> ## 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 #158: On Astrobotic’s lunar lander launch, following NASA CLPS updates, an international Artemis, and more - URL: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-158/ - Published: 2024-01-08T10:23:10.000Z - Updated: 2024-02-21T09:14:46.000Z - Author: Jatan Mehta - Tags: Moon Monday, US Artemis ## Astrobotic launches its first spacecraft built to land on the Moon ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f3620dd22-3f70-42df-9c3d-646869028c28_1500x1100-jpeg.jpg) Inaugural launch of the Vulcan rocket on January 8, 2024, carrying Astrobotic’s first Moon lander to space. [Image: ULA](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulalaunch/53449573072/in/album-72177720305133471) At 7:18 UTC today, January 8, Astrobotic’s [Peregrine](https://www.astrobotic.com/lunar-delivery/landers/peregrine-lander) lunar lander [blasted off to space](https://www.youtube.com/live/BWwnpVk6Wq4?feature=shared) onboard the inaugural flight of ULA’s [Vulcan](https://www.ulalaunch.com/rockets/vulcan-centaur) rocket, at long last marking the formal start of missions part of NASA’s [CLPS program](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/) to send agency-funded as well as commercial payloads to the Moon. Vulcan’s upper stage, Centaur V, performed two burns before releasing the 2-meter tall Peregrine into a high Earth orbit 50 minutes into the flight. At 8:18 UTC, Astrobotic began communicating with Earth as expected. The lander will attempt getting into lunar orbit in the last week of January. After orbiting Luna for several weeks, wherein Astrobotic can conduct final operational checkouts to ensure all lander components are performing as desired, Peregrine will attempt an autonomous touchdown on February 23 in a lunar lava plain called [Sinus Viscositatis](https://quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/?extent=-43.6314482%2C34.0851306%2C-37.4432437%2C37.5891353&id=lroc&showTerrain=true&queryOpts=N4XyA&layers=NrBsFYBoAZIRnpEBmZcAsjYIHYFcAbAyAbwF8BdC0ypcOKbRFOOZLRfImqnioA&proj=16) just outside the [Gruithuisen volcanic domes](https://jatan.space/unique-volcanic-domes-of-gruithuisen/). ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fe575d3a0-cfee-4598-83c5-04c2a67e755c-heic.jpg) The journey, aka Mission Profile, of Peregrine to the Moon. [Image: Astrobotic](https://www.astrobotic.com/media-kit/images) The lander carries [15 payloads from 6 countries](https://www.astrobotic.com/lunar-delivery/manifest), including the shoebox-sized, 1.8-kilogram [Iris rover](https://irislunarrover.space/index.html) designed by students at Carnegie Mellon University. Notably, Carnegie Mellon is also a subcontractor for Astrobotic’s upcoming [MoonRanger](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-93/) rovers. Peregrine will also deploy five autonomous 12-centimeter, 60-gram rovers collectively called [COLMENA](https://www.dgcs.unam.mx/boletin/bdboletin/2022%5F087.html), representing Mexico’s first Moon mission. The key contributions from these small rovers won’t be imagery they take but rather how their traverses can help us better understand the mechanical properties of the lunar soil and also realize specific challenges in autonomously navigating on the Moon. There’s also a Navigation Doppler Lidar from NASA onboard to precisely determine Peregrine’s velocity and position while landing on the Moon. As part of NASA’s [CLPS program](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/), Peregrine was also supposed to carry [11 agency-funded instruments](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/first-commercial-moon-delivery-assignments-to-advance-artemis) but will now only fly five of them [partly to have performance margins](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-151/) on the lander. Three of these are spectrometers to study [water ice](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/) molecules and other such volatiles on the lunar surface and in the exosphere throughout the 10-Earth-day mission. As I [covered during Astrobotic’s landing site swap](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-113/), the previous higher latitude location was actually 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/). And so for the new site, the focus has had to be shifted to how the lander’s water-containing plume exhausts settle on the surface or exosphere. Of the lander’s passive payloads, it’s the cremated human remains that have [caused controversy](https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/05/world/peregrine-moon-mission-navajo-nation-objection-human-remains-scn/index.html) to the point of calling in a last-minute White House meeting. There are different sides to the story, but a point Marcia Smith has uniquely [noted](https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/biden-administration-to-consult-with-navajo-about-human-remains-on-the-moon) is that the Navajo Nation did not raise their concerns during the public comment period for the launch license review. ## How to follow CLPS mission updates ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f46b81610-8791-4baf-91b5-2d269d3c2e98_2300x1440-jpeg.jpg) Illustration of the Peregrine lander on the Moon. [Image: Astrobotic](https://www.astrobotic.com/media-kit/images) Since a fleet of NASA-supported robotic CLPS Moon landers will launch throughout this decade, I’ve compiled an exhaustive rundown on these novel CLPS missions: [All about CLPS Moon landing missions 🌗](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/) I update this page every month or so. Other than referencing everything high-level I can on there, whose 102 links should help you get to places, there’s more you can do to keenly follow all things CLPS: 1. Check the new [NASA CLPS sub-site](https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science/clps-deliveries). The agency updated a few pages lately, including adding Principal Investigators for VIPER payloads. At the same time, some already known high-level information from elsewhere on [nasa.gov](https://nasa.gov) is missing there! Some of that can be found on [nasa.gov’s CLPS page](https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services), which is different from the sub-site mentioned above, but hosts other information bits that are outdated. 2. Subscribe to blogs of all [CLPS vendors](https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/clps-providers) in an [RSS reader](https://web.jatan.space/p/why-use-rss) and also manually check their sites. This is especially useful to find and know about the non-NASA-funded payloads aboard CLPS landers. If NASA wants to highlight progress on the “commercial” part of CLPS, listing non-NASA payloads on the official CLPS pages would be great. 3. NASA hasn’t posted on the [official CLPS blog](https://blogs.nasa.gov/clps) for more than half a year but has put out a few CLPS updates on the [Artemis blog](https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis). For some reason, Astrobotic’s mission updates are being posted on the Artemis blog instead of the CLPS blog. And yet the CLPS blog is the one currently linked on official CLPS pages. It’s quite confusing. 4. Since information about CLPS wouldn’t necessarily be restricted to these direct sources, use a feature similar to [Keyword Monitoring](https://www.inoreader.com/blog/2015/07/inoreader-how-to-monitor-hot-topics.html) *within your RSS reader* to create a feed of posts that match CLPS-specific search terms across all your added sources. 5. Search the [Moon Monday archive](https://blog.jatan.space/s/moon-monday/archive) 🙃. No, seriously, it’s one of the reasons I write this one-of-a-kind newsletter! --- *Many thanks to *[Epsilon3](https://www.epsilon3.io)*, *[Open Lunar Foundation](https://www.openlunar.org)*, *[The Orbital Index](https://orbitalindex.com)*, *[Henry Throop](https://www.linkedin.com/in/henry-throop-a47a6a7)*, *[Gurbir Singh](https://gurbir.co.uk)* and *[Abhinav Yadav](https://abhinavspace.substack.com/about)* for sponsoring this week’s Moon Monday. If you love my work too, [join them](https://blog.jatan.space/sponsor-moon-monday)!* --- ## More mission updates ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fc8a2d789-eb3f-47fc-abd0-2b1184b33a9c_830x750-jpeg.jpg) Diagram showing how the SLIM spacecraft’s lunar orbit size will be reduced over time in the lead up to its landing attempt. The final orbit prior to descent (shown in red) spans 15 by 600 kilometers. [Image: JAXA](https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2023/12/20231225-1%5Fe.html) - JAXA’s [SLIM lunar lander](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-144/) successfully entered orbit around the Moon [on December 25](https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2023/12/20231225-1%5Fe.html). Next up, SLIM mission operators will send commands to circularize the spacecraft’s elliptical polar orbit to 600 by 600 kilometers. SLIM will then attempt a 20-minute autonomous descent on January 20, 2024 at about [12 AM JST](https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2023/12/20231205-1%5Fe.html) (3 PM UTC on January 19) to achieve a ‘[pinpoint landing](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-144/)’. - NASA says the upcoming [VIPER rover](https://jatan.space/nasa-viper-mission/)’s flight model [has been half built](https://www.nasa.gov/missions/viper/mission-manager-update-viper-flight-rover-half-built). VIPER’s CLPS launch to the Moon’s south pole [onboard Astrobotic’s Griffin lander](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-87/) remains on schedule for November 2024\. Over four months, VIPER will unravel the nature of [lunar water ice](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/) deposits, assess their resource potential, and help determine how accessible they are to help NASA plan crewed [Artemis](https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis) missions. Tangent: You can [send your name onboard VIPER](https://www.nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-viper); apply before March 15. - Two NASA astronauts, Nicole Mann and Doug Wheelock, recently [tested a sub-scale elevator mockup](https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-astronauts-test-spacex-elevator-concept-for-artemis-lunar-lander) for SpaceX Starship to provide feedback on the flight version for future astronauts landing on the Moon aboard Lunar Starships starting with [Artemis III](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis-iii). The astronauts put on spacesuits during their testing to simulate the mobility constraints crew will face on the Moon. - Roscosmos is [considering making 2 versions](https://tass.com/science/1727929) of the [Luna 27](https://www.laspace.ru/en/activities/projects/luna-resurs-pa/?ELEMENT%5FCODE=luna-resurs-pa) high-precision lander for its targeted launch in 2028\. One lander would attempt a precise touchdown on the Moon’s south pole, as originally intended, while the other could [either land on the north pole or the farside](https://tass.com/science/1727913). Note though that this plan isn’t sanctioned yet, and Luna 25’s crash last year has [slowed down](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-141/) if not descaled Russia’s lunar ambitions. ## An international Artemis - The US Vice President Kamala Harris [announced](https://payloadspace.com/us-will-send-international-astronaut-to-the-moon) at the National Space Council meeting on December 20 that the country intends to have an international astronaut onboard a crewed Artemis Moon landing by end of decade. More details will presumably come later but based on [JAXA and ESA’s existing and upcoming future contributions](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-79/) to Artemis, it seems likely that said foreign astronaut will either be Japanese or European. - On January 7, NASA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) [announced](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-united-arab-emirates-announce-artemis-lunar-gateway-airlock) that the UAE will provide the airlock for the NASA-led international [Gateway lunar orbital habitat](https://www.nasa.gov/mission/gateway). Russia was originally supposed to provide the airlock, per a [joint statement](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-roscosmos-sign-joint-statement-on-researching-exploring-deep-space) in 2017, but the country later [pulled out](https://spacenews.com/russia-skeptical-about-participating-in-lunar-gateway). An airlock would allow future Artemis astronauts on Gateway to do spacewalks—while around the Moon! The announcement did not provide a timeline but Jeff Foust [notes](https://spacenews.com/uae-to-build-airlock-for-lunar-gateway) that the airlock is intended for delivery in 2030, a few years after the Gateway starts hosting astronauts. In return for this contribution, the UAE will get to send an astronaut to the Gateway aboard an Artemis flight. Per an [earlier report](https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/12/13/uae-exploring-possibility-of-contributing-an-airlock-module-on-nasas-lunar-gateway) by Sarwat Nasir, it’s possible that Boeing builds this airlock for UAE. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2ff145e959-2371-4be6-94df-fcfd69db4e0e_1250x600-jpeg.jpg) An artist’s concept of the Gateway lunar orbital habitat (left) and a reference airlock (right). [Image: NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-united-arab-emirates-announce-artemis-lunar-gateway-airlock) ## More Moon - Following the [2022 funding](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/funding-programs/programs/stdp/funding-potential-moon-infrastructure.asp) of Canadian-company-led 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, CSA is now [funding six of these studies](https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/news/articles/2023/2023-12-13-canada-reaches-for-moon-2-million-support-sustainable-lunar-exploration.asp) to build terrestrial prototypes. The total award amount is $2.17 million. The concepts span food production, autonomous mining, power generation, and long-range optical communications. This project is part of Canada’s larger efforts to [ramp up its lunar exploration ambitions](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-122/). - NASA [conducted](https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-conducts-annual-moon-to-mars-architecture-concept-review) its second annual Architecture Concept Review in November 2023, following its first such [Concept Review](https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/m2m-architecture-executive-summary.pdf) and [Definitions Document](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20230002706/downloads/M2MADD%5FESDMD-001%28TP-20230002706%29.pdf) released earlier. With [this process](https://spacenews.com/nasa-releases-architecture-for-human-exploration-of-the-moon-and-mars), the agency hopes to optimally [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) and [the strategy](https://www.nasa.gov/moontomarsarchitecture) to achieve them. NASA will share the meet’s results and updated documents early this year. Relatedly, 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) last year to lead the development of an integrated master plan for crewed Artemis missions to meet desired objectives. This office sits in parallel to the *Moon to Mars* one, which is centralizing all elements of Artemis. Here’s the new ESDMD organization chart: ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fa3adc380-e7f5-4b3f-aeac-bb28f293c4e5_936x611-jpeg.jpg) New organization chart for NASA ESDMD, as of April 3, 2023\. [Image: NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/exploration-systems-development), annotations by me, Jatan. *And, welcome back to Moon Monday after the year-end break. This was one satiating edition to write.* :) --- **→ [Browse](https://blog.jatan.space/start) | [Sponsor](https://blog.jatan.space/sponsor-moon-monday) | [About](https://blog.jatan.space/about)**