> ## 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 #151: On Astrobotic‘s first lunar landing, Chandrayaan 3 blasting away lunar material, an older & cooler Luna, and much more - URL: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-151/ - Published: 2023-10-30T15:25:04.000Z - Updated: 2024-02-21T09:14:49.000Z - Author: Jatan Mehta - Tags: Moon Monday, US Artemis *If you’re reading this blog+newsletter, you’re likely in a position of privilege. Please [consider donating](https://time.com/6322238/how-to-help-israel-gaza-war-victims) for the [affected innocent kids](https://www.instapaper.com/text?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehindu.com%2Fphotos%2Fin-frames-children-of-the-disputed-land%2Farticle67472529.ece) in the Hamas-Israel war. The [Palestine Children’s Relief Fund](https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/gaza-relief) is the option I’ve supported via since the non-political non-profit is providing basic necessities to children regardless of their religion. There’s also [Save the Children](https://www.savethechildren.org/us/where-we-work/west-bank-gaza).* ## Astrobotic’s first CLPS Moon lander gets a launch date; will carry 5 NASA payloads instead of 11 ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f8f9e36c4-a320-4b0f-928a-beed9811da80_1950x1300-jpeg-1.jpg) Astrobotic’s first Moon lander, Peregrine. [Image: John Thornton](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6998697480980676609) ULA [announced](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/24/ula-ceo-inaugural-vulcan-rocket-launch-slated-for-christmas-eve.html) that the company is [targeting](https://www.ulalaunch.com/rockets/vulcan-centaur/countdown-to-vulcan) the inaugural launch of its [Vulcan rocket](https://www.ulalaunch.com/rockets/vulcan-centaur) on December 24\. It will carry Astrobotic’s [first lunar lander](https://www.astrobotic.com/astrobotic-awarded-79-5-million-contract-to-deliver-14-nasa-payloads-to-the-moon), part of NASA’s [CLPS program](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/), to Earth orbit. The launch window extends up to December 26, with a similar backup window available in January. Shortly after on October 27, as Stephen Clark [reports](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/for-the-first-launch-of-ulas-vulcan-rocket-its-christmas-or-next-year), Astrobotic’s 2-meter tall Peregrine lander left the company’s headquarters in Pittsburgh for Cape Canaveral, Florida to undergo pre-launch checks and processing. Peregrine will attempt to touchdown in a lunar lava plain just outside the [Gruithuisen volcanic domes](https://jatan.space/unique-volcanic-domes-of-gruithuisen/), carrying [more than 12 payloads from 8 countries](https://www.astrobotic.com/lunar-delivery/manifest), including [a bevy of micro-rovers](https://jatan.space/lunar-rovers-launching-in-2020s/) from 3 countries. Peregrine was also supposed to carry [11 NASA-funded instruments](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/first-commercial-moon-delivery-assignments-to-advance-artemis) but [according to NASA’s webpage](https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science/clps-deliveries/to2-astrobotic) on the agency’s payloads aboard Peregrine, only five instruments are now listed. NASA says on said page that the other six instruments have been “reallocated to future missions to maintain performance margins in Peregrine’s descent to the lunar surface.” NASA doesn’t specify to which missions the payloads were moved to but says they will be “delivered by CLPS \[missions\], international missions, or Artemis human landing system missions.” Note that NASA didn’t publish a press release or even a post on the [official CLPS Blog](https://blogs.nasa.gov/clps) for this change. Neither did Astrobotic on their equivalent channels. Recall that NASA [changed Peregrine’s target landing site](https://blogs.nasa.gov/clps/2023/02/02/new-landing-site-will-upgrade-science-returns-for-astrobotic-flight) from the northeastern lava plain of [Lacus Mortis](https://quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/?extent=18.913265,41.4506243,38.1404583,49.0745437&id=lroc&showTerrain=true&selectedFeature=3113,1077&queryOpts=N4IgLghgRiBcIgL5A&layers=NrBsFYBoAZIRnpEBmZcAsjYIHYFcAbAyAbwF8BdC0ypcOKbRFOOZLRfImqnioA&proj=10) to an unspecified lava plain near the [Gruithuisen domes](https://jatan.space/unique-volcanic-domes-of-gruithuisen/) in the northwest. The announcement was titled “New Landing Site Will Upgrade Science Returns for Astrobotic Flight”, referring to but not specifying how the science there would complement a [future CLPS mission](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-new-instruments-for-priority-artemis-science-on-moon) landing in one of the two Gruithuisen Domes in 2026. As I [covered during the landing site swap](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-113/), the previous higher latitude location was more [suitable](https://www.esa.int/ESA%5FMultimedia/Images/2021/07/The%5Fheart%5Fof%5Fa%5Flunar%5Fsensor) to study [how water gets transported](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-study-highlights-importance-of-surface-shadows-in-moon-water-puzzle) from the Moon’s equator to [permanently shadowed regions](https://jatan.space/permanently-shadowed-regions-on-the-moon/) on the poles where it can remain [preserved for billions of years](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/). Combined with the dropping of six payloads from Peregrine’s mission, two of which were to study local [lunar water](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/), the nature of the move is even more perplexing based on publicly available information, especially when considering that CLPS is managed by NASA’s [Science Mission Directorate](https://science.nasa.gov/about-us/science-strategy). I hope we can get some details from the agency clarifying the rationale behind these decisions. ## More mission updates - Intuitive Machines and SpaceX are targeting the launch of [the former’s first CLPS Moon lander](https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-1) on [January 12, 2024](https://www.intuitivemachines.com/post/intuitive-machines-sets-january-2024-for-historic-u-s-lunar-mission). Eric Berger has [previously reported](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/ars-takes-a-close-up-look-at-the-first-us-lunar-lander-in-half-a-century) that the lander will take five to seven days to reach the Moon, after which it will spend a day lining up with its near-polar landing site of [Malapert A crater](https://quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/query?extent=-27.6167293,-80.9725683,9.6287046,-78.2434553&id=lroc&showTerrain=true&queryOpts=N4IgLghgRiBcIgL5A&layers=NrBsFYBoAZIRnpEBmZcAsjYIHYFcAbAyAbwF8BdC0ypOOKbRFdAJgQSfyJqt6XAMYiBCnrIsibsXLVgydAA4AnJNyEZlarIpA&proj=17) at 80°S before attempting a landing. The mission, named IM-1, will carry [six NASA science & technology payloads](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/first-commercial-moon-delivery-assignments-to-advance-artemis) as part of CLPS. A separate, commercial telescope called [ILO-X](https://iloa.org/ilo-x-precursor) from Hawaii-based ILOA will also be [aboard](https://iloa.org/iloa%5Fnews%5Frelease%5Foct%5F4%5F2023). I blogged more about recent CLPS Moon mission updates on [Moon Monday #146](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-146/). - 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 circa early 2025\. On October 19, technicians [mated](https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2023/10/23/artemis-ii-orion-crew-and-service-modules-joined-together) the 9,000-kilogram [Orion capsule](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/meet-nasa-s-orion-spacecraft) with the 15,000-kilogram [European Service Module](https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/esm). The former will host the astronauts while the latter will provide propulsion, power, water, oxygen, and thermal control to Orion. In the meanwhile, NASA is also [conducting water flow tests](https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/artemis-ii-water-deluge-test) with the mobile launcher of the [SLS rocket](https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/overview.html) atop which Orion will sit during launch. During liftoff, mechanisms push 1.5 million litres of water to the launchpad to protect the rocket, Orion, and its crew from overpressurization and extreme sounds. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f0dfb0a39-d671-472f-a0ff-9f0bcd73409f_1600x1000-jpeg.jpg) Illustration of the Blue Moon Mark 1 lander. [Image: Blue Origin](https://www.blueorigin.com/blue-moon/mark-1) - Last week Blue Origin showed NASA officials a low-fidelity mockup of its [Blue Moon ‘Mark 1’ lander](https://www.blueorigin.com/blue-moon/mark-1), Stephen Clark [reports](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/jeff-bezos-shows-off-new-moon-lander-design-for-nasa). Blue Origin is targeting a lunar landing demonstration with Mark 1 no earlier than 2026, aiming to test and refine critical landing systems before graduating them to the Mark II lander, which will land astronauts on the Moon for NASA with [Artemis V](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-128/) end of decade. Since Blue Origin is [also a NASA-approved commercial lander provider](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/new-companies-join-growing-ranks-of-nasa-partners-for-artemis-program) for the [CLPS program](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/), the company intends to pitch and fly more Mark 1 landers as well, carrying the agency’s science & technology payloads to the Moon. Mark 1’s payload capacity of 3,000 kilograms surpasses all current CLPS landers but SpaceX’s [Lunar Starship](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-spacex-second-contract-option-for-artemis-moon-landing-0), whose crew variant is currently targeting landing astronauts for NASA with [Artemis III](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis-iii) and [Artemis IV](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-101/) in late 2025 and 2028 respectively. Note that NASA requires both Blue Origin’s and SpaceX’s crewed landers to touchdown within 100 meters of the targeted spot on the Moon’s [rocky south pole](https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/lunar-south-pole-atlas/maps/SPole%5FSRidgemap%5FLOLA-Slope5m%5Fv20190515.pdf), which is something the robotic Mark 1 will attempt. It’s also precisely what JAXA’s robotic SLIM lander [will try to achieve](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-144/) as soon as January 2024. - Following the Russian [Luna 25](https://spec.tass.ru/luna-25) lander’s [August 19 crash](https://russianspaceweb.com/luna-glob-flight.html#0819) on the Moon, Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov [says](https://tass.com/science/1697627) that the agency now plans to launch the [Luna 26 polar orbiter](https://www.laspace.ru/en/activities/projects/luna-resurs-oa/?ELEMENT%5FCODE=luna-resurs-oa) in 2026 instead of 2027\. The primary goal of Luna 26 is to map the distribution of [water ice](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/) and minerals on the Moon. ## Chandrayaan 3 blew off two tons of Moon material while landing ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fff261af7-220e-4b22-afc1-0b2c4755a3a4_1500x750-jpeg.jpg) **a)** Chandrayaan 3’s landing site; **b)** Pre-landing picture of the site from the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter; **c)** Post-landing site picture with the Chandrayaan 3 lander; **d)** Inset: Composite, color-coded image to show the lander, its shadow, and its surrounding ejecta halo. [Images: ISRO / Swati Singh, et al.](https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s12524-023-01774-1?sharing%5Ftoken=GAFmCHo9UGzdbua72RUpove4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY4iq-nCOT5iWSzzFzFx19qm4g%5FbPEFqLIexSPA5PFzajusLQCdw2kP-hrVgpPshEXB6gBNuNKSZZ2wdhJhDiyT9zmXiWUVjpHCk0oAph3pQyGoax-PdU1HRS8NrcqT3WU8%3D) ISRO-affiliated scientists at the National Remote Sensing Center have estimated that India’s Chandrayaan 3 lander [ejected 2060 kilograms of surface material](https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s12524-023-01774-1?sharing%5Ftoken=GAFmCHo9UGzdbua72RUpove4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY4iq-nCOT5iWSzzFzFx19qm4g%5FbPEFqLIexSPA5PFzajusLQCdw2kP-hrVgpPshEXB6gBNuNKSZZ2wdhJhDiyT9zmXiWUVjpHCk0oAph3pQyGoax-PdU1HRS8NrcqT3WU8%3D) in the process of [its touchdown](https://jatan.space/chandrayaan-3-makes-historic-touchdown/) on the Moon. This left behind a bright halo surrounding the lander, spanning an area of about 100 square meters. The scientists calculated these numbers by comparing and analyzing pre-and-post-landing pictures of the site from the [Chandrayaan 2 orbiter](https://jatan.space/chandrayaan-2-is-creating-the-highest-resolution-map-of-the-moon/), which hosts the world’s sharpest lunar orbital imager. Looking at other missions, the latest estimate by US scientists says that NASA’s [Apollo 12](https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/apollo-12) lander blasted away about [2600 kilograms](https://arxiv.org/abs/1503.00154) of lunar material during its touchdown whereas Chinese researchers calculated the [Chang’e 5](https://jatan.space/change-5-landing-site/) lander to have displaced only about [336 kilograms](https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace9070358) of material. That’s a non-obvious, non-linear discrepancy between the amount of Moon material dislodged by the three landers; why is that? Well, that’s exactly what such studies want to understand! Originally, the Chinese researchers attributed the bulk of this dissimilarity to the thrust difference between the 13,300-newton, high thrust Apollo 12 engine and the 2900-newton, low thrust Chang’e 5 one. But with only two lit 800-newton engines during its final landing phase, Chandrayaan 3 generated a total thrust of only 1600 Newtons, which makes it difficult to harmonize the amount of ejected material across the landers. Of course, there are other factors at play too, such as varying thicknesses of the loosely bound material at the different landing sites of each of these landers. The initial estimate based on image comparisons is also likely to get revised with more advanced studies. Ultimately, understanding [rocket plume effects](https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game%5Fchanging%5Fdevelopment/projects/PSI) on lunar soil from both low thrust as well as high thrust engines is important. It will help us quantify and characterize [risks posed](https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.12312) by lander plumes to various kinds of nearby lunar hardware and future habitats as we mount an increasing number of missions to the Moon. Analyzing ejecta data from Chandrayaan 3’s [last minute lunar hop](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-143/) will also contribute to that end. --- *A big thank you to *[Epsilon3](https://www.epsilon3.io)*, *[Dany Waller](https://danywaller.github.io/)* and *[Gordon Roesler](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordon-roesler-687a0426)* for sponsoring this week’s Moon Monday!* --- ## Apollo sample studies reinforce that our Moon formed earlier and cooled faster than we thought Modern studies of lunar samples brought to Earth by NASA’s Apollo missions continue to bend our understanding of [the origin of our Moon](https://jatan.space/apollo-moon-origin/). An international group of researchers [better dated](https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2334) elements like Uranium within zircon crystals embedded in Apollo 17 sample 72215 to find the crystal’s age to be [4.46 billion years old](https://www.universetoday.com/163859/the-moon-is-40-million-years-older-than-we-thought). Since our Moon coalesced from the orbital remnants of the titanic collision of a Mars-sized object with the newborn Earth, it had a thick [global magma ocean](https://jatan.space/apollo-moon-origin/). Since these crystals could’ve only formed and survived after the global magma ocean began cooling, their age anchors a minimum number for the formation of our Moon. The finding thus implies our Moon is about 35 million years older than previously thought. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f76c20f1f-fd40-4f23-82cd-16f82d93a47f_1400x1000-jpeg-2.jpg) An artist’s concept of the Moon shortly after its formation, with a mag­ma ocean and a newly forming rocky crust. [Image: NASA Goddard](https://www.dlr.de/content/en/articles/news/2020/03/20200710%5Fa-slightly-younger-moon.html) The result also implies that the magma ocean must have solidified much faster than we thought to forge [the mantle and crust](https://jatan.space/the-two-faced-moon/). Recent [re-research](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26841-4#Sec7) on the Apollo 17 rock sample 76535 [supports this conclusion](https://web.archive.org/web/20211220031528/https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/soestwp/announce/news/advanced-analysis-of-apollo-sample-illuminates-moons-evolution). Abundant lunar samples from future missions like NASA [Artemis](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-link-list/) and CNSA [crewed ones](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-137/) will help us meticulously analyze [pristine mantle and crust samples](https://jatan.space/the-two-faced-moon/) from geologically diverse locations on the Moon. These will bring us closer to knowing the exact origin scenario of our cosmic companion. ## More Moon - Singapore-based Qosmosys [raised $100 million](https://qosmosys.com/qosmosys-secures-historic-us100-million-in-seed-funding-sets-new-industry-record) in seed funding to build and launch—with help from Airbus—its [ZeusX](https://qosmosys.com/zeusx) lunar lander, hopefully by 2027. - On October 23, Belarus [joined](https://spacenews.com/china-adds-belarus-as-partner-for-ilrs-moon-base) the upcoming China-led long-term [scientific base](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-120/) on the Moon’s south pole called the [International Lunar Research Station](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-32/). This agreement comes shortly after many countries joined the project recently, including [Pakistan](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-150/), [Thailand](https://www.narit.or.th/index.php/en-news/3552-en20231005-01), [South Africa](https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758840/c10370666/content.html), and [Venezuela](https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6759533/c10077000/content.html). --- **→ [Browse](https://blog.jatan.space/start) | [Sponsor](https://blog.jatan.space/sponsor-moon-monday) | [About](https://blog.jatan.space/about)**