Tuesday / 6 Feb 2024

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Japan Pioneers Lunar Broadcasting with First Amateur Radio Station on Moon

JAXA Ham Radio Club (call sign JQ1ZVI) has established radio communication in 437.41 MHz frequency with 1 W UHF transmitter weighing just 90 g aboard Lunar Excursion Vehicle (LEV-1) hopper (2.2 kg total mass), deployed from JAXA SLIM lander during 19 Jan UTC (20 Jan JST) landing descent; Signal containing Morse Code received by operators around Earth from a distance of ~380,000 km, including C.A. Muller Radio Astronomy Station utilizing 25 m radio telescope at Dwingeloo NL; SLIM is currently dormant as lunar night transpires but JAXA operators will attempt reactivation upon lunar daybreak in mid-Feb

Credits: JAXA, Bard

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 2-5 Feb 2024

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Intuitive Machines Set to Become First Independent Operator on Moon with US$118M Mission

Nova-C class lunar lander Odysseus may make history with expected 22 Feb landing near Malapert A crater (80.2°S, 1°E), ~175 km from the peak of Malapert Massif and ~300 km from MSP; Intuitive Machines will be the fourth commercial attempt at Moon landing, following SpaceIL (Feb 2019), ispace (April 2023) and Astrobotic (Jan 2024) and the first USA landing attempt of any type in over 51 years, since Apollo 11 (Dec 1972); In addition to 5 NASA commissioned science instruments, Odysseus will carry 6 commercial payloads (clockwise): ILO-X (International Lunar Observatory Association), Lunaprise (Galactic Legacy Labs), Independence (Lonestar Data Holdings), Moon Phases (Jeff Koons, 4Space), Omni-Heat Infinity (Columbia Sportswear), and Eaglecam (Embry-Riddle)

Credits: Intuitive Machines

Tuesday / 30 Jan 2024

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SLIM Awakens, Resumes Mission to Characterize Lunar Surface

The motorcycle-sized SLIM lunar lander is collecting solar energy and conducting spectral analysis of regolith near 13.3160° S, 25.2510° E landing site after 10 days of uncertainty following off-nominal descent caused by loss of 1 (of 2) 500 N main engine resulting in a flipped landing orientation requiring westward sun; Despite this adversity, SLIM did achieve 1.4 m/s soft-landing within ~55 m of precision targeted site and is set to continue collecting data until end of lunar day, ~31 Jan UTC (began ~16 Jan) within 10 spectral bands via Multiband Spectroscopic Camera (MBC); Landscape image (L) generated by completing 257 low-res images reveals first light including protuberance dubbed ‘toy poodle’

Credits: JAXA, Ritsumeikan University, University of Aizu

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 26-29 Jan 2024

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Stability of Moon South Pole Under Scrutiny Ahead of Artemis Human Lunar Landings

NASA-supported study Tectonics and Seismicity of the Lunar South Polar Region surveys recent LRO and historical Apollo Passive Seismic Network data to analyze 15 lobate thrust fault scarps, thought to be caused by interior cooling and Earth tidal forces, in the MSP region including in de Gerlache Rim, 1 of 13 candidate sites for Artemis 3; Modelling of associated shallow moonquakes (SMQ) indicate shaking up to 50km from epicenters, a safety concern especially for areas such as Shackleton crater which may be susceptible to regolith landslides; Further insight to be gained when Farside Seismic Suite is carried on Draper Series-2 lander to Schrödinger basin NET 2025 under CLPS

Credits: NASA / LRO

Tuesday / 23 Jan 2024

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Japan Celebrates Becoming 5th Nation to Soft Land on Moon as Efforts to Extend Surface Operations Continue

JAXA has met its minimum success criteria for SLIM mission by landing softly on the lunar surface, however operations were suspended when battery level reached 12% at 02:57, Jan 20 JST (17:57 on 19 Jan UTC) just hours after landing due to attitude anomaly which left solar panels oriented westward; Prior to battery disconnection, JAXA ‘obtained a lot of data‘ and hopes to receive more if lander can be reactivated as Sun moves west toward the end of the current lunar day (~30 Jan); While not designed for lunar night survivability, ‘if the spacecraft survives the -200°F night, then in two weeks’ time, it could revive again‘ per ISAS Director General Hitoshi Kuninaka

Credits: JAXA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 19-22 Jan 2024

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Astrobotic Looking Forward as Intuitive Machines Prepares its Effort to Land First Commercial Mission on Moon

The first attempted USA commercial lunar lander has returned to Earth, reentering over the South Pacific with undetermined wreckage possibly resting near 23.087°S, 176.594°E ~450 km south of Kadavu (Fiji) and east of Aneityum (Vanuatu) Islands; Despite propellant leak which prevented Moon landing, “There’s a lot that worked” on Peregrine Mission 1, Astrobotic CEO John Thornton told media at joint NASA press conference, while the final mission update declares Peregrine has flown so Griffin may land; Intuitive Machines IM-1 is the next (of up to 9) scheduled CLPS missions, with Nova-C launch window set to open NET 11 Feb; CEO Steve Altemus envisions infrastructure business model “where the company plays the same role as highways, railroads, and shipping lanes are for Earth, but at the moon [sic]” per interview with Spectrum News in Orlando

Credits: Astrobotic

Friday / 19 Jan 2024

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Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Moon Mission Preparing for Final Landing Approach

JAXA Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) currently in elliptical 600 x 150 km lunar orbit following Perigee Descent Maneuver #1 (PDM1) which transferred craft from a 600 x 600 km circular orbit on 17 Jan 22:28 JST (13:28 UTC); Operators now preparing for PDM2, which is slated to bring orbit perilune even closer to the lunar surface (15 m) while maintaining 600 km apolune at ~22:40 JST (13:40 UTC) on 19 Jan; Mission success to be measured by 3 criteria: achieving soft landing (minimum), verification of <100 m landing accuracy (full) and continued operations until lunar nightfall (extra); Onboard Multiband Camera to investigate area around 13.2° S, 25.3° E landing site for mineral composition (specifically olivine) and LEV-1 /-2 rovers to explore & image lander; JAXA to livestream landing descent starting 20 Jan 00:00 JST (19 Jan 15:00 UTC)

Credits: JAXA

Tuesday / 16 Jan 2024

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Peregrine Set for Controlled Reentry into Earth Atmosphere as Astrobotic Works to Collect Data from Payloads

Now ~350,837 km from Earth, Peregrine Moon lander on 8th day of operation in cislunar space is in stable condition with propellant leak ‘practically stopped‘ as Astrobotic and USA government agencies work to determine trajectory for Earth reentry expected NET 18 Jan, although Astrobotic reserves right to determine final flight path independently; 10 payloads continue to receive power despite inability to conduct long duration corrective maneuvers; Joint press conference with NASA discussing mission set for 18 Jan 12:00 EST, which may shed light on Dynetics-built propulsion system valve anomaly

Credits: Astrobotic

Friday / 12 Jan 2024

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China Lunar Sample Return Mission Chang’E-6 Prepares for NET May Launch to Moon Far Side

CNSA Chang’E-6 Moon spacecraft (orbiter, lander, ascender and re-entry module – totaling 8,200-kg launch mass) now at Wenchang, Hainan undergoing pre-launch tests ahead of 53-day mission to collect 2 kg of lunar regolith from Apollo crater within South Pole-Aitken Basin (~43°S, 154°W), expected to launch in May; International payloads include Detection of Outgassing Radon (DORN, France), INstrument for landing-Roving laser Retroreflector Investigations (INRRI, Italy), Negative Ions on Lunar Surface (NILS, Sweden) and iCUBE-Q 3U Cube Sat (Pakistan); Chang’E-6 is the world’s first attempt at lunar far side sample retrieval

Credits: CNSA

Tuesday / 9 Jan 2024

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11 Days to SLIM Lunar Landing Attempt as Astrobotic Troubleshoots and Intuitive Machines Preps for NET Feb Launch

JAXA SLIM tightening 6.4 hour / 600 x 4,000 km elliptical lunar orbit ahead of maneuvers which are to bring landing craft to 15 x 600 km pre-landing orbit by 19 Jan JST ahead of 20 Jan 12:20 JST (19 Jan 10:20 EST) landing attempt which will employ unique horizontal landing strategy with goal of 100-m landing accuracy; Astrobotic team reestablish Peregrine communication and electrical power following successful ULA Vulcan Centaur launch and subsequent orientation anomaly, reconfiguration of mission may limit operations to lunar orbit and/or transit; Intuitive Machines NOVA-C set to be NASA CLPS next ‘shot on goal’ launching within multi-day window opening mid-Feb

Credits: JAXA, Astrobotic