Category Archives: Lunar Landers

Tuesday / 16 May 2023

Posted on by

Closer NASA / SpaceX Collaboration May Mitigate Environmental Controversy Around Starship Testing

Ongoing litigation pursued by Surfrider Foundation, American Bird Conservancy & others over amended 2015 environmental impact assessment under which FAA allows SpaceX to operate 20-acre Starbase facility near Boca Chica TX (25.6° N, 97.1° W) raising concerns over possible impact to NET Dec 2025 Artemis 3 human Moon landings; Environmental policy expert Eric Roesch argues Starbase is fundamentally incompatible with launch testing due to nature reserve proximity, urges NASA involvement; Kathy Lueders to join SpaceX, overseeing Starship safety

Credits: NASA, SpaceX

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 12-15 May 2023

Posted on by

5 Efforts to Achieve Summer Moon Landings Underway

Chandrayaan-3 may lead ≤ 5 Moon landings during summer, with July launch via LVM 3 on track per anonymous ISRO source cited by Hindustan Times, contrary to Minister Singh statement; Roscosmos Luna-25 targeting 13 July launch to 69.55°S, 43.54°E landing site, just ~118 km away from nominal Chandrayaan-3 site at 69.37°S, 32.35°E; Intuitive Machines Nova-C now set for launchpad arrival “mid-to-late Q3” per CEO Steve Altemus; Astrobotic Peregrine launch prospects hinge on ULA Vulcan Centaur flight readiness, firing test planned for next week; JAXA SLIM is also awaiting investigation of H3 rocket failure with NET August launch

Credits: KARI, ISRO, Roscosmos, IM, Astrobotic, JAXA

Friday / 12 May 2023

Posted on by

Space Professionals Express Optimism for Moon Exploration, Growing Public Support Reflected in Poll

Artemis 2 Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen links earthbound challenges (food security, healthcare, climate) to human exploration of the Moon, enabling “eight billion people to row in the same direction and work on these problems”; National Air and Space Museum curator Jennifer Levasseur tells Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she sees “palpable” increase in engagement of young people with space installations; Economist / YouGov survey confirms these sentiments, with 64% of USA adults supporting human Moon landings, with 23% favoring national leadership, 11% preferring commercial entities taking charge while 48% want a dual approach

Credits: NASA, SpaceX

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 5-8 May 2023

Posted on by

Independent and National Moon Landing Missions Lining Up to Join China in Operating on the Lunar Surface

Astrobotic Peregrine may be next lunar lander to launch from Earth in June / July timeframe per ULA CEO Tory Bruno; Intuitive Machines Nova-C targeting similar date range; Roscosmos Luna-25 launching NET 13 July; JAXA SLIM launching NET August for novel precision rolling landing technique employing 3D-printed crushable legs; Intuitive Machines to launch second Nova-C before end of 2023; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 apparently delayed to NET 2024; CNSA Chang’e 6 launching NET May 2024; Astrobotic Peregrine to deliver NASA VIPER NET Nov 2024; Firefly to launch Blue Ghost NET 2024; IM to launch 3rd Nova-C NET 2024

Credits: Astrobotic, IM, Roscosmos, JAXA, CNSA, ISRO, Firefly, Twitter / @torybruno, NASA
 

Tuesday / 2 May 2023

Posted on by

Streak of Moon Lander Crashes Prompts Questioning

As ispace works to determine root cause of fueling-related M1 crash, observers are left to ponder why landing on Moon has eluded all efforts in 21st Century, save for CNSA CLEP sequence Chang’E 3-5; SpaceIL Beresheet (2019) IMU failure led to ill-timed reset command, cutting main engine; ISRO Chandrayaan-2 (2019) suffered software error with similar result; JAXA OMOTENASHI (2022) semi-hard impactor lost comms with Goldstone Deep Space Station; Generally, low gravity / atmosphere and dust are challenging factors; Budget for testing / fuel margin may also contribute to lunar landing difficulty

Credits: ispace, SpaceIL / IAI, ISRO, JAXA
 

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28 Apr – 1 May 2023

Posted on by

5 Space Agency / Independent Moon Landing Missions to Launch in Coming Months

Astrobotic Peregrine awaiting ULA launch readiness NET June following Centaur V anomaly; NPO Lavochkin preparing to transport Roscosmos Luna-25 to Vostochny Cosmodrome in first 10 days of June ahead of NET 13 July launch; Intuitive Machines aiming for summer launch of Nova-C; JAXA SLIM launching NET August pending investigation of probable short circuit / engine leak cause of H3 failure; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 pushed to 2024 per comments given by Union Minister Jitendra Singh; Lunar aspirants may consider consultation / collaboration with only successful 21st Century Moon surface operators at CNSA

Credits: Astrobotic, Roscosmos, IM, JAXA, ISRO, CNSA

Friday / 28 April 2023

Posted on by

China Aiming for Boots on Moon this Decade as ispace of Japan Reviews M1 Telemetry Data

CLEP Chief Designer Wu Weiren emphatically states there is ‘no question’ that Taikonauts will have landed on Moon by 2030 as lunar build-out plans including ‘Red Star’ crater and ‘Clover’ lunar surface 4-module base designs intended to shelter 3-4 Moon explorers and ‘Chinese Super Mason’ autonomous 3D brick-printing robot; CE-6 launching NET 2025, CE-7 NET 2026, Super Mason slated for in-situ demo during CE-8 NET 2028; Meanwhile ispace working to determine cause of Hakuto-R landing failure after accomplishing 8 of 10 milestone goals, planning M2 NET 2024, M3 with Draper under $73M CLPS award NET 2025

Credits: CNSA, Royal Aeronautical Society, NASA

Tuesday / 25 April 2023

Posted on by

Hakuto-R Mission 1 to Be First Independent Moon Landing if Successful, with CLPS Companies Not Far Behind

ispace targeting Hakuto-R M1 landing NET 25 April 16:40 UTC 12:40 EST, 06:40 HST (26 April 01:40 JST, 00:40 CST), with landing sequence initiation & live stream starting 1 hour prior; Astrobotic Peregrine delayed from 4 May NET June / July, following Centaur V test-stand explosion; Intuitive Machines working towards similar timeframe for Nova-C launch, including the pioneering ILOA Astronomy from the Moon payload ILO-X, being spoken on by Director Steve Durst at 2023 International Conference of Deep Space Sciences in Hefei, China 25 April 10:40 CST

Credits: ispace, Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, ILOA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 21-24 April 2023

Posted on by

China Celebrates Space Day as Nation Works Towards Human Moon Landings Before 2030

400+ China Space Day events will be held throughout China, commemorating the launch of Dongfanghong-1 on 24 April 1970 and sharing the excitement of space exploration, especially the prospect of human Moon missions before the end of the decade lifted by Long March 10 (previously known as ‘921’ and ‘LM-5DY’) 3-core stage rocket, expected to make inaugural launch NET 2027 and / or a redesigned single-core stage, reusable Long March 9 launching NET 2030; A new-generation crew capsule and staged descent lander are planned to complete the ambitious plan

Pictured: CNSA Deputy Director of the Department of System Engineering Lyu Bo; Credits: CNSA, CLEP, AAAS, NASA

Friday / 21 April 2023

Posted on by

ISRO and Moon Village Association Holding Chandrayaan-3 Student Outreach Video Contest

Under theme Importance of Chandrayaan-3 Mission for India and the Global Moon Exploration and Settlement, in honor of former Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director S. Ramakrishnan (L), students around the world in 2 age groups (13-17 / 18-21) are invited to submit 2-3 minute videos accompanied by a transcript and 150-word biography in English; Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will be given within both categories, with Golds receiving free entry to 7th Global Moon Village Workshop & Symposium 6-10 Dec in Kurashiki and Tottori, Japan; Submissions due 31 May

Pictured: ISRO Director of Capacity Building and Public Outreach Sudheer Kumar (M),
MVA President Giuseppe Reibaldi (R); Credits: MVA, ISRO, IAF