In To Correct Frequency Of Electromagnetic Spectrum

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 7 August 2013

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LADEE Missions To Demonstrate Revolutionary New Communication System

LLCD0813

Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) System Ready For Launch On LADEE Mission After Series Of Successful Ground Tests; ESA Observatory In Spain & 2 US Ground Terminals Will Relay Data To The Moon Orbiter At Unprecedented Rates (622 Mbps); Laser Wavelengths 10,000 Times Shorter Than Radio, Allowing For Reduction In Antenna Size – Lowering Mass, Volume, Power Requirements Of Future Space Missions; LADEE Launching 6 Sep 2013

Image Credit: NASA

Thursday / 18 July 2013

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ILO Mission Demonstrates Rising Importance Of Moon South Pole Destination

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South Pole Destination Of NET 2016 ILO-Moon Express Lunar Mission Selected To Ensure Long-Duration Nature Of Mission – Thermal Environment (~-50°C) / Solar Power Access On Malapert Mountain / PEL, Continuous Line Of Sight To Earth For Commercial Communications, Ability To Image Milky Way Galaxy Center; ILO Also To Observe & Report Human Lunar Buildout, Private & Public Parties Pointing To South Pole / Aitken Basin – With Prevalent Water Ice / Mineral Deposits – As Ideal Location For Development 

Image Credit: ILOA, Moon Express, NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 15-18 Mar 2013

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Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration Ready For Launch

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Rigorous Testing & Integration Of LLCD System On LADEE Spacecraft Complete; Technology Demonstration Will See Data Sent From Lunar Orbit To Earth At Up To 622 Mbps – 6 Times The Rate Of Advanced Radio Communication Systems; Hundreds Of Millions Of Short Infrared Pulses Sent Precisely Every Second To Any One Of 3 Ground Telescopes In New Mexico, California & Spain; LADEE To Launch In Aug 2013

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 18-21 Jan 2013

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Mona Lisa Used For LRO Laser Communication Test

MonaLisaLRO

Leonardo da Vinci Masterpiece Used For First-Ever One-Way Laser Communication At Planetary Distance; Black & White 152 X 200 Pixel Image, Beamed From NASA Goddard SFC To LRO LOLA Instrument 386,000km Away At Slow Rate Of 300 Bits / Second; Experiment Allowed For Calibration Of Atmospheric Distortion In Preparation For LLCD Experiment On LADEE; Laser Communication Holds Promise Of Bringing Live, HD Video Feeds From Jupiter & Beyond

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 21-24 Dec 2012

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ILOA Preparing For Historic Year In 2013

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In 2013 International Lunar Observatory Association Will Participate In The First Moon Surface Mission In 37 Years, Conducting Galaxy / Astro Observations With Chang’e-3 Lander UV Telescope; NET Early 2015 ILO-X Precursor Mission Payload Will Land On Moon Aboard GLXP Front-Runner Moon Express Craft; Primary ILO-1 Observations / Communications Mission With MDA, ME To South Pole NET Late 2015; ILO Human Service Mission By 2020 Advancing Through Partnership With Golden Spike Co.

Image Credit: ILOA, Moon Express, CASC, Golden Spike Company

Lunar Enterprise Daily Will Return NLT 3 January 2013

Aloha