Achievements and shortfalls in global lunar exploration this half year | Moon Monday #282

A contextualized overview of the world’s Moon exploration efforts.

Lessons on lapses in lunar missions operations from the 20th century | Moon Monday #281

Announcement before we begin: I’m excited to welcome PierSight as a returning sponsor of my independent space writing for another year! 🌙 Ahmedabad-based PierSight is building a constellation of SAR satellites equipped with AIS sensors for persistent, all-weather ocean studies and monitoring. With $8 million raised in funds,

Smashing success: The time NASA figured out our Moon is cratered all the way down | Moon Monday #280

Plus: What the agency’s planning in the lead up to safe Apollo astronaut landings teaches us about preparing for the next frontier this century.

Artemis III, test like you won’t fly?

Moon Monday #279: “Artemis updates inside”, like “intel inside”. All puns intended.

India and the dream of an orbital launch trifecta | Part 5 of ISRO’s rocket crisis

Indian Space Progress #39-40: How a multitude of causes slow down the pace of India’s launch vehicles, and what would it take for the country to achieve an optimum “hat-trick” state given its many needs and ambitions in space.

Deep dive into India’s Chandrayaan Moon missions like never before

Moon Monday #278: A master list of organized, linked articles covering ISRO’s Chandrayaan lunar program, mission by mission.

What does Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explosion mean for NASA’s Artemis program? A domino of timeline lapses and strategic failures.

Moon Monday #277: How quickly Blue flies New Glenn again, the timing and outcome of the first Mark 1 lander flight, and what NASA shares about the crewed Mark 2 are the key things to watch out for.

What is pending for SpaceX Starship to be a Moonship for NASA astronauts? Nearly everything.

Moon Monday #276: NASA’s road to putting humans on the Moon through SpaceX Starship continues to face a receding sea of milestones to achieve.

Science results from India’s Chandrayaan 3 Moon mission | Moon Monday #275

The near-polar lunar surface and environment had never been measured in-situ before Chandrayaan 3 arrived. Now our understanding of it has been grounded in measurements just as we prepare to send a wave of Moon missions.

Moon Monday #274: Artemis updates and Japanese missions galore

Artemis updates * Science communicator Hank Green made this interactive website of photos spread across the timeline of the Artemis II lunar mission and flyby. * Among the technological checkpoints passed by Artemis II, the NASA-MIT-developed optical laser communications terminal on the Orion spacecraft was successfully used to transmit and

Articles on Venus, the ignored

* Why explore Venus * VERITAS, NASA’s Venus mapper * EnVision, Europe’s mission to Venus * ISRO’s plan to study Venus in unprecedented detail alongside NASA and ESA Related: Coverage of India’s exploration of Mars Like my efforts to provide free resources for space communities worldwide? Kindly sponsor my work

Articles on moons other than our Moon

The not-Moon-Monday edition. 🌝

Moon Monday

India’s Chandrayaan 4 lunar sampling mission cross-pollinates science, rockets, governance, and human spaceflight

Part 4 of India’s space launch crisis: Why India needs to launch Chandrayaan 4 in time to ensure maximum national and international benefits | Moon Monday #273 and Indian Space Progress #38

Explore

Articles on future Chandrayaan missions

* Chandrayaan 4 will bring unique Moon materials—and maybe a giant scientific leap for India * The case for India and China to exchange lunar samples * Why India needs to launch Chandrayaan 4 in time to ensure maximum national and international benefits * Chandrayaan 5 LUPEX mission will drill for water on

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Articles: Science from Chandrayaan 3

* An overview of all Chandrayaan 3 science results * How Chandrayaan 3 contributed insights on our Moon’s origin and evolution * Results from Chandrayaan 3 thermal experiment benefit future missions eyeing lunar water * Chandrayaan 3 rover may (or may not) have stumbled upon the Moon’s mantle material * Chandrayaan 3 orbiter

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Articles: From a crashing Chandrayaan 2 to an upright Chandrayaan 3 on the Moon

* On Chandrayaan 2’s landing attempt failure * Overview of Chandrayaan 2, India’s first Moon landing attempt * Watching Chandrayaan 2 launch * Explainer: Why did it take so long to find the Chandrayaan 2 lander? * Chandrayaan 2, the orbiter to remember * India aims for the Moon again with launch of Chandrayaan

Verses

Poem: Don’t screw up the Moon

Let’s explore explore our Moon and its archival boon of Earth’s midnight and afternoon Let’s return return to the gray blemishes for its scientific promises and its technological wishes Let’s also preserve preserve Luna’s natural dents its phases and cultural crescents and the serene sights

Moon Monday

With Artemis II done, challenges confront NASA to send astronauts on Artemis III and IV | Moon Monday #272

Key developments to watch out for this year as both China and the US aim to land humans on the Moon by the end of this decade.

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Articles on Chandrayaan 2, the orbiter to remember

* ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 orbiter has been creating the highest resolution map of the Moon * Lunar science results from Chandrayaan 2 * The sharpest lunar imager * How the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter is a Sun watcher at the Moon * The search for lunar water deepens * International collaboration and outlook: * ISRO has been

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Articles on Chandrayaan 1, India’s first Moon mission

* Looking back at Chandrayaan 1 and forward to Artemis * How NASA and India discovered water on our Moon * Interviewing Chandrayaan 1’s Mission Director * How Chandrayaan 1 viewed a solar eclipse from the Moon * Tangent: Kids in South Korea and a Moon mission Like my efforts to provide free resources

Moon Monday

Did NASA’s Artemis II mission really do lunar science or go to the Moon for all humanity?

An unfortunate breakdown of too many giant leaps of imagination. | Moon Monday #271

Verses

Poem: Back to the Moon..

For me not thee, but still for humanity..

Verses

Poem: Selene, smashed not shattered

Tucked in a tiny timed capsule against its wonky, worldly windows mesmerized the momentary Moonfarers at sweeping sights of Selene Creased by craters and crowning peaks melts and mountains molded in weeks amid barrages of ballistically laid beads lingered the landscape of Luna What the world could view is impact

Moon Monday

Artemis II astronauts gazed at our Moon with joy, curiosity, and reverence. Through finer robotic orbital views, so can you.

Thanks to our robotic explorers, and the great leveler that is the Internet, you too can “Copy, Moon joy.” | Moon Monday #270