By Jatan Mehta | Coverage, with context, of NASA’s Artemis program to return humans to the Moon after Apollo. This time to (hopefully) stay.
Moon Monday
I’m over the Moon to share that Open Lunar Foundation is continuing to be a sponsor of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter for the fourth year in a row! 🌗 Open Lunar is a non-profit organization that brings together and enables a diverse set of experts to develop key technical
Moon Monday
This week’s Moon Monday is a Chinese lunar program special, covering the incredible Chang’e 6 and 7 missions, with some commentary questioning claims and narratives around some of China’s decisions. At 2600 words, this is likely the longest Moon Monday ever so grab a coffee or beverage
Indian Space Progress
In this month’s Indian Space Progress edition, I want to highlight how increasing independence in being able to plan and execute planetary missions can lead to uniquely impactful collaborations between organizations globally. India’s Chandrayaan program has been becoming incrementally indigenous, and the two stories below highlight its utility
Moon Monday
I’m delighted to share that The Orbital Index is continuing being a Moon Monday sponsor for the third year in a row! 🚀 Their crisp, technical archive of weekly space updates over the last five years is genuinely worth perusing, and searching within, because Andrew, Ben and Sarajane ensure it’
Moon Monday
Life update: This week I’m moving to Bengaluru, the space hub of India. Looking ahead, I’m excited to expand my space horizons and coverage by continually existing where the country’s space epicenter is. Announcement: With no Moon missions launching this month, and no major updates expected from
Moon Monday
On April 3, NASA selected teams led by Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab to mature their designs for a versatile Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), one of which will be used on a firm, fixed price service basis by NASA across Artemis missions starting with Artemis V end of
Moon Monday
NASA selects science instruments to be deployed on the Moon by Artemis III astronauts In a historic return since Apollo, NASA aims to land astronauts on our Moon again in late 2026 with Artemis III. What science instruments will they carry to deploy on the lunar south pole for advancing
Artemis
NASA’s road to Luna advances through Starship SpaceX’s third launch of its fully integrated Starship Super Heavy rocket on March 14 achieved orbital velocity, clearing a major milestone of the long path to putting humans on the Moon again since NASA has selected Starship’s lunar variant to
Moon Monday
NASA’s FY2024 budget for Luna The US Congress will provide NASA with $24.9 billion for FY2024, a budget two billion less than the Presidential request and half a billion less than FY2023. Accounting for inflation only makes the cut deeper. However, the US Congress has prioritized and maintained
Moon Monday
An FYI before we begin: If you follow me on social media—especially LinkedIn, Twitter, the Fediverse or Bluesky—read this life update from my other blog: Embracing a simple but effective digital life. An intuitive success criteria? It turns out more retrospective corrections are needed for the February 22
Moon Monday
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
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
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