Articles - Jatan’s Space

Moon Monday

Moon Monday #233: Visualizing a new Moon based on scientific discoveries by China’s Chang’e 6 mission

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 fifth year in a row! 🌕 Open Lunar is a non-profit organization that actively promotes cooperative, peaceful, and sustainable exploration of our Moon. The organization enables

Articles

On SpaceNews going paywalled, and the broader disregard for archiving in journalism

This article is a break from my usual because space communities worldwide are affected by this important topic, and I have some thoughts to offer to add to the discussions. SpaceNews, a well known media publication in the global space industry, went paywalled for its website on July 1 with

Moon Monday

Moon Monday #231: Achievements and shortfalls in Moon exploration this half year

A review of notable developments by country or region.

Moon Monday

Moon Monday #230: China leaps again in its steady march to Luna while NASA’s progress on Artemis remains a mixed bag

A look at recent Chinese milestones in the build up to crewed lunar missions, another blow(up) for Artemis, how Firefly’s Ocula can fill critical gaps for NASA, and more.

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

Moon Monday

Moon Monday #228: The need for resilience in private lunar landing missions through expansive and collaborative testing

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

Indian Space Progress

A pressing PSLV rocket failure and orbital congestion to brood over | Indian Space Progress #28

Plus more mission updates.

Moon Monday

Moon Monday #227: Proposed cuts, cancellations, continuations, and changes to NASA’s lunar missions

And other mission updates.

Moon Monday

Moon Monday #226: Blue Origin aims to launch its first two Moon missions by next year—with nearly no NASA payloads

Plus: Firefly to carry UAE’s second lunar rover and more.

Articles

Why Moon missions need their own Wikipedia and beyond

Our Moon may be one of the largest satellites in the Solar System but its exploration has been concentrated on select areas. One of these is low lunar orbit, where mapping spacecraft from three countries have been concurrently flying from pole to pole between 50 to 150 kilometers above the

Moon Monday

Moon Monday #223: International researchers to study Chang’e lunar samples, including US ones but without NASA funding

And more such interesting Moon exploration updates from China’s National Space Day on April 24.

Moon Monday

Moon Monday #221: The US is failing to explore lunar water as the principal goal of Artemis

And, countries allied with the US are facing delays in their own missions, allowing China to lead in this aspect of lunar exploration too.