Category Archives: Lunar Landers

Friday / 20 Jan 2023

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Happy 93rd Birthday to Buzz Aldrin as Artemis Generation on Cusp of Resuming Human Activity on Moon 

In a recent op-ed tribute to Apollo 7 Astronaut Walt Cunningham, second person to reach lunar surface Buzz Aldrin reiterates “Human exploration is essential. We must return to the Moon, and then go farther”; The first woman will walk on Moon with Artemis 3 (landing NLT 4 July 2026), a historic event which may be advanced at upcoming State of the Union address 7 Feb; Where crew will land within South Pole area TBD, sites under consideration will be discussed at NASA-sponsored Lunar Science Surface Workshop 4-5 April

Credits: NASA, Twitter / @TheRealBuzz

Tuesday / 17 Jan 2023

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3 Commercial Moon Landers: ispace Hakuto-R, Astrobotic Peregrine, Intuitive Machines Nova-C

First wave of independent Moon missions (following SpaceIL Beresheet attempt 2019) targeting lunar surface are underway / preparing for launch including ispace Mission 1 with Hakuto-R nearing furthest point from Earth (1,400,000 km) on ~5 month low-energy trajectory NET 20 Jan; Astrobotic Peregrine Mission 1 to make 7-58 day transit (3-33 cruise + 4-25 lunar orbit, dependent on launch date) NET Q1 on ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket, currently en route from Decatur AL via Mississippi barge to CCSFS; Intuitive Machines IM-1 to launch on SpaceX F9 from KSC also NET Q1 on ~6-day direct transfer

Credits: ispace, IM, Astrobotic, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 13-16 Jan 2023

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As ispace Progresses Towards Moon, Significance of Planned First Lunar Mining Transaction Grows

Hakuto-R lander currently ~1,340,000km from Earth while ispace Mission Control working to execute series of deep space control maneuvers by late March in preparation for orbital insertion and first commercial soft landing in Atlas Crater (47.5°N, 44.4°E) NET late April; In addition to gathering environmental data and demonstrating various technologies, Hakuto-R Mission 1 to set precedent on commercial resource extraction by gathering regolith for sale to NASA under US$5,000 contract; Transaction sanctioned under US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015, Japan Space Resources Act of 2021

Credits: ispace, MBRSC

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 6-9 Jan 2022

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A Host of Robotic Moon Landings in 2023 to Precede New Era of Human Lunar Orbital Missions

Artemis Age of lunar exploration will continue full-steam in coming year with NASA CLPS lander missions from Intuitive Machines (IM-1) and Astrobotic (PM1) targeting Q1 launch followed by JAXA SLIM NET April, ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET June, Roscosomos Luna-25 NET July; SpaceX aims to send 9 passengers on lunar flyby on Starship dearMoon by EOY; NASA working towards Artemis-2 mission launching NET May 2024 with 4-member crew (3 USA, 1 Canada) to be announced soon; Meanwhile ispace Hakuto-R expected to join 9 international orbiters NET April; 4 Artemis-1 CubeSats in vicinity

Credits: NASA, JAXA, Lockheed Martin, Tyvak

Tuesday / 3 Jan 2022

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ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander on Stable Course to Moon as 3rd Trajectory Burn Approaches

~1,250,000 km from Earth, HAKUTO-R maintaining nominal trajectory on fuel efficient path to Moon following 2nd correction maneuver 2 Jan with 3rd possibly to be conducted as craft reaches farthest point of journey (1,400,000 km) NET 20 Jan; ‘Milestone 5’ to be reached at 1-month of operations date (Jan 11); Innovative SORA-Q spheroid rover among payloads on M1 – designed by Doshisha University & Takara Tomy toy company with Sony dev board / Arm processor core for JAXA; SORA-Q to collect data on locomotion in 1/6 G for future human-capable pressurized lunar vehicle

Pictured: Yosuke Yoneda, Kenta Hashiba of TOMY Company; Credits: ispace, Takara Tomy, JAXA

New Year Holiday Edition
Fri-Mon / 23 Dec 2022 – 2 Jan 2023

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2023 Moon Roster Full of Independent and National Touchdowns Following 2022 Orbital Activity

At least 6 attempts to robotically land on the lunar surface are slated for 2023, after a year that saw Capstone DRHO insertion, Danuri near 100 x 100 km desired polar orbit (refining current 109 x 8920 km via 4 additional orbital maneuvers), Artemis 1 flyby / DRO; Hakuto launched on Dec 11 as Orion splashed down, now on 1-month cruise to next TCM targeting April landing; Landers Nova-C and Peregrine launching NET Q1, SLIM April, Chandrayaan-3 June, Luna-25 July, while Chang’E-3 lander / LUT, Chang’E-4 Yutu-2 rover continue only current operations on Moon

Credits: NASA, ispace, IM, Astrobotic, ISRO

Friday / 16 Dec 2022

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Hakuto-R Lander en Route to Moon as ispace Mission Control Works to Check Out Commercial Payloads

ispace Mission 1 is progressing nominally, with Hakuto-R spacecraft now ~550,000 km from Earth on low-energy cislunar transfer trajectory following completion of first orbit control maneuver – milestone 4 in mission profile; Milestone 3 partially complete with communications and data transfer of 2 Earth images (1 taken by Canadensys camera, 1 by ispace camera) accomplished while payload checks are ongoing; Hakuto-R is to cruise for ~1 month, reaching a distance of 1,400,000 km by 20 January, at which time another maneuver will begin 2-3 month return to lunar orbit

Credits: ispace, Canadensys

Tuesday / 13 Dec 2022

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ispace Hoping to Spark ‘Vibrant Economic System’ on Moon with First Commercial Lunar Landing

HAKUTO-R Mission 1 team preparing to execute first orbital control maneuver putting M1 on low-energy ballistic transfer following successful 11 Dec launch and subsequent attainment of attitude and power supply stability; 35-m ESA antenna in New Norcia, Australia tracking M1, other Estrack / Goonhilly stations to monitor lander as it progresses into deep space; ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada heralds beginning of “sustainable ecosystem” and “growing this industry together with [competitors]”; ispace targeting Atlas Crater (47.5°N, 44.4°E) NET 25 April; Rideshare JPL Lunar Flashlight on route to DRHO around Moon

Credits: ispace, SpaceX, Twitter, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 9-12 Dec 2022

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Orion Return is Beginning of New Era of Lunar Exploration as 2023 Commercial and National Moon Mission Prepare

Mission team including Landing / Recovery Director Melissa Jones, Entry Flight Director Judd Frieling now planning to recover Orion capsule near Guadalupe Island, ~241 km from Baja California coast following 11 Dec 09:40 PST splashdown; Just 10 hours prior, ispace HAKUTO-R lander is to launch to Moon from CCSFS (02:38 EST); CLPS missions from Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic to follow NET Q1 2023, JAXA SLIM NET April, ISRO Chandrayaan-3 NET June; Artemis 2 circumlunar crewed mission NET May 2024, SpaceX uncrewed demo mission and crewed dearMoon NET 2024

Credits: Astrobotic, Blue Origin, NASA

Friday / 9 Dec 2022

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Peregrine Testing Advances, Astrobotic Joins Blue Origin-led Sustaining Lunar Development Team

Astrobotic Peregrine 120-kg payload class (35 kg dedicated commercial) lunar lander currently undergoing electromagnetic compatibility / interference testing at 32-acre Dayton T. Brown lab with thermal vacuum testing to follow; Aerotech Inc to integrate Peregrine into payload fairing of ULA Vulcan Centaur at CCSFS; PM1 reportedly launching first half of 2023 to either Lacus Mortis (45.13°N, 27.32°E) or Gruithuisen Domes (36.56°N, 40.72°W); Astrobotic now member of ‘National Team’ vying for NASA SLD human / cargo lander (uncrewed demo NET 2026) contract with Blue Origin, Draper, Honeybee, Boeing, Lockheed Martin

Credits: Astrobotic, Blue Origin, NASA