Category Archives: Lunar Orbiters

Friday / 1 Mar 2019

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Canada Is Going To The Moon, Says Trudeau

PM Justin Trudeau Announces ‘Canada Is Going To The Moon,’ Shares Announcement With Canada Astronaut David Saint-Jacques On International Space Station; US $2B Investment Includes $150M For Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program; Partnership With NASA Follows Lobbying By #DontLetGoCanada Group; Maxar Technologies MDA, Builder Of ISS Robotic Arm, Will Contribute Canadarm 3 For Lunar Orbit And Design Lunar Rover; Moon Express Has MoU With Canada Space Agency For Lunar Payload Delivery; Canadensys Developing Energy, Thermal And Telescope Technology For Lunar Surface

Credits: ASC-CSA, Canadian Press

Tuesday / 4 Dec 2018

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South Korea Launch Advances Lunar Missions

South Korea Successfully Launches Locally Built Rocket Engine To Altitude Of 209 Km, First Launch Since 2013 Orbital Flight On Budget About US$670M; Korea Satellite Launch Vehicle (KSLV-2) To Carry Satellites, Lunar Orbiter And Lander With Rover In Separate Launches; Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) Carrying NASA ShadowCam Preparing For Dec 2020 Launch On Falcon 9; Ukraine, One Of 10 Nations With Full-Cycle Rocket Production Capability, Assisting With Engineering; South Korea Hosting Light Dark International Forum On Astronomy 17-21 Dec In Daejeon And Preparing For International Astronomical Union Meeting In 2021

Credits: KARI, Seoul Post, Buzz Aldrin/Facebook

Tuesday / 30 Oct 2018

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Apollo 8 EarthRISE Dinners Look To Future Moon Orbits

 

EarthRISE50 Organization Will Remember Apollo 8 With Worldwide Earthrise Dinners Week Of December 24; Jersey City USA Kickoff Event Nov 8 Will Feature Entrepreneur Joy Mangano; 50th Remembrance Of Apollo 8 Carrying Mission Commander Frank Borman And Pilot Jim Lovell To Moon Orbit And Iconic Earthrise Photo By Astronaut Bill Anders; Replicating Apollo 8 Lunar Orbit Will Be Goal Of Uncrewed Orion EM-1 Mission In 2020 And Crewed EM-2 Mission Funded For 2023; Ongoing Discussion of Lunar Orbital Platform To Be Serviced By Orion In Moon Orbit

Credits: NASA, Virgin Galactic, Joymangano.com

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 12-15 Oct 2018

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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Patrols Ahead Of Future Missions

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Returns Data And Images 9 Years After Entering Moon Orbit; Diviner Instrument Aboard LRO Along With NASA Moon Mineralogy Mapper On Chandrayaan-2 Find Widespread Water On Moon; CRaTER Cosmic Ray Telescope Characterizes Lunar Radiation Environment For Future Missions; LRO Finds And Photographs Crash Site Of Europe SMART-1 Probe Deliberately Impacted Into Moon; Produces 5-Minute Virtual Tour Of Moon In 4K; LRO Engaged To Photograph Israel SpaceIL Landing In 2019

Credits: NASA, ESA, NASA/GSFC

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 27-30 July 2018

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Chang’e-4 Far Side Moon Lander On Track For Dec Launch; Beijing Big Moon Expo Continues

China Long March 3B Set To Launch Chang’e-4 Lander & Rover Dec 2018 To Lunar Far Side South Pole Aitken Basin; Lander To Carry High-Res Cameras, Low Frequency Spectrometer, “Lunar Lander Neutrons & Dosimetry”; Rover Equipped With Panoramic Camera, Lunar Penetrating Radar, Visible / Infrared Spectrometer, “Advanced Small Analyser For Neutrals”; Queqiao Relay Satellite At L2 Orbit; Longjiang-2 Operates In Elliptical Lunar Orbit Transmitting Images From Moon; Lunar Exploration Technology Exhibition Featuring 10-meter Moon Continues To 9 Oct At Beijing National Aquatic Center “Water Cube”

Credits: CNSA, CASC, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing National Aquatic Center, NASA

Wednesday / 4 July 2018

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NASA Soliciting Bids On Lunar Orbiting Platform-Gateway Space Station Aiming For 2022 Operation

Procurement Request From NASA Is Asking USA Industry For Proposals On “Spaceflight Demonstration Of A Power And Propulsion Element”, Which Could Be Used As The 1st Element Of The Gateway Space Station — Proposals Due November; NASA Expects The New Station To Cost US$2.7B; Matt Siegler (Bottom) Of Planetary Science Institute Says Gateway Is Too Far From Moon And Is Really A Symbol For USA Leadership In Space; NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (Top) Stresses: “We Are Going To The Surface Of The Moon. The Gateway Does Not Compete With This”

Credits: NASA, PSI

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 29 June – 2 July 2018

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Chandrayaan-2 Lunar South Pole Mission To Target Water, Possibly He-3

GSLV Mk II Launch NET Oct / Nov Of 3,290-kg Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter, Lander, 6-Wheel Rover, Will Research Topography, Mineralogy, Exosphere, Prospects For Ice-Water Utilization, Consider Future Helium-3 Extraction; Rover To Operate In Semi-Autonomous Mode For 2 Weeks; ISRO Chairman K. Sivan States India Plans To Be A Leader In Space Resource Utilization, Aims To Put India Crew On Moon

Credits: ISRO, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 22-25 June 2018

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LRO Mission Enters 10th Year Orbiting Moon

On 23 June Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Embarks On 10th Year, Mission Goals Include Temporarily Going Off Nadir (Straight-On Imaging) Fall 2018 To Utilize Camera Stereo, Oblique Imaging; Inertial Measurement Unit Currently Powered Down To Reserve Power For Critical Events, Lunar Eclipses; In Lunar Eccentric Polar Mapping Orbit (20-km Altitude South Pole, 165-km North Pole) With 7 Instruments Providing High Resolution 3D Moon Mapping, Regolith & Radiation Observations, Data May Assist In Future South Pole And Far Side Lunar Landings

Credits: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 15-18 June 2018

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Chang’e-4 Relay Satellite Enters Intended Orbit, Prepares For Upcoming Mission

China Relay Satellite Queqiao Successfully Reaches Halo Orbit Around Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, Will Undergo Orbit Maintenance Every 7 Days, Equipped With NCLE Low-Frequency Pathfinder To Detect Cosmic Dark Ages Radio Signals, Will Act As Communication Relay For Chang’e-4 Lander & Rover Mission Planned Nov-Dec Launch To South Pole Aitken Basin / Von Kármán Crater; Microsatellite Longjiang-2 Operates In Lunar Orbit, Transmits Far Side Pictures Using Saudi Arabia Optical Camera; NAOC Prof Ping Jinsong Mentions Feasibility Of Flying Near-Future Low Cost Lunar Constellation

Credits: CNSA, CLEP, KASCST, NAOC, CAS, Planetary Society, NCLE, ASTRON

Friday / 15 June 2018

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AAS Advancing Galaxy Science, Human Equality, Astronomy From The Moon

21st Century Directions Apparent At American Astronomical Society 232nd Meeting In Denver CO With 5 Of 10 Plenaries On Galaxies, 5 Of 10 Presented By Women Astrophysicists, Supported By (L-R) Incoming AAS President Megan Donahue And Outgoing President Christine Jones; Pioneering Sessions On Low Radio Frequency Observations From Space And Moon Included Presentations By Heino Falcke, Robert MacDowell, Jack Burns, Joseph Lazio, Which Could Enable AAS Symposium In 12-24 Months On “Astronomy On, For and From The Moon”

Credits: ILOA, SPC, Steve Durst, AAS, NLSI, IAU, NASA, JPL, Radboud Univ., ISIS, ASTRON, Netherlands Space Office, et al