Category Archives: Lunar Landers

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

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 22-25 March 2024

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Strong Focus on Malapert Mountain at 2024 LPSC Reflects Growing Interest in Strategic Lunar Area

Numerous researchers have converged to analyze the structure, content and relative advantages of landing human and robotic mission on Malapert Massif as highlighted by studies presented at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in The Woodlands, Texas; Geological EVA Science Among Impact Craters and Permanently Shadowed Regions Near a Summit Ridge on Malapert Massif proposes 3 EVA traverses emanating from 85.964°S, 357.681°E landing site to collect samples from 50-35K regolith; High Resolution Geomorphic Map provides detailed crater morphology / PSR locations; Hazard Mapping of the Southern Lunar Surface: Candidate Artemis Landing Site notes maximum average temp of 193.3K / minimum 46.4K

Pictured: Malapert Massif Sun visibility (L) Malapert Massif Earth visibility (R)
Credits: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University; Bourque, M. et al. (2024) LPSC 55 Abs #2493; Iqbal, W. et al. (2024) LPSC 55 Abs #1009; Kring, D. et al (2024) LPSC 55 Abs #2078

Friday / 22 March 2024

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JAXA and Intuitive Machines Anticipate Possible SLIM and Odysseus Awakenings

2 landers currently in hibernation mode on lunar surface may reactivate in the coming days; JAXA SLIM resting within mid-latitude Mare Nectaris near Shioli crater (13.31°S, 25.25°E) may resume operations for a 3rd time since 19 Jan landing however JAXA operators caution repeated severe temperature cycles affect likelihood of late March restart; Intuitive Machines VP Trent Martin confirmed Odysseus (80.13°S, 1.44°E) in sunlight at 24th AAS Goddard Space Science Symposium currently ongoing and that IM is listening for signal; IM cash on hand stands at US$54.6M with $268.6M contract backlog

Credits: JAXA, IM

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 8-11 March 2024

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ISRO Developing Chandrayaan-4 Moon Mission Design for NET 2027 launch

Tentative Chandrayaan-4 concept features 5 modules: re-entry (RM), transfer (TM), ascender (AM), descender (DM), and propulsion (PM), with objectives including soft landing, regolith sample collection, lunar ascent, lunar orbit docking, inter-module sample transfer and Earth return; Mission will utilize 2 launch vehicles, LVM3 and PSLV; “Extremely challenging” design architecture shared by ISRO Chairman S Somanath at 22nd National Space Science Symposium (hosted by Goa University) under review, being debated and discussed; LUPEX joint mission with JAXA to study PSR also pending approval with landing on Shackleton Connecting Ridge 1 (89.44°S, 137.17°W) possible

Credits: ISRO, NSSS / YouTube

Friday / 1 March 2024

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SpaceX and NASA Preparing Starship for In-Space Docking Ahead of Possible Mid-March IFT-3

10-day dynamic testing of 200+ scenarios conducted at NASA JSC will assist mission planners in validating computer modelling of spacecraft docking, crucial to operations for Artemis 3 human landing and subsequent missions slated to transfer crew and supplies between Starship HLS, Orion capsule and Lunar Gateway under US$4.04B contracts; SpaceX is reportedly working towards 3rd attempt at orbital launch NET mid-March from Starbase TX to 100-km NE of Kaua’i HI, pending 17 corrective actions required by FAA following Orbital Flight Test-2 mishap investigation, conditions IFT-3 launch license

Credits: NASA, SpaceX

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 Feb 2024

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IM-1 Commercial Moon Lander Odysseus Functioning and Receiving Power Despite Tip Over

The first USA craft to reach the lunar surface in 51+ years in communication with 100% battery charge ~2-3 km from intended landing site (80.2°S, 1.0°E), however orientation is off-nominal, with the 6-legged, phone box-sized lander thought to be resting on its side with ‘Panel E’ (with passive Moon Phases art installation mounted) facing down; Descent data from NASA payloads RFMG, NDL, LN-1 and SCALPSS awaiting transmission, as is imagery from independent astronomy payload ILO-X; EagleCam still planned to be deployed to record Odysseus; Precise position and location of Odysseus to be determined via LRO

 

Credits: Intuitive Machines

Friday / 23 Feb 2024

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Intuitive Machines Is First Commercial Operator Conducting Lunar Surface Communication and Exploration

Human enterprise is active on the Moon for the first time, with the Nova-C class lander Odysseus now in communication with ground controllers at IM Mission Control in Houston TX via Goonhilly Station in UK following 5:24 CST (23:24 UTC) soft landing touchdown near Malapert A crater; NASA Director hails CLPS ‘cosmic bridge’ of public-private cooperation that led to commercial Moon mission carrying 6 NASA and 6 independent payloads including Astronomy from the Moon precursor ILO-X, which will conduct the first imaging of the luminous Milky Way band in visible spectra; Intuitive Machines founder Kam Ghaffarian looking forward to achieving ‘daily trips to the Moon’ while envisioning interstellar travel as ‘ultimate destiny for humanity’

 

Credits: International Lunar Observatory Association, Intuitive Machines

Tuesday / 20 Feb 2024

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Commercial Lunar Lander Odysseus Prepares for Correction Maneuvers Ahead of LOI

Intuitive Machines analyzing data from first in-space firing of liquid methane & liquid oxygen engine, conducted 270,000+ km from Earth, testing full (21 sec) and throttled thrust profiles and first of three trajectory corrections ahead of Lunar Orbit Insertion – the most powerful maneuver of the mission, expected to consume 1/3 of total propellant for 800-900 m/s delta-V and marking milestone 7 out of 16 company-defined IM-1 success criteria, set to be completed Feb 21 prior to Feb 22 powered descent; Landing to be streamed on IM website, time to be announced at Las Vegas Sphere event hosted by Columbia Sportswear

Credits: Intuitive Machines

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 16-19 Feb 2024

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Intuitive Machines Overcoming Obstacles While Operating in Space on Route to Moon

Nova-C class lander Odysseus is ‘in excellent health, in a stable orientation’ and on track for 22 Feb soft landing attempt ~300-km from Moon South Pole despite several trials: intermittent comms, a slight star tracker miscalibration ameliorated via software update, and variance in LOX line chill time in space vs Earth (Odysseus being only the second LCH4 / LOX craft to operate in space following LandSpace Zhuque-2 in Dec 2023) for which adjustments have been made; Commissioning Burn originally expected within first day of transit to be conducted shortly

Credits: Intuitive Machines

Friday / 16 Feb 2024

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Commercial USA IM-1 Lander Odysseus on Direct Course for Moon

Intuitive Machines of Houston TX working around the clock to achieve first USA Moon landing in 21st century and first commercial landing ever with Nova-C ‘Odie’ on Trans-Lunar Orbit (TLO); Odie is expected to archive Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) on 21 Feb, followed by landing site near the eastern rim of Malapert A crater (80.2°S, 1.0°E) 22 Feb; Carrying 6 NASA and 6 independent payloads under $118M NASA CLPS contract + undisclosed private freight charges, the IM-1 mission was inspired by Space Policy Directive-1 per CEO Steve Altemus; SPD-1 calls for public-private and international partnerships to ‘enable human expansion across the solar system’

Credits: SpaceX, Intuitive Machines, LinkedIn