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Ultimate guide to water on the Moon
Water ice on the lunar poles is central to exploration plans of space agencies worldwide.
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Moon Monday
Moon Monday #89: A lunar-bound Korean craft, crew for the Moon, hybrid exploration, and more updates
KPLO on its way to our cosmic neighbor! On August 5, 2022 (KST), a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched and deployed the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) towards the Moon. With KPLO, South Korea forays into planetary exploration, begins its ambitious lunar exploration program, and finds a collaborator in
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #88: An agile lunar rover, donating lunar regolith, a lander nearly ready, and more updates
NASA’s VIPER rover endures a steep SLOPE The VIPER rover, launching in 2024 on an Astrobotic lander as part of NASA’s CLPS program, will closely study lunar water and other volatile resources on the Moon’s south pole to inform future robotic and crewed missions. On top of
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #87: A Schrödinger cat-like CLPS program, Artemis I launch-bait, and more updates
This week’s Moon Monday is a CLPS special, with all of its promises, risks, and drama. I hope you enjoy the deep dive as much as I did writing it. :) NASA eyes prestigious farside Moon landing in boldest CLPS bet yet Last week NASA awarded its eighth contract under
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Looking back at Chandrayaan 1 and forward to Artemis
India’s first Moon mission discovered lunar water, and catalyzed plans by nations worldwide to further explore our cosmic neighbor.
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #86: New SLS boosters, a Korean Mooncraft, a crusty Pangaea, and more updates
NASA is sticking with the SLS rocket for Artemis IX and beyond On July 21, NASA and Northrop Grumman will test fire a new, full-scale solid rocket booster as part of an ongoing test campaign to converge on a final booster design for the SLS rocket’s most powerful Block
The rocket launch shaker test
Anyone who has seen a rocket launch in person—I have!—has also felt its surreal rumbles despite being several kilometers away. A spacecraft sitting on top of a rocket needs to avoid damage to its structure by surviving the jolt from rocket engines turning on and the intense vibrations
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #85: A magmatic Moon mystery, CAPSTONE calling, Europe’s lunar leap, and more updates
The mystery of the Moon’s volcanic water China’s Chang’e 5 mission, which brought to Earth 1.7 kilograms of lunar samples from near a volcanic dome in December 2020, confirmed that the Moon was volcanically active 2 billion years ago, a recent enough time on geological scales.
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Recipes to make moons
Our Solar System hosts a great diversity of moons. There’s our own Moon, whose airlessness makes it a natural geological time capsule of events in the early Solar System. There’s Saturn’s largest satellite Titan, which boasts an atmosphere and lakes of methane in eerie reminiscence to adolescent
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #84: A lunar-bound CAPSTONE, an Earthbound NASA, and more updates
Rocket Lab puts CAPSTONE on the path to the Moon On June 28, Rocket Lab successfully launched the NASA-funded and Advanced Space-built $13 million CAPSTONE spacecraft from New Zealand. At about 300 kilograms, CAPSTONE and the upgraded Photon third stage together are the heaviest payload the company’s small Electron
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Looking back at Pathfinder as the start of modern Mars exploration
And a cool fact about the mission and the Internet.
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #83: CAPSTONE launch, the final SLS rocket test, and more trailblazing
We’re about to have our first Moon mission launch since Chang’e 5 in 2020! CAPSTONE launches for the Moon tomorrow The NASA-funded and Advanced Space-built CAPSTONE spacecraft is set to launch tomorrow, June 28, from New Zealand on Rocket Lab’s small Electron launch vehicle with an upgraded