Moon Monday #227: Proposed cuts, cancellations, continuations, and changes to NASA’s lunar missions
And other mission updates.
And other mission updates.
Plus: Firefly to carry UAE’s second lunar rover and more.
Our Moon may be one of the largest satellites in the Solar System but its exploration has been concentrated on select areas. One of these is low lunar orbit, where mapping spacecraft from three countries have been concurrently flying from pole to pole between 50 to 150 kilometers above the
Key news of the month: China has achieved the first ever daytime Earth-Moon distance measurement wherein a 1.2-meter telescope reflected an infrared laser off of a small retroreflector on the 61-kilogram Tiandu 1 lunar orbiter. This was accomplished despite massive interference from our Sun. Tiandu 1 was launched alongside
Two announcements before we begin: 1. I’m honored to be moderating a fantastic panel on modern themes in global lunar exploration at the international Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX) on Friday, May 9. If you’re attending GLEX in New Delhi, join us for the session. And, if you’
ISRO has been publishing monthly summaries of the varied activities and programs of India’s Department of Space (DOS) for years. Lately though, there have been consistent delays in publishing them by a month or two, and sometimes even more. The summaries have been trimmed too, now conveying less than
And more such interesting Moon exploration updates from China’s National Space Day on April 24.
Plus: Exploration and science updates from the US, South Korea, and Europe.
And, countries allied with the US are facing delays in their own missions, allowing China to lead in this aspect of lunar exploration too.
Plus mission updates and some tangents.
Plus: A host of new lunar science results from Chandrayaan 2 and 3. Enjoy this 3200-word Chandrayaan-special. 🌙
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