Quantum Space unveils plans for cislunar platformsby Jeff Foust — February 3, 2022 [SN]
Quantum Space, a startup co-founded by former NASA associate administrator Steve Jurczyk, plans to develop platforms hosting payloads in cislunar space serviced by robotic spacecraft. Credit: Quantum SpaceWASHINGTON — A startup led by a former acting administrator of NASA has announced plans to develop platforms serviced by robotic vehicles in cislunar space to support a range of applications.
Maryland-based Quantum Space announced Feb. 3 it’s starting work on a spacecraft platform that would initially operate at the Earth-moon L-1 Lagrange point and host various payloads. That platform would be serviced by another spacecraft that would deliver and install payloads.
https://spacenews.com/quantum-space-unveils-plans-for-cislunar-platforms/India targets August launch for Chandrayaan-3 lunar landerby Park Si-soo — February 3, 2022 [SN]
Artist's concept of India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landing on the moon. Credit: Indian Space Research OrganisationSEOUL, South Korea — India aims for an August launch of its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander mission, the nation’s science and technology minister said on Feb. 2.
The mission will mark India’s second attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon. A 2019 attempt failed when Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander and its onboard rover crashed into the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-2’s accompanying orbiter is still circling the moon and will serve as a communications relay for the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover.
https://spacenews.com/india-targets-august-launch-for-chandrayaan-3-lunar-lander/Agile supplies thrusters for Astrobotic, ispace and Masten lunar landersby Debra Werner — March 14, 2022 [SN]
Agile Space Industries operates its own additive manufacturing and altitude testing facilities in Durango, Colorado. Credit: Agile Space IndustriesSAN FRANCISCO – Agile Space Industries, a Durango, Colorado company focused on in-space chemical propulsion, is additively manufacturing thrusters for robotic lunar landers being built by Astrobotic Technology, ispace and Masten Space Systems.
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https://spacenews.com/agile-space-industries-lunar-lander-thrusters/Industry proposals sought for ‘cislunar highway patrol’ satelliteby Sandra Erwin — March 21, 2022 [SN]
The Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate is planning an experiment called Cislunar Highway Patrol System (CHPS).An experiment called Cislunar Highway Patrol System would operate beyond geosynchronous orbit, in the region near the moonWASHINGTON — The Air Force Research Laboratory is asking companies to submit ideas on how they would design and develop a spacecraft to monitor outer space beyond Earth’s orbit.
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https://spacenews.com/industry-proposals-sought-for-cislunar-highway-patrol-satellite/ESA ends cooperation with Russia on lunar missionsby Jeff Foust — April 13, 2022 [SN]
Russia's Luna-25 lander was to include a navigation camera provided by ESA to help it develop precision landing technologies. Credit: NPO LavochkinWASHINGTON — The European Space Agency announced April 13 it was further cutting ties with Russia by dropping plans to cooperate on a series of lunar missions, turning instead to NASA and other agencies.
At the conclusion of an ESA Council meeting, the agency said it was ending plans to cooperate with Roscosmos on that agency’s Luna-25 and Luna-27 landers and the Luna-26 orbiter. The announcement came nearly a month after ESA formally suspended cooperation with Russia on the ExoMars mission, postponing a launch of an ESA-built rover that had been scheduled for September.
https://spacenews.com/esa-ends-cooperation-with-russia-on-lunar-missions/Far side: the moon’s use as a new astronomical siteby Leonard David — April 16, 2022 [SN]
The moon’s far side, ripe for astronomical development? Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio by Ernie WrightBOULDER, Colorado — Astronomers have always sought out remote and isolated spots from which their precision observations of the surrounding universe can be made. Now, add one more far-flung location – the moon.
But there is growing concern within the international scientific community regarding the need to keep the far side of the moon free from human-made radio-frequency intrusion.
https://spacenews.com/far-side-the-moons-use-as-a-new-astronomical-site/Lonestar emerges from stealth with plans for lunar data centersby Jason Rainbow — April 19, 2022 [SN]
Lonestar says it is on track to be the first company to put data storage and edge processing on the moon. Credit: LonestarTAMPA, Fla. — Cloud computing startup Lonestar said April 19 it has contracted commercial lunar lander developer Intuitive Machines to deploy a mini proof-of-concept data center on the moon next year.
The hardback novel-sized “data center in a box” is part of a series of increasingly larger payloads that Lonestar plans to install for data storage and edge processing from the lunar surface.
https://spacenews.com/lonestar-emerges-from-stealth-with-plans-for-lunar-data-centers/South Korea’s double-digit space budget boostby Park Si-soo — April 21, 2022 [SN]
South Korea’s KPLO lunar orbiter, shown
being lifted off the floor by its mounting ring, is slated to launch in August on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: KARISEOUL, South Korea — South Korea is boosting its space spending this year by 19% over 2021 levels as it seeks to bounce back from October’s failed attempt to prove it can put up a satellite without Russian rocket hardware.
The $619 million that South Korea will invest in national space programs in 2022 is 15% more than the amount the government originally proposed.
https://spacenews.com/south-koreas-double-digit-space-budget-boost/Astrobotic lunar lander on track for late 2022 launchby Jeff Foust — April 21, 2022 [SN]
Astrobotic's Peregrine lander, in the latter phases of assembly, is on track to launch by the end of the year, the company said April 20. Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff FoustPITTSBURGH — Astrobotic Technology showed off its nearly complete lunar lander it is building for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and said the spacecraft remains on schedule to launch this year.
At an event as its headquarters here April 20, attended by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and other agency officials, the company showed its Peregrine lander that it plans to send to the moon on the first United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur launch in late 2022.
https://spacenews.com/astrobotic-lunar-lander-on-track-for-late-2022-launch/Japan’s ispace negotiating first commercial moon landing insuranceby Jason Rainbow — April 22, 2022 [SN[
An artist's depiction of ispace's M1 lunar lander. Credit: ispaceTAMPA, Fla. — Japanese lunar lander developer ispace said April 21 it is negotiating the world’s first insurance coverage for a commercial mission to the moon’s surface.
The startup has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI), a Tokyo-based firm that started working with ispace in 2019, to insure its first attempt to send a lander to the moon later this year.
https://spacenews.com/japans-ispace-negotiating-first-commercial-moon-landing-insurance/China targets permanently shadowed regions at lunar south poleby Andrew Jones — May 27, 2022 [SN]
Shackleton Crater, at the South Pole of the Moon is believed to host vast quantities of water ice deep within its shadow. Credit: NASAHELSINKI — China is looking to land spacecraft near permanently shadowed regions near the south pole of the moon to investigate the potential presence of resources trapped in craters.
Researchers from the Key Laboratory of Information Science of Electromagnetic Waves at Fudan University published a paper in the Journal of Deep Space Exploration on landing site selection in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) on the moon, indicating that China’s Chang’e-7 mission will attempt a highly accurate, fixed point landing at a solar illuminated area, such as a crater rim near the lunar south pole.
https://spacenews.com/china-targets-permanently-shadowed-regions-at-lunar-south-pole/NASA agrees to provide launcher for UK-built lunar communications satelliteJune 15, 2022 Stephen Clark [SFN]
Artist’s concept of the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft. Credit: SSTLNASA and the European Space Agency have agreed that a pathfinder data relay satellite to support missions on the polar regions and the far side of the moon will be launched on a commercial U.S. rocket, deepening trans-Atlantic ties on the Artemis lunar program, officials said Wednesday.
The Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft, now being developed by the UK company SSTL with support from ESA, will link missions operating at the moon with mission controllers on Earth. It’s the first step in a program that could eventually include a network of communications satellites in lunar orbit, providing relay capability similar to spacecraft orbiting Earth.
ESA calls the concept for a future lunar communications and navigation network Moonlight.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/06/15/nasa-agrees-to-provide-launcher-for-uk-built-lunar-communications-satellite/Draper wins NASA contract for farside lunar lander missionby Jeff Foust — July 21, 2022 [SN]
Draper won a $73 million NASA award to send three science investigations to the far side of the moon in 2025 using a lander the company calls SERIES-2. Credit: DraperWASHINGTON — NASA awarded a contract to Draper to send three science instruments to the far side of the moon through a commercial payload delivery program.
NASA announced July 21 it selected a team led by Draper for the 2025 mission to land in Schrödinger Basin, an impact basin about 320 kilometers across on the lunar farside near the south pole. The task order, awarded through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, is worth $73 million.
https://spacenews.com/draper-wins-nasa-contract-for-farside-lunar-lander-mission/NASA taps Draper for first U.S. landing on far side of the moonJuly 29, 2022 Stephen Clark [SFN]
An illustration of Draper’s SERIES-2 lunar lander, which will deliver science and technology payloads to the moon for NASA in 2025. Credit: DraperNASA has awarded Draper a $73 million contract to deliver science instruments to the far side of the moon on a commercial robotic lander in 2025, the eighth award through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Officials with the companies flying the first two CLPS missions, Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, said recently their commercial landers are scheduled to launch late this year or early next year.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/07/29/nasa-taps-draper-for-first-u-s-landing-on-far-side-of-the-moon/South Korean spacecraft fueled for ride from Cape Canaveral to the moonJuly 30, 2022 Stephen Clark [SFN]
The Korea Lunar Pathfinder Orbiter spacecraft undergoing testing in South Korea before shipment to Florida for launch preparations. Credit: KARIA South Korean spacecraft set for launch to the moon next week from Cape Canaveral has been loaded with the fuel it needs to maneuver into a low-altitude lunar orbit for image-taking and scientific observations.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/07/30/south-korean-spacecraft-fueled-for-ride-from-cape-canaveral-to-the-moon/Scientists and students to develop the first Estonian lunar rover14.03.2023 #research Marja-Liisa Plats Tartu Observatory Department of Support Services Head of Communication
Researchers and students of the Tartu Observatory at the University of Tartu started the development of Estonia's first lunar rover, designed to take Estonian technology to the Moon at the end of this decade or the beginning of the next. The first step is a feasibility study to determine which lunar rover can be built in Estonia and realistically delivered to the surface of the Moon. It will also gauge the interests of Estonian industry and scientists to test their technology on the Moon.Dr. Mihkel Pajusalu, Associate Professor of Space Technology and Head of the Space Technology Department at the Tartu Observatory stated, “In the near future, many rovers will be arriving on the Moon for scientific research, and NASA's Artemis space program has boosted the development of space technology in both the private and public sectors. Over the long term, the Moon is a good intermediate step in preparing for space missions to Mars. So starting the development of a lunar rover in Estonia now means having the necessary skills and technology to apply for later Mars missions.”
https://ut.ee/en/content/scientists-and-students-develop-first-estonian-lunar-rover
Wątek: Artykuły o Lunar missions (Przeczytany 859 razy)