> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://jatan.space/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Moon Monday #122: Moonstruck maple nation, Artemis updates, a lunar water map, and more
- URL: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-122/
- Published: 2023-04-10T13:30:42.000Z
- Updated: 2024-02-21T09:15:12.000Z
- Author: Jatan Mehta
- Tags: Moon Monday, US Artemis

## Canada ramps up its lunar exploration ambitions

![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f2fd6b7af-337b-432c-95b7-4170047c906e_1450x1080-jpeg-1.jpg)

An illustration of Canada’s highly autonomous Canadarm3 servicing system, located on the exterior of Gateway, an upcoming NASA-led lunar orbital habitat. [Credits: CSA / NASA](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/multimedia/search/image/watch/12642)

On March 28, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) [announced](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/news/articles/2023/2023-03-29-significant-investments-to-further-propel-canadian-space-exploration.asp) long-term budgets to accelerate the country’s lunar exploration endeavors, summarized below in context:

- Thanks to Canada contributing the [Canadarm3](https://asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/canadarm3/about.asp) robotics servicing system to the [Gateway](https://www.nasa.gov/gateway), an upcoming NASA-led international lunar orbital habitat, the country has secured not just [astronaut seats](https://www.canada.ca/en/space-agency/news/2020/12/a-canadian-astronaut-will-fly-to-the-moon.html) but also dedicated time to perform science & technology experiments onboard. To that end, CSA will invest $76.5 million over eight years in Canada-led Gateway experiments.

  - Relatedly, NASA is targeting [launch](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-contract-to-launch-initial-elements-for-lunar-outpost) of the Gateway with two core modules in 2025, which will host some interfaces of the highly autonomous Canadarm3 system. But the bulk of it including the arms, which is [maturing](https://mda.space/en/article/mda-awarded-contract-for-next-phase-canadarm3) in its design phase right now with $269 million in funding, will launch in 2027 at the earliest. Canadarm3 will aid in installing and supporting scientific instruments on the Gateway.
- Canada will continue investing $150 million over five years in its Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program ([LEAP](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/funding-programs/programs/leap)). Previously as part of LEAP CSA [chose Canadensys](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/moon-exploration/first-canadian-rover-to-explore-the-moon.asp) last year to develop [the country’s first lunar rover](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/moon-exploration/first-canadian-rover-to-explore-the-moon.asp) to explore south polar [water ice](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/). It will launch on an as-yet unspecified NASA-funded [CLPS](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/) lander in 2026\. It’s also through LEAP that [multiple payloads and services](https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=2587) are flying on [ispace Japan’s first Moon lander](https://jatan.space/ispace-japan-m1-moon-mission/) right now in lunar orbit, with [more payloads](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/funding-programs/programs/leap/contributions-awarded.asp#capability) being funded.
- Canada will invest $1.2 billion over 13 years to develop a “Lunar Utility Vehicle”, which will provide critical assistance to [Artemis](https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis) astronauts on future surface missions. Canada hopes that akin to Canadarm3, this contribution will allow a Canadian astronaut to walk on the Moon as part of a NASA Artemis mission. JAXA also hopes to have [a Japanese astronaut on the Moon](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-79/) in return for providing an [advanced crewed pressurized rover](https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2019/03/20190312a.html).

  - This isn’t the first move by Canada intended to provide infrastructure support for Artemis. Last year, CSA [funded](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/funding-programs/programs/stdp/funding-potential-moon-infrastructure.asp) five companies to conduct seven concept studies on possible infrastructure contributions to NASA’s future [Artemis Basecamp](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-outlines-lunar-surface-sustainability-concept) surface habitat. The studies range from food production to mining and power generation. Next up, CSA intends to soon fund five of these to start prototyping hardware.

## Artemis updates

Hardware progress continues for NASA’s [Artemis II](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-first-flight-with-crew-important-step-on-long-term-return-to-the-moon-missions-to) mission to fly [four astronauts](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-names-astronauts-to-next-moon-mission-first-crew-under-artemis) around our Moon and back. The latest update concerns the 15,000-kilogram [European Service Module](https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/esm) (ESM), which will provide propulsion, water, oxygen, thermal control, and electrical power to the [Orion capsule](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/meet-nasa-s-orion-spacecraft) hosting the astronauts. As part of an ongoing series of standard [space-simulating tests](https://jatan.space/how-we-test-spacecraft-before-launch/), the ESM is [undergoing acoustic testing](https://blogs.esa.int/orion/2023/04/05/dropping-the-fat-beats-with-d-fat) with large speakers that simulate the intense sounds and vibrations of an [SLS rocket](https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/overview.html) launch. During launch, the ESM needs to endure a maximum sound level of 140 decibels, an experience akin to standing next to a speaker at a live rock concert. Fun fact: To that end, ESA [says](https://blogs.esa.int/orion/2023/04/05/dropping-the-fat-beats-with-d-fat) the speakers used to test ESM are also rented for concerts!

Tangent: NASASpaceflight [details](https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/04/egs-launch-team-artemis-ii) how Integration Console engineers on the Artemis II launch team would work with the astronauts to ensure smooth launch day activities.

![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f7db8b8a4-48ef-4357-b571-edc2b35b9eb3_2072x1400-jpeg.jpg)

The Orion crew module during its 141-decibel acoustic testing in 2019 for Artemis I. [Credits: Radislav Sinyak / NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/good-vibrations-orion-crew-module-undergoes-testing)

NASA published a [document](https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/m2m%5Fstrategy%5Fand%5Fobjectives%5Fdevelopment.pdf) on April 5 explaining the systems engineering methodologies the agency is using to develop and [refine](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-96/) its [Moon to Mars Objectives](https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/moon-to-mars-objectives-.pdf), something central to its long-term human exploration plans. This comes just as NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate ([ESDMD](https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/exploration-systems-development)) formed a [new Strategy and Architecture Office](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/new-program-office-leads-nasa-s-path-forward-for-moon-mars), which will lead the development of an integrated master plan for crewed Artemis missions based on said objectives.

---

*Many thanks to [Epsilon3](https://www.epsilon3.io) for sponsoring this week’s Moon Monday.*

---

## Scientists continue better understanding water’s movement on our Moon

One of the last scientific contributions by NASA-DLR’s now-retired, airborne [SOFIA](https://www.nasa.gov/mission%5Fpages/SOFIA/overview/index.html) infrared observatory is a [new wide-area map](https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acbdf2) of water on our Moon’s surface as observed in February 2022\. It supports [previous research results](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-study-highlights-importance-of-surface-shadows-in-moon-water-puzzle) which suggest that lunar surface water hops and accumulates in shaded regions over the day.

![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f5599b35e-fc08-4bd1-a59f-30b9cddac059_1920x1080-jpeg.jpg)

A visualization of SOFIA water signature data overlaid on a visualization of the Moon as it appeared at the time of the observations in February 2022\. Dark blue indicates the highest concentration levels. [Credits: Ernie Wright / NASA GSFC](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/study-reveals-map-of-moon-s-water-near-its-south-pole)

The upcoming NASA-funded [Lunar Trailblazer](https://jatan.space/nasa-lunar-trailblazer/) orbiter will better [monitor](https://trailblazer.caltech.edu/files/NESFELS%5F210720.pdf) how lunar water migrates across sunlit regions in a wide range of latitudes. ISRO’s [Chandrayaan 2 orbiter](https://jatan.space/chandrayaan-2-is-creating-the-highest-resolution-map-of-the-moon/) has already [detected](https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v121/i3/391-401) both water and hydroxyl molecules in three different sunlit lunar areas, across a wide latitude range, to help scientists understand how water is produced and transported across the surface.

![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f7965089f-3719-450d-9063-3ba9e9348179_2120x1000-jpeg.jpg)

Water concentrations in mid-northern-latitudes on the Moon as observed by ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 infrared spectrometer. Note that red indicates highest concentrations here. [Credit: Prakash Chauhan, et al.](https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v121/i3/391-401)

Both these orbiters can use finer spectral data and and better temperature measurements from lunar orbit to better apply thermal corrections and achieve a better signal-to-noise ratio than the Earthbound SOFIA, where scientists had to deal with more false positives due to water in our atmosphere. And so, we’ll soon get a better handle on exactly how water moves across the Moon, day and night, and how some of it settles inside [permanently shadowed regions](https://jatan.space/permanently-shadowed-regions-on-the-moon/).

## More Moon

- ISRO [organized a workshop](https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan-3%5FData%5FAnalysis%5FWorkshop%5Ffor%5FNational%5FAcademia%5Fand%5FInstitutes.html) on March 28–29 to train students and researchers on lunar science and data analysis, especially for the expected in-situ measurements from instruments on the soon-launching [Chandrayaan 3](https://jatan.space/isro-chandrayaan-3-prelaunch-info/) lander and rover respectively.
- Andrew Jones [reports](https://spacenews.com/china-invites-venezuela-to-join-moon-base-project) that China has invited long-time space partner Venezuela to support the joint Sino-Russian long-term scientific base on the Moon’s south pole, called the [International Lunar Research Station](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-32/) (ILRS). According to a [joint statement](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0ncCkxq9TaWtkDL5TBV0xA), Venezuela intends to sign a Memorandum of Understanding as soon as possible. The country of Pakistan is another such candidate, considering that their first lunar orbiter ICUBE-Q will launch [aboard](https://spacenews.com/china-seeks-new-partners-for-lunar-and-deep-space-exploration) the Chang’e 6 lander in 2026.
- For All Moonkind, a nonprofit aiming to [protect](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/bill-announcement-123020-2) heritage lunar landing sites, has started the [Institute on Space Law and Ethics](https://www.forallmoonkind.org/institute/). Their primary goal is to draft a series of white papers to help governments with ethical issues surrounding commercial lunar exploration, especially in cases where regulations wouldn’t have yet caught up with drastic technological advancements.
- The [Spring Meeting](https://lsic.jhuapl.edu/Events/Agenda/index.php?id=380) of the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium, a key group which formally supports NASA’s lunar technology developments, will be on April 24–25\. Day 2’s [CLPS program](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/) updates might be something to look out for.

---

**→ [Sponsor Moon Monday](https://blog.jatan.space/sponsor-moon-monday) | [Browse the Blog](https://blog.jatan.space/start) | [About](https://blog.jatan.space/about)**