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
By Jatan Mehta | Coverage, with context, of NASA’s Artemis and CLPS programs to return humans and robots to the Moon after Apollo. This time to (hopefully) stay.
Moon Monday
Plus: Examples of how Western media narratives of Chinese lunar activities misjudge capabilities and intent
Moon Monday
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
Moon Monday
And other mission updates.
Moon Monday
Plus: Firefly to carry UAE’s second lunar rover and more.
US Artemis
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
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’
Moon Monday
And, countries allied with the US are facing delays in their own missions, allowing China to lead in this aspect of lunar exploration too.
US Artemis
There’s a lot in this Moon Monday edition to unpack. Grab yourself a coffee or another mild drug of choice and let’s get started. 🤓 Chang’e 6 samples produce two more big results Until now, all the direct evidence of our Moon being covered in a global magma
US Artemis
Also drills, flying regolith, a hard landing, Moonlight, and many more mission updates to quench the lunatic in you.
US Artemis
Plus: Contextualizing the failure of Intuitive Machines’ second Moon mission and that of Lunar Trailblazer as grave losses for NASA.
US Artemis
Plus: Intuitive Machines and Lunar Trailblazer launch for Luna while KASA plans the same. And, maybe nobody should “dominate” space.
Moon Monday
Plus: Intuitive Machines set to launch second Moon lander, Australia continues lunar tech investments, and more.