Our Moon is valuable even beyond itself | Moon Monday #239
And how science does not exist in a (lunar) vacuum.
Latest
Moon Monday #238: The long march to Luna continues
Plus Artemis updates.
Notable nuances about NISAR and how it flows into planetary science for NASA and ISRO | Indian Space Progress #30
NISAR demonstrates peak peaceful uses of cutting-edge space technologies to solve humanity’s fundamental problems, and then some more.
Moon Monday #237: China completes large lander test in latest milestone to put humans on the Moon
Reviewing all recent advances from China as it prepares to perform crewed Moon missions. Plus more mission updates.
Moon Monday #236: A third orbiter-lander-rover trio to fire-and-fly
I’m thrilled to welcome Astrolab as a continuing yearly sponsor of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter! California-based Venturi Astrolab Inc. (Astrolab) is developing the large multi-purpose rovers of FLEX and FLIP for advanced exploration of our Moon this decade and next. Through FLEX, Astrolab leads one of the three
Everything you need to know about NASA CLPS Moon landing missions
A look at the armada of robotic landers NASA is riding to the Moon this decade.
A story about open knowledge sharing in space
It was eight years ago that I wrote a guide on how to correctly and reliably install NASA’s popular HEASoft software on Linux, a software which is extensively used in high energy Astrophysics research. I wrote it because the official guides on NASA HEASoft’s website were failing to
Moon Monday #235: Artemis and other mission updates
Read to the end for a jolly Jovian update!
Explore our Moon’s wild places and wonderful samples | Moon Monday #234
A special early edition of Moon Monday for International Moon Day, July 20.
Was Shukla’s Axiom-4 flight to the International Space Station worth it for ISRO? | Indian Space Progress #29
A complicated question to answer for a controversial flight intended to advance India’s grand ambition of indigenously sending humans to space.
Moon Monday #233: Visualizing a new Moon based on scientific discoveries by China’s Chang’e 6 mission
Highlighting all major findings with a visual that lets you picture the scientific value the Chinese have added to humanity’s exploration of our Moon.
Moon Monday #232: Still free mission updates
And encouraging information sharing.
Articles
On SpaceNews going paywalled, and the broader disregard for archiving in journalism
This article is a break from my usual because space communities worldwide are affected by this important topic, and I have some thoughts to offer to add to the discussions. SpaceNews, a well known media publication in the global space industry, went paywalled for its website on July 1 with
US Artemis
Moon Monday #231: Achievements and shortfalls in Moon exploration this half year
A review of notable developments by country or region.
US Artemis
Moon Monday #230: China leaps again in its steady march to Luna while NASA’s progress on Artemis remains a mixed bag
A look at recent Chinese milestones in the build up to crewed lunar missions, another blow(up) for Artemis, how Firefly’s Ocula can fill critical gaps for NASA, and more.
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #229: China extends lead in lunar orbital infrastructure, gets an edge in future crewed missions over the US
Plus: Examples of how Western media narratives of Chinese lunar activities misjudge capabilities and intent
US Artemis
Moon Monday #228: The need for resilience in private lunar landing missions through expansive and collaborative testing
ispace Japan’s second Moon lander RESILIENCE launched in January with the aim of a Moon landing. But just like its predecessor Hakuto-R’s fate about two years ago, RESILIENCE crashed into the Moon during its landing attempt on June 6. It was a moment of heartbreak for several lunar
Articles
A pressing PSLV rocket failure and orbital congestion to brood over | Indian Space Progress #28
Plus more mission updates.
US Artemis
Moon Monday #227: Proposed cuts, cancellations, continuations, and changes to NASA’s lunar missions
And other mission updates.
US Artemis
Moon Monday #226: Blue Origin aims to launch its first two Moon missions by next year—with nearly no NASA payloads
Plus: Firefly to carry UAE’s second lunar rover and more.
Articles
Why Moon missions need their own Wikipedia and beyond
Our Moon may be one of the largest satellites in the Solar System but its exploration has been concentrated on select areas. One of these is low lunar orbit, where mapping spacecraft from three countries have been concurrently flying from pole to pole between 50 to 150 kilometers above the
US Artemis
Moon Monday #225: Lots of global lunar mission updates 🌙
Key news of the month: China has achieved daytime Earth-Moon distance measurement wherein a 1.2-meter telescope reflected an infrared laser off of a small retroreflector on the 61-kilogram Tiandu 1 lunar orbiter. This was the first ever daytime laser distance measurement using an orbiter, accomplished despite massive interference from
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #224: A curious find from Chandrayaan 3, Artemis updates, and more
Two announcements before we begin: 1. I’m honored to be moderating a fantastic panel on modern themes in global lunar exploration at the international Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX) on Friday, May 9. If you’re attending GLEX in New Delhi, join us for the session. And, if you’
Indian Space
Indian Space Progress #27: Three months of mission updates, and fixing ISRO’s monthly summaries
ISRO has been publishing monthly summaries of the varied activities and programs of India’s Department of Space (DOS) for years. Lately though, there have been consistent delays in publishing them by a month or two, and sometimes even more. The summaries have been trimmed too, now conveying less than