Category Archives: Lunar Sample Return

Thursday / 14 Dec 2017

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Chang’e-3 Begins 5th Year On Moon Continuing LUT Astronomy While Chang’e-4 Prepares For 2018 Launches With VLF Antennas

Dec 14 Marks Full 4 Years Of Operating On Lunar Surface For Chang’e-3, Currently In 50th Lunar Night; China Plans To Launch Chang’e-4 Lander & Rover In Dec 2018 To Accomplish 1st Ever Lunar Far Side Mission, Likely In South-Pole Aitken Basin; Relay Satellite To Earth-Moon L2 To Be Launched First In June; Both Lander & Satellite To Carry 3 Orthogonal Low-Frequency Radio Spectrometer Antennas For Astronomical Measurements Below 30 MHz; Chang’e-5 Sample Return Mission Now Manifested For NET 2018

Credits: SASTIND, Wen Wei Po, CNSA

Friday / 1 Dec 2017

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JAXA And ISRO To Collaborate On Lunar Sample Return Mission

JAXA President Naoki Okumura And ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar Sign Memorandum Of Understanding To Collaborate On Future Lunar Missions: Lander With Rover To Study Water & Return Soil Sample; Agencies To Finalize Implementation Agreement In Next 2 Months After Recent 24th Session Of Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum in Bengaluru; Also To Collaborate On Climate Change Monitoring

Credits: ThePrint, APRSAF, ISRO, JAXA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 16-19 June 2017

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Moon South Pole Missions With Strong International Collaboration Being Advanced By China

Chang’e-4 Lander / Rover Launching To Far Side / Moon South Pole Aitken ~Oct 2018 To Carry 11 Payloads Including 4 Developed By Other Countries; China Likely To Cooperate With Europe On Common Goals Such As International Moon Village Or Research Station According To Liu Jizhong; Russia NPO Lavochkin In Talks With China Since CE-4, 5, 6 Similar To Russia Luna-26, 27, 28; CE-5 Set For Late Nov 2017 Launch, CE-4 Orbiter May 2018 For Moon Far Side, CE-6 Sample Return Far Side 2019-20, Possibilities For CE-7 & CE-8; China Developing Low Cost Long March 7 & Heavy Lift March 5; Advocacy For China Sending Women To Moon

Credits: CNSA, NAOC, CAS, ESA, Roscosomos

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 17-20 March 2017

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Human Moon Mission Planning Advances In USA, China, Russia

US Gov Surveying Feasibility Of Human Moon Flyby Sep 2018 On Orion / SLS / EM-1, Private Venture SpaceX Plans 2018 Circumlunar Trip For 2 Tourists, Blue Origin Proposes 2020 Moon South Pole Cargo Deliveries To Start Permanent Human Settlement; China Chief Lunar Exploration Designer Hu Hao Announces Success Of CE-5 Sample Return Launching Nov 2017 Will Pave Way For Human Landing Mission Which ‘Should Be Carried Out ASAP’; Russia Begins Selection Of 6-8 Cosmonauts For Federatsiya Spacecraft Intended To Fly To Moon, First Uncrewed Test Flight Planned 2021 On New Angara Rocket

Credits: NASA, CNSA, Roscosmos, SpaceX, Blue Origin

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 13-16 January 2017

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Mysteries Of The Moon: Continued Studies On Lunar Age, Dust, Formation, Evolution

Newest Theory On Earth’s Closest Celestial Neighbor Suggests Luna May Have Been Created 4.51B Years Ago, According To Apollo 14 Sample Study By Melanie Barboni & UCLA Team; Pinpointing Moon Age Helps Narrow Down When Earth Became Habitable; Recent Lunar Formation Simulation By Hagai Perets Of Technion-Israel Institute Shows Moon May Have Been Formed By Many Impacts Creating Moonlets That Merged; NASA Reports Lunar Horizon Glow Observed By Apollo Astronauts & Surveyor 5, 6, 7 Is Likely Caused By Micron-Sized Dust Particles Jumping Several Centimeters Under UV Radiation Or Exposure To Plasmas; Returning To Moon For Hands-On Lunar Surface Studies Needed To Fill In Knowledge Gaps

Credits: NASA, UCLA, Hagai Perets

Friday / 24 June 2016

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China Chang’e-5 Propulsion System Completing Tests, Hainan Spaceport Maiden Launch 26 June

China Human Moon, CE5

CE-5 Sample Return Mission On Track For 2017 Launch With Lander, Rover, Orbiter Completing Final Propulsion System R&D, General Assembly & General Testing At CASC; China In Prime Position To Help Lead Effort To Put Humans On Moon With Inaugural Hainan Spaceport / Moonport Launch Of Long March 7 On 26 June, Development Of Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Tiangong-2 Space Lab Launch NET Sep, Long March 5 Launch Sep-Oct, Tiangzhou-1 Crewed Launch Apr 2017, CE-4 In 2018, CE-6 In 2020

Credit: CASC, CNSA, China.org.cn, Xinhua, CCTV News

Friday / 17 June 2016

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13th International Planetary Probe Workshop Highlighting Innovative Ideas For Lunar Exploration

LED-6-16-16

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Meeting In Laurel, Maryland June 13-17 Features Talks By Alan Stern PI Of New Horizons & Ellen Stofan NASA Chief Scientist; Includes Presentations By Robert Buchwald (TR) Of Airbus On ‘Prospecting And Returning Lunar Surface Samples With Volatiles’ And By Balaji Soundararajan, Masters Student (Space Engineering) at Technical University Berlin On ‘Autonomous UAV for Lunar Inspection’ & ‘Lunar Ballistic Robot Exploration’

Credit: JHU/APL, GSFC, NASA,R. Buchwald, B. Soundararajan,

Wednesday / 1 June 2016

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China Advancing Ambitious Lunar Plans, Strong Policy Support For Civil & Commercial Space Programs

LED-5-31-2016

CNSA Secretary General Tian Yulong Provides Details Of 2017 Chang’e-5 Mission; In Addition To Landing And Sample Return, Probe To Conduct Systematic Exploration Of North & South Poles From Orbit; Tian Also Notes Recent Discussions With ESA On Moonbase / Human Mission Cooperation; Draft Of 1st China Astronautical Law And “China’s Space Flight” White Paper Expected By End Of Year; Release Of Regulations / Other Documents Is In Preparation For Multiple Space Missions During 13th Five-Year Plan Period 2016 – 2020 And To Support Continued Development In The Aerospace Industry

Credit: CNSA, Beihang University

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 6-9 May 2016

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China Prepares For 2017 Chang’e-5 Sample Return While Taking Proactive Steps For Human Mission

Change Human Missions

Chang’e-6 Could Serve As Precursor Accelerating China ~2030 Human Moon Mission Goal After CE5 Sample Return In 2017 Tests Related Technologies / Equipment; China Academy Of Space Technology Pang Zhihao States “Manned Lunar Spacecraft Will Be Different”; CE4 To Explore Moon Far Side NET 2018, May Carry Radio Telescope For Astronomy States Zou Yongliao Of Chinese Academy Of Sciences; CE3 Continues As Sole Operational Surface Mission; CE2 Orbiter Scouted Proposed Landing Sites; CE1 Inaugural Mission First Great Step

Credit: China Academy of Space Technology, China Academy of Sciences

Friday / 29 January 2016

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Long March 5 Maiden Flight Planned For Sep-Oct, Will Carry Chang’e-5 In 2017

China Rockets

China Long March 5 Heavy-Lift Rocket With Maximum Payload Capacity Of 14,000kg To GTO Is Being Set Up For Launch Rehearsal, Tested & Assembled At Wenchang Satellite Launch Center (19°N) On Hainan Island In Preparation For Sep-Oct Initial Flight According To Lei Fanpei (CASC); Rocket Launching From Hainan To Loft Chang’e-5 Lunar Sample Return Mission In 2017; Long March 7 Medium-Heavy Rocket Maiden Flight Planned For June, Will Launch Future Cargo For Next-Gen China Space Station

Credit: CASC, Bing Map, sinodefence, CALT, NASA