Website & Blog of Jatan Mehta, a globally published & cited space writer. Read deep dives on global lunar and space exploration.

The fiery origin of our Moon tied to Earth, as unraveled by scientists through Apollo and now modern missions

Moon Monday #290: Lunar samples brought by Apollo missions transformed our understanding of the Moon’s formation and Earth’s past. Chang’e and Chandrayaan missions have newly enriched the endeavor as scientists continue unraveling its complex layers.

Exploring the marvel that are mountains on the Moon

Moon Monday #289: They form near-instantly and offer a peak into the Moon's interior, improving our understanding of planets across the Solar System and beyond.

Skyroot Vikram-1, the least worst case scenario for India’s launch crisis

Indian Space Progress #41-42: A garden does not save the forest.

Rocket equation 101: Revealing our Moon’s value as a launchpad

Moon Monday #288: Realizations from fundamental physics at the heart of the rocket equation. Paired with memes for fun and poetry for ethics.

Poem: On the edge

Craft launched from Luna, no tether can go farther, faster while being lighter Exploring more worlds with joy and curiosity hosting ideas, deploying empathy and even skepticism for humanity From the edge of a gravitational well they can push the discourse and shape its course All of these futures can

Moon Monday #287: Mission updates from China, the US, Europe, and Japan

Before we begin, I’m thrilled to share that Open Lunar Foundation is continuing as a sponsor of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter for the sixth year! 🌕 Open Lunar is a US-based non-profit organization with a global team that develops bottom-up tools of lunar governance to enable

Our Moon is two-faced. Science missions unravel its layers.

Moon Monday #286: China’s Chang’e 6 samples have helped scientists decipher enigmatic layers of the lunar farside, leaving a curious trail for future missions to build upon.

Upcoming missions to the Moon’s farside—that’s definitely not its dark side.

Moon Monday #285

Articles on asteroids, comets, and dwarf worlds

* Why explore asteroids, comets, and other small worlds * When to worry about an asteroid hitting Earth * Psyche, exploring a metal world * Japan wants to sample Mars’ moon Phobos with its MMX mission * Weirdest types of moons in our Solar System Related: Articles on moons other than our Moon Like my

Explore our Moon!

A curated page of resources to learn and share how countries worldwide have explored our stellar cosmic companion.

Slightly different articles on Mars and missions to it

I’m very much a Moon person but I’ve written a bit about Mars over the years as well, highlighting a few key aspects about the red planet’s exploration which I thought aren’t discussed as much or in detail. NASA explores Mars * Looking back at Pathfinder as

The Moon’s south pole is a place of promise and perils. Effective data sharing will benefit and save everyone.

Moon Monday #283: Some engineers and scientists are leading by example.