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
Radar data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has helped scientists confirm that the lunar pit of Mare Tranquillitatis indeed does lead into a wide lava tube/cave for at least 80 meters. These results corroborate what scientists long suspected about many lunar pits leading to underground passages based
Moon Monday
The first ever samples from the Moon’s farside are now cached on Earth After successfully collecting samples from the Moon’s farside and stowing them in lunar orbit earlier by excellently orchestrating multiple Mooncraft over months, CNSA made the Chang’e 6 mission’s lunar orbiter module fly towards
Moon Monday
The efforts to gauge plume effects of Moon landers Two new papers by Philip Metzger suggest that Apollo lander rocket plumes blasted out at least four times more lunar soil than previously thought. This work, captured well by Michael Greshko for Scientific American, is part of an ongoing larger community
Moon Monday
I’m truly excited to welcome Astrolab as the latest yearly sponsor of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter! 🚀 California-based Venturi Astrolab Inc. (Astrolab) is developing a fleet of large multi-purpose rovers for advanced exploration of our Moon. To that end, Astrolab leads one of the three teams NASA selected earlier
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’
Japan and Selene
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
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