Articles
How engineers test Moon landers on Earth
Until a spacecraft is aloft, engineers never really know if their testing regime was appropriate.
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Moon Monday
Moon Monday #162: Mission updates on SLIM, CAPSTONE, and Queqiao 2, a gist of Gateway science, and more
Mission updates SLIM Japan’s SLIM lunar lander entered sleep mode on January 31, two days after it woke up when pre-dusk sunlight struck its solar panels from the west. Like Chandrayaan 3, SLIM wasn’t designed to survive the frigid lunar night, when temperatures can plunge below -100°
Indian Space
Indian Space Progress #12: Doubling down on space telescopes, lunar exploration, and Earth observation
This month’s Indian Space Progress report is a science special. I hope you enjoy it! XPoSat gazes at cosmic objects from space On January 1, ISRO’s PSLV rocket launched India’s second space telescope called the X-ray Polarimetry Satellite, or XPoSat. While the country’s first space
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #161: Savoring SLIM’s success in precision landing, India’s role in it, and more mission updates
After ruminating over SLIM’s Moon landing and the news of it achieving its goal of a precision landing, it’s clear that there are many more implications and aspects of the mission to consider so as to savor its selene success. Enjoy the SLIM special Moon Monday! SLIM is
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #160: On Japan’s breakthrough with SLIM and investing in a lunar future
Traveling in another continent presented several challenges for me to work on this week’s Moon Monday, which is why it’s slightly delayed. But I wanted to make sure to get it right because SLIM’s incredible lunar landing is a win in multiple ways. Hope you like this
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #159: On Astrobotic’s failed lunar landing and its wake, mission updates, Artemis delays, and science from KPLO
An announcement before we begin this week’s Moon Monday: I’m honored and stoked to have been invited by the European Space Agency to deliver a talk on Chandrayaan 3 and India’s lunar ambitions at the Space for Inspiration event this Thursday, January 18. If you’re attending
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #158: On Astrobotic’s lunar lander launch, following NASA CLPS updates, an international Artemis, and more
Astrobotic launches its first spacecraft built to land on the Moon At 7:18 UTC today, January 8, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander blasted off to space onboard the inaugural flight of ULA’s Vulcan rocket, at long last marking the formal start of missions part of NASA’s CLPS
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I’d like to share with you highlights from my space endeavors in 2023
Dear readers, In my lifelong mission to write & blog about the exploration of space and our Moon, 2023 turned out to be satiatingly eventful. Here are just some highlights that I’d like to share with you all. * I published 50 editions of Moon Monday. The newsletter remains the
Indian Space
Indian Space Progress #11: Reviewing an incredible year for ISRO
2023 was a year of multiple landmark developments for ISRO, to the point where it visibly improved perceptions people and space agencies worldwide had of India’s space capabilities. ISRO, though, as usual, isn’t keen on highlighting these advances on any of their channels. Such lack of contextualized information
Articles
Why explore our Moon
And how we’re going back like never before.
Articles
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
Moon Monday
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
