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Why explore our Moon
And how we’re going back like never before.
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The engineer who played a key role in Chandrayaan 3’s triumphant touchdown on the Moon
Kalpana Kalahasti, the Associate Project Director of ISRO’s Chandrayaan 3 mission, has been featured in Nature’s 10 most notable people of the year, owing to her crucial role in ensuring India’s triumphant touchdown on the Moon. I spoke to her to highlight her team’s approach to
ISRO Chandrayaan
Moon Monday #157: On maneuvering the Chandrayaan 3 orbiter back to Earth orbit, the upcoming trio of robotic lunar landers, infrastructure galore, and more
This is the last Moon Monday of 2023 as I take my year-end break to wind down an insanely busy year sprawling with conferences and talks over and above my canonical writing work. Alright, alright, I’m not done for the year just yet: expect a special story later this
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #156: On NASA getting access to China’s lunar samples, Artemis updates, and more
NASA researchers can now directly ask for access to China’s Chang’e 5 lunar samples In welcome news, NASA has secured an exception from the US Congress for its researchers to be able to apply for accessing lunar samples brought to Earth by China’s Chang’e 5 mission
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #155: Prepping for PRIME-1 time, a Canadian capcom, a FLEXible rover, and more
This is a half-yearly appreciation note, and an introduction for readers subscribed after April, that my Moon Monday newsletter is being supported by sponsor Epsilon3—for the third year in a row! Led by Laura and Max, Epsilon3 is a web-based platform to manage, streamline, and reduce risk in complex
Japan and Selene
Moon Monday #154: ispace Japan progresses toward another lunar landing with RESILIENCE, as must Starship in NASA’s road to Luna
Meet RESILIENCE, ispace Japan’s second Moon mission Following ispace Japan’s failed touchdown attempt on the Moon with the M1 mission in April, the company has improved the hardware and software design of the Hakuto-R lander for the M2 mission in late 2024, called “RESILIENCE” to reflect the spirited
Indian Space
Indian Space Progress #10: ISRO aces safety test for human spaceflight while school students to learn about Chandrayaan 3 mixed with mythology
I’m stoked to welcome KaleidEO as the third organization sponsor of my monthly Indian Space Progress reports! 🚀 Bengaluru-based KaleidEO is a SatSure company on a mission to elevate the value of information from Earth observation satellites by offering analytics-ready data coupled with its upcoming optical and multispectral satellites touting
US Artemis
Moon Monday #153: On NASA’s plan to extract lunar oxygen, an Aussie seismometer on Firefly’s lunar lander, and more
NASA gets serious about extracting oxygen on the Moon On November 6, NASA formally requested input from the US industry on how to go about (competitively) funding a Moon mission payload that will demonstrate extracting oxygen from lunar soil and rocks. Called Lunar Infrastructure Foundational Technologies (LIFT-1), NASA aims for
Articles
A worrisome report on safety issues at SpaceX
I’d like to bring your attention to a worrying report on SpaceX’s safety issues as published yesterday by Reuters based on what looks like a comprehensive investigation. The whole article is worth a read but I’m excerpting below some notable parts that either need to be taken
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #152: Covering India and Japan’s next Moonshot, South Korea’s lunar lander, Artemis updates, and more
<This edition of Moon Monday was pre-scheduled on Sunday night IST to get published and delivered per usual on Monday since I’m tending to a family need.> I’m delighted to welcome space writer and author Gurbir Singh as an individual sponsor of both Moon Monday and
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #151: On Astrobotic‘s first lunar landing, Chandrayaan 3 blasting away lunar material, an older & cooler Luna, and much more
If you’re reading this blog+newsletter, you’re likely in a position of privilege. Please consider donating for the affected innocent kids in the Hamas-Israel war. The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund is the option I’ve supported via since the non-political non-profit is providing basic necessities to children
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #150: On China’s Queqiao 2 lunar mission, India’s Moonbound human spaceflight ambition, and more
Today marks 150 weekly editions of archiving and contextualizing global developments in the exploration of our Moon. It’s satiating to work on and write the world’s only such resource. If you enjoy and appreciate my work to serve space communities worldwide, kindly consider sponsoring Moon Monday as an