CLPS
Lunar Starship engines ignite As SpaceX preps for the second test flight of its fully reusable Starship Super Heavy rocket, following April’s dramatic first flight, the company has meanwhile revealed that it performed a vacuum-optimized Raptor engine test fire last month. This firing demonstrates that its Lunar Starship engines
Articles
On August 23 at 12:33 UTC, India’s Chandrayaan 3 robotic lander touched down on the Moon near its south pole at 69.37°S, 32.32°E. The triumphant touchdown made India only the fourth country to achieve the feat of a soft lunar landing, following the former
Japan and Selene
Japan launches the SLIM lunar lander with an unprecedented aim On September 7, Japan launched the 2012-proposed SLIM lander to the Moon. Shortly after separating from the upper stage of its H-IIA launch vehicle in Earth orbit, SLIM completed sun acquisition control and JAXA reported its health to be normal.
Chandrayaan
And more space updates from the country.
Chandrayaan
Today, September 4, ISRO set the Chandrayaan 3 Moon lander Vikram in sleep mode around 3:30 UTC. This was shortly after sending commands to turn off its three active instruments: the thermal probe, the seismometer, and the plasma experiment. Likewise, a fully charged Pragyan rover, which has traversed 100
Chandrayaan
So Nature quoted and linked to my Moon Monday newsletter in an Editorial on the success of ISRO’s Chandrayaan 3 Moon landing! :') An overview and specifics of Chandrayaan 3’s historic touchdown on our Moon On August 23 at 12:33 UTC, ISRO’s Chandrayaan 3 robotic lander
Moon Monday
Today I got my media registration approval to be at ISRO’s ISTRAC mission operations center in Bengaluru for the Chandrayaan 3 landing attempt this August 23! :D 🚀 🌗 <proceeds to publish this Moon Monday edition loaded with lunar updates, and then hurry up to pack my bag for tomorrow’
Chandrayaan
At long last, Luna 25 launches for the Moon On August 11, a Russian Soyuz 2.1b rocket successfully launched the 1750-kilogram Luna 25 Moon lander, almost 47 years after the former Soviet Union returned lunar samples with Luna 24. The 3.2-meter tall Luna-25 spacecraft separated from Soyuz’s
Indian Space
I’m honored that this Indian Space Progress monthly report series is now highlighted as a resource on the website of Spaceport SARABHAI, India’s first space think tank founded by an inspiring team of multidisciplinary experts many of whom I admire and have learnt from. 🚀 Chandrayaan 3’s journey
Moon Monday
Last week saw so many lunar developments from around the world that I got a bit too excited to write this Moon Monday edition! If you enjoy and appreciate my work to serve space communities with global lunar exploration updates, kindly consider sponsoring Moon Monday as an organization or individual
Chandrayaan
Sep 4, 2023 edit: It hopped! India’s Chandrayaan 3 lander is on its way to the Moon as we speak, aiming for a graceful touchdown near the lunar south pole on August 23. In a pre-launch interview, popular Indian YouTuber Gareeb Scientist asked an interesting question to ISRO Chief
Talks
I gave a talk at the 2023 European Lunar Symposium on June 29 about how despite the emergence of private and commercial Moon missions there’s no alternative to public buy-in, funding, and outreach to sustain lunar exploration globally and reap its immense benefits to science and technological progress. Talk
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