Category Archives: Lunar Orbiters

Thursday / 25 October 2012

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Fobos-Grunt Based Luna-Globe Planning 2015 Launch

Russia Federal Space Agency Announces Two Missions To The Moon: Luna-Globe Slated For 2015 Launch To Orbit Moon And Lunar-Resource Slated For 2017-8 Launch To Land On Lunar Surface; Luna-Globe Design Based On 2011 Lost Mars Craft Fobos-Grunt; Lunar-Resource Lander Will Study Soil Of Moon’s Southern Hemisphere Says Developer NPO Lavochkin; Next Mars Probe Attempt Not Till 2025 States Space Agency Chief Vladimir Popovkin

Image Credit: Roscosmos, NPO Lavochkin

Tuesday / 25 September 2012

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Next Major NASA Mission: Outpost Beyond Moon

‘Gateway Spacecraft’ Would Hover 445,000km From Earth At Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange Point, Support Small Crew, Serve As Staging Area For Future Moon & Mars Missions; NASA To Use Orion MPCV / SLS Rocket For Transportation, Leftover Parts Of ISS For Construction; Funding & Radiation Risks Remain Issues; Some See More Value In Human-Tended Lunar Base

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Tues 7-11 Sep 2012

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Lunar Exploration Analysis Group Annual Meeting

Program & Abstracts Now Available For 22-24 Oct 2012 LEAG Annual Meeting In Greenbelt Maryland; Presentations / Discussions On Science Objectives, Robotic Human Exploration Strategies & Technologies, Moon As Necessary Stepping Stone To Rest Of Solar System; Organizers Plan To Celebrate Apollo Legacy 40 Years After Apollo 17, Look Forward To Next Generation Of Lunar Missions; Pictured (BC): LEAG Chair Charles Shearer

Image Credit: LPI, NASA, University of New Mexico

Friday / 7 September 2012

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GRAIL Now In Extended Science Mission

Extended Science Phase Of GRAIL Mission From 30 Aug – 3 Dec; Spacecraft Will Take Even Closer Look At Lunar Gravity Field By Dropping To Average Orbit Of 23km (Compared To 55-km Orbit On Primary Mission); Objective Of NASA Mission Is To Generate The Most Accurate Gravity Map Of Moon & From That Derive Its Internal Structure / Evolution

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 31 Aug – 3 Sep 2012

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LRO Provides More Evidence Of Water At Moon South Pole

Mini-RF Radar On LRO Estimates Maximum Amount Of Ice Likely Inside Shackleton Crater; 5-10% Of Material In Walls Of The Permanently-Shadowed Crater Could Be Patchy Ice According To Team Led By Bradley Thomson Of Boston University; Instrument Detects Distinctive Radar Polarization Signature Of Water Ice To Depth Of 2m Below Surface; Mini-RF Currently Acquiring New Bistatic Radar Images To Locate Volatile Deposits Using Arecibo Radio Telescope 

Image Credit: NASA, bu.edu

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 24-27 Aug 2012

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LunarCubes Offer Opportunities For Affordable Moon Exploration

Miniaturized Spacecraft Have Been Successful In LEO Missions Costing +- US$300,000, Lunar Missions Could Be Accomplished For +-US$3M With Upgrades In Power, Protection From Extreme Radiation / Thermal Environment; UC Berkeley / UCSC Prposing CubeSat Probes For Impact Mission Into Lunar Swirls; GLXP Missions Will Provide Ample Opportunity For LunarCube Missions For Student / Faculty Teams

Image Credit: KARI, GLXP, Vermont Tech

Friday / 17 August 2012

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LRO Detects Helium In Lunar Atmosphere

Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) Spectrometer Aboard LRO Makes 1st Spectroscopic Observations Of Helium In Tenuous Lunar Atmosphere; LAMP Examined Ultraviolet Emissions In An Observation Campaign Spanning Over 50 Orbits; Measurements Confirmed Data From 1972 LACE Experiment Deployed By Apollo 17 (L); Next Question: Does Helium Originate From Inside Moon, Or External Sources?

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 3-6 Aug 2012

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LRO Continues To Provide Valuable Data / Images

Now In Extended Mission, LROC has Mapped Entire Moon 33 Times, Each Map With Different Photometric Geometry; About Every Month Spacecraft Makes New Mosaics Of North & South Poles; Found Over 160 Lunar Caves With ‘Skylights’; Project Scientist Richard Vondrak Says LRO Is “Just Getting Started”; Pictured: Recent LROC Oblique View Of Giordano Bruno Crater (35.9°N 102.8°E), Download Video Of Crater Here

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 1 August 2012

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Safe Havens For Future Lunar Explorers

LROC PI Mark Robinson Speculates Vast Lava Tubes May Be Present Under Lunar Surface Based On Kaguya, LRO Data; Such Caves Could Be Suitable Interim Shelters For Explorers; Scientists At Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Studying ‘Mini-Magnetospheres’, Magnetic Anomalies That Protect Areas Of Moon From Solar Wind; Data May Lead To Artificially Manipulated ‘Deflector Shields’ 

Image Credit: NASA, RAL

Friday / 27 July 2012

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China Lunar Exploration Program Advancing With Chang’e-2,3,4,5

China Chief Lunar Scientist Ziyuan Ouyang Provides Update On Chang’e Program; Chang’e-2 Has Left L2 After 235 Days Of Solar Observation, Now Heading For Rendezvous With Asteroid 4179, Will Arrive To Monitor / Explore Asteroid Around 1 March 2013; Chang’e-3 Lunar Rover Will Feature Atomic Fuel Cells, Radar To Explore 100m Below Surface; Chang’e-5 Sample Return Mission To Be Launched By Long March 5 Rocket Currently Under Development

Image Credit: CLEP, CNSA, CCTV