Category Archives: South Pole Moon

Friday / 12 June 2020

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Artemis Awards Astrobotic US$199.5M For Moon South Pole 2023 VIPER Launch, 19D CLPS Task Order Could Be Announced In Summer

Under Task Order 20A Astrobotic Griffin Lander With 500-kg Capacity To Deliver JSC-built, 450-kg Remotely Controlled Vehicle For 20-km Mission Over 100-Earth Days To Seek Water Ice At Moon South Pole, Vital Resource For Both Human Sustenance And Separating Into Oxygen / Hydrogen For Fuel, Launch Provider Unannounced; ULA Vulcan Planning To Lift Smaller Peregrine Lander To Lunar Surface NET July 2021 On Maiden Flight

Credits:  Astrobotic Technology

Friday / 5 June 2020

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Moon ‘Ice Favorability Index’ Created By UCF Benefits Moon Prospecting Mission Planning, Ice Formation Studies

Supported By NASA SSERVI & Center For Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science At UCF, Team Led By Kevin Cannon Creates Geological Model Of Lunar Poles, PSR / Craters And Most Likely Areas Of Ice To Determine Distribution “At Meter To Hundred-Meter Scales Relevant For Mining Operations”; Vital For Surviving Off-Earth, 1st Direct Evidence Of Water Vapor At Moon Shown By Apollo 14 In 1975 Inspiring Countless Prospecting, Science Plans; CLPS Missions Could Launch To Moon South Pole 2022, Chang’e-6 Sample Return 2021-23, Volatiles Rover 2023, 1st Human Mission 2024-25

Credits: K. Cannon via Twitter, ESA, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 8-11 May 2020

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Roscosmos Contractor Signals Luna Program Readiness For 5 Moon Missions

In Videoconference With PM Putin, State-Owned Aerospace Company NPO Lavochkin Director Kolmykov States Luna-25 (Formerly Known As Luna-Glob) 1,750-kg Uncrewed Lander “In Assembly And First Trial Stages”, To Be Completed By March 2021, Launch To Boguslavsky Crater (72.9°S 43.3°E) On Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M Expected 1 October 2021, Though Many Observers Skeptical; Lavochkin Is Also Manufacturer Of Upper Stage; 30-kg Payload On Luna-25 Consists Of 9 Instruments Including Mass-Spectrometer, Panoramic Imager, Laser Retroreflector; Luna-26-29 To See Large Rover And Sample Return

 

Credits: Roscosmos, Vladimir Kolmykov Via Twitter

Friday / 6 March 2020

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JAXA Joins ISRO For Joint Polar Exploration Mission And Seeks University Input On Lunar Resources 

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Creates Preliminary Project Team For Joint JAXA-India Space Research Organization Lunar Polar Exploration Mission In Early 2020s; JAXA-Developed Smart Lander For Investigation Of Moon (SLIM) Technology Will Enable Precision Landing On Lunar Pole; Mission Will Search For Water And Other Resources; JAXA Seeks Input From Universities And Institutes On In-situ Resource Utilization; Focus Will Be On Water Resources And Construction Of Lunar Propellant Plant

Credits: JAXA

Tuesday / 3 March 2020

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  Galaxy Forum Southeast Asia 2020 In Chiang Mai Leading Towards SEA Regional Presence On Moon

International Lunar Observatory Association And National Astronomical Research Institute Of Thailand Hosts Galaxy Forum Southeast Asia 2020 With Theme Of Astronomy From The Moon At Princess Sirindhorn AstroPark In Chiang Mai – Support Base For Largest Thailand Observatory At Doi Inthanon; Opening Remarks Will Be Given By Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chaki Sirindhorn, Known As “Princess Of Astronomy” For Her Contributions; Southeast Asia Could Become One Of First Regions To Conduct Astronomy From The Moon Via Potential Principal Operating Partnership Constructs

Credits: Princess Sirindhorn AstroPark, ILOA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28 Feb – 2 Mar 2020

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Commercial Lunar Services Providers Enlisted For New Polar Rover

Commercial Lunar Payload Services 19C Proposals For Smaller Lander Mission Due First Week Of March; CLPS Providers Astrobotic And Intuitive Machines Building Landers For July 2021; NASA Seeking Bids From 14 CLPS Providers To Land New Rover At Moon Pole 2023; 350-Kg Volatiles Investigation Polar Exploration Rover Will Roam Several Kilometers For Up To 100 Days, Seek Water Ice With 4 Instruments Including One-Meter TRIDENT Drill; 19D Solicitation Expected To Follow, For Larger Cargo Landers Potentially To Moon Equator

Credits: NASA, Ceres Robotics

Friday / 28 February 2020

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CubeSats To Orbit Moon In 2021 To Prepare For Artemis 

NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program Funds CubeSats For Moon; Lunar Flashlight Will Fly As Secondary Payload On Artemis-1; With Principal Investigator Barbara Cohen, Flashlight Will Examine Permanently Shadowed Regions Near South Pole For Water Ice Deposits; Rocket Lab Has Contract To Launch Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations And Navigation Experiment In 2021; 25-Kg CAPSTONE, Built By Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Will Reach Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit As Precursor To Lunar Gateway

Credits: NASA, Rocket Lab

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 21-24 Feb 2020

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USA, PRC Lunar Probes Break Records Operating From Orbit And On Surface

Chang’e-4 Yutu-2 Operates During 15th Lunar Day In South Pole-Aitken Basin, Longest Duration Of Any Rover In Moon History; Completes Over 367 Meters Travel And Discovers Younger Rocks In 3.6-Billion Year Old Von Karman Crater On Far Side; Netherlands-China Low Frequency Explorer Operates Aboard Queqiao Orbiter, Gathering Astronomy Data In 21 Cm Range; Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, In Orbit Since September 2009, Scouting Landing Sites For Artemis Human Lunar Landings

Credits: NASA, CLEP, CNSA

Tuesday / 18 February 2020

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  Permanently Shadowed South Polar Region Operations To Be Studied By Universities Under BIG Idea NASA Awards

NASA 2020 Breakthrough, Innovative And Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge To Award Nearly USD$1M To Eight University Teams For Demonstrating Ways To Work In Moon’s Darkest Regions; MIT AeroAstro Team, Supervised By Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, Will Build 100-Kg Multifunctional Expandable Lunar Lite Tall Tower (MELLTT) To Extend 100 Feet From Lander; Northeastern University Will Build SCOUT Rover And DOGHOUSE Support Module; Concepts Will Be Designed To Operate In Permanently Shadowed Regions Near Lunar South Pole

Credits: NASA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 Feb 2020

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New Race To Moon South Pole – Malapert Mountain

Multiple Nations And Commercial Enterprises Aiming For Lunar South Polar Region; Following CNSA Chang’e-5 Sample Return In 2020, Chang’e-6 And Chang’e-7 Will Explore South Pole; ISRO Chandrayaan-3, -4 and -5 Will Continue Polar Landing Goal Of Chandrayaan-2; SpaceX Promises Lunar Landings By 2022; NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services May Carry Payloads Such As The International Lunar Observatory ILO-1 For Galaxy Imaging And Broadcasting From Malapert Mountain, One Of The Most Important And Valuable Sites In Solar System

Credits: NASA, CNSA, ISRO, SpaceX, ILOA