New NASA Goddard Video Shows How LRO Instruments Have Mapped Moon Polar Craters, Which Have Not Seen Sun For Over 2B Years Due To 1.6-Degree Lunar Tilt; LOLA Uses Lasers To Compose Topographic Maps; LAMP Measures Faint Light Of Other Stars; Diviner Measures Extreme Cold Temperatures; LEND Measures Speed Of Neutrons To Detect Elements Such As Hydrogen
Image Credit: NASA
GRAIL Impact Craters Imaged By LROC; Twin 200-kg Orbiters Crashed Near North Pole On 17 Dec 2012 At Speed Of 6,070 km/h; Coordination Between 2 Mission Teams Allowed LRO LAMP Instrument To Analyze Ejecta Plume From Crash; Instrument Detected Mercury, Surprising For Sunlit Area; Results Added To Growing Understanding Of Nature Of Volatiles At Lunar Poles & How They Are Transported Around Moon
Image Credit: NASA
Ben Bussey Of John Hopkins University APL Presenting Data – Acquired By Recent Fleet Of International Lunar Spacecraft – Characterizing Moon Poles, 27 Mar At NASA Lunar Science Institute In CA, USA; Results Useful For Planning Future Robotic & Human Missions; Geology Of Poles, Surface & Subsurface Properties, Possibilities For Surface Operations / Regolith Excavation / Drilling & Potential Instrumentation Needed For Science From / On Moon
Image Credit: NASA
German Research Centers ZARM & DFKI Robotics Innovation Center Developing Robotic System For Lunar Crater Exploration; RIMRES (Reconfigurable Integrated Multi-Robot Exploration System) Project Consists Of 2.4-m / 200-kg SHERPA Rover (R) Which Uses Hybrid Wheel-Leg System To Transport 1-m / 27-kg CREX Hexapod Robot (L) Capable Of Descending 80⁰ Crater Slopes, Conduct Science Investigations; All Modules Connected Via Electromechanical Interface
Image Credit: DFKI, ZARM
Shackleton Energy COO Jim Keravala, To Be Featured At 2013 CSCA National Conference, Says Water Estimated At Moon North Pole Could Fuel A Shuttle Launch Every Day For 2,200 Years; Company Plans To Create Fuel Depot Stations On Moon & In LEO By 2020; Will Launch 2 Robotic Prospectors To Lunar Poles By 2016; If Resource Extraction For Propellant Appears Profitable Will Send 6-12 Humans To Surface To Establish Base
Image Credit: J. Keravala/Shackleton Energy
Analysis Of Apollo Moon Rocks – Led By Hejiu Hui Of University Of Notre Dame – Throws Moon Origin Theory Into Question; Modern Instruments Able To Detect 6 ppm Of Water In Interior Of Genesis (R) & Other Apollo Rocks Once Thought To Be Dry; Researchers Estimate Early Moon Magma Contained Up To 320 ppm; Impact Theory Of Moon Formation (L) Does Not Account For These Damp Findings
Image Credit: nasa.gov, nd.edu
Canadian Space Commerce Association 2013 National Conference On 7 March In Toronto, Ontario, Canada; What Can Space Companies Learn From Canada Mining Industry & Vice Versa? Speakers Include Dale Boucher Of NORCAT, Robert Richards Of Moon Express, Rick Tumlinson (T) Of Deep Space Industries Inc., Peter Visscher (B) Of Artemis Jr / RESOLVE Project, Space Law Experts Ram Jakhu & Melissa Force
Image Credit: CSCA
Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) Designed By NASA To Extract Water, Ice, For Fuel & Life Support From Regolith On Moon Or Other Dusty Bodies; 45kg, 0.75m-Tall Device Designed As Feeder For Lunar Resource Processing Plant; Current Design Likely To Evolve With Roll Out Of RASSOR-2 In Early 2014 For Testing
Image Credit: NASA
Roscosmos Head Vladimir Popovkin Says Russia Planning Luna-Glob Moon Lander Mission In 2015; Mission Will Be 1st From New US$1B Vostochny Cosmodrome In Far East Amur Region Of Russia; 1400-kg Spacecraft Will Place 500-kg Landing Module On South Pole Of Moon; Craft Will Carry Up To 25kg Of Scientific Equipment To Search For Water / Take Soil Samples, Yet Main Objective Of Mission Is To Achieve Landing On Another World / Moon
Image Credit: Roscosmos
As GRAIL Mission Data, Including Imagery Of Spacecraft Surface Approach, Continues To Flow Through Scientific Community, NASA Invests In Technology Development To Search For Water Deposits Inside Permanently Shadowed Moon Craters; US$300K Contract Awarded To Xylem Inc. To Develop Specialized Mass Spectrometer For RESOLVE Mission Lunar Rover; With Sufficient Authorization & Funding USA / Canada Mission Could Land On Moon In 2017
Image Credit: NASA, Xylem Inc.