India On Track To Launch GSLV Space Mission With Indigenously Built Cryogenic Engine In April 2013 Says Vikram Sarabhai Space Center Director PS Veeraraghavan (TL); Rocket Is Essential For Planned Chandrayaan-2 Lunar Mission, Which Will Include Lunar Orbiter & Rover Made By ISRO, & Russia-Built Lander; India-Russia Cooperation In Space Expected To Increase With Upcoming India Visit Of President Putin (BL)
Image Credit: ISRO, Reuters
Top Russia Space Officials Indicating Country Moving Focus From ISS To Moon Exploration; ISS Is ‘Closed Chapter In Russia Science‘; 3 Russia Moon Missions Planned For 2015-2017: Polar Lander, Circumlunar Mission, Mission To L2; Russia Scientists At CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Seeking Assistance From Ukraine & Kazakh Colleagues In Moon Research Program
Image Credit: Roscosmos, NASA, flags.com
Ziyuan Ouyang Says Previous Lunar Exploration Is Just “Small Step In Knowing The Whole Moon,” Emphasizes Need To Spread Scientific Knowledge To General Public: How Lunar / Solar System Exploration Provides Benefits In Technology / Economic Development; Lunar Helium-3 As Future Power Source; Cost Effectiveness Of China Chang’e Program; Hopes Chinese People Can “Set Their Footprints All Over Solar System”
Image Credit: cntv.cn
University Of California Physicist Tom Murphy Sending Laser Signal From Apache Point Observatory NM, USA To Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter; Laser Must Hit Orbiter 362,000km Away, Travelling At Roughly 5,000km/h; Once Fired Laser Will Hit Spacecraft 1.25 Seconds Later; LRO Constantly Tugged By Irregularities On Lunar Surface; Periodic Calibration Tests Ensure LRO In Ideal Position To Map Surface Of Luna & Study Its Radiation
Image Credit: NASA, UCSD
India Aiming For 2015 Human Spaceflight Program; Human Moon Mission Proposed By Indian Space Research Organisation For 2020; Chandrayaan-2 Lunar Orbiter, Lander, Rover Mission Delayed To At Least 2014; Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Rocket Proven Success Of Chandrayaan-1 / Moon Impact Probe Will Be Used For India Mars Satellite Mission Planned Launch Nov 2013
Image Credit: ISRO, IITK
China Robotic Lunar Lander Mission Chang’e-3 Passes Thermal Dynamic Trials, Testing Key Mechanical Performance Of The Lander Prior To Trial Run Of Propulsion System; New Superconducting Receiver Developed By 16th Research Institute, China Electronic Corporation Installed In New Deep Space Monitor And Ground Control Station; Receiver Expected To Also Support Future Mars Mission
Image Credit: CNSA, CLEP
NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LAMP (Lyman Alpha Mapping Project) Spectrometer Sensed Noble Gas Helium For The First Time, Say Scientists From SWRI; Principal Investigator Alan Stern Points To Bigger Question Of Whether Helium Comes From Interior Source Such As Radioactive Decay Or From Solar Wind; 1972 Apollo 17 LACE (Lunar Atmosphere Composition Experiment) In Situ Measurements Agree With Findings / Point To Future Search For Argon
Image Credit: NASA, NASA Goddard/Debbie McCallum
NASA’s Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) Exploration Era Debuts SLS & Orion / Looks To A Human Return To The Moon; 2017 EM-1 On Lunar Return Class Orion Validates Critical Mission Elements / Human Rating In Lunar Orbit; 2021 EM-2 Adds Crew For 3-4 Days In Lunar Orbit; 2022 EM-3 To Begin Construction Of Exploration Gateway Enabling NEA Missions / Possible Lunar Surface Missions
Image Credit: NASA
China Exhibited New Radio Telescope Sunday Located At The Foot Of Sheshan Mountain In Shanghai; 4th Largest In World; Will Do Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI); Able To Receive 8 Frequency Bands And Communicate With Earth Satellites, Lunar & Deep Space Probes; Chang’e-2 Chief Designer Wu Weiren Hopes It Will Be Operational In Time To Support Upcoming Lunar Mission
Lunar Atmosphere And Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) Nears Testing As Final Instrument Installed At NASA Ames Research Center; Ultraviolet & Visible Light Spectrometer (UVS) Analyzes Light Signatures; Neutral Mass Spectrometer (NMS) Tracks Atmospheric Variations In Multiple Environments; Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) Collects / Analyzes Particles Aloft; Tech Demo Of Laser Communications Also Aboard; Set For Aug 2013 Launch, Project Scientist Rick Elphic States, “A Mission Like LADEE Has Been Needed Since Apollo…”
Image Credit: NASA