Moon Archives

August 25, 2023August 25, 2023 by Matt Williams

India's Rover Rolls Out Onto the Lunar Surface

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module on the surface of the Moon on August 23, 2023. Credit: ISRO

On July 14th, 2023, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched the third mission in its Chandrayaan (“Moon vehicle” in Hindi) lunar exploration program. Earlier this week (Wednesday, August 23rd), the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s Vikram lander touched down on the far side of the Moon, making India the fourth nation in the world to send missions to the lunar surface and the first to land one near the Moon’s south pole region. Shortly after that, the ISRO announced that they had deployed Pragyan, the rover element of the mission, to the surface.

August 23, 2023August 23, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

Chandrayaan-3 Lands Successfully on the Moon’s South Pole

India’s space agency successfully landed their Chandrayaan-3 lander on the lunar surface, becoming the fourth country to touch down on the Moon and the first to land at one of the lunar poles.

The Indian Space Resource Organization’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 launched last month and made a soft landing on the Moon’s south pole at approximately 8:34 a.m. ET on August 23. The mission is set to begin exploring an area of the Moon that is of extreme interest, but Chandrayaan-3 is the first to visit this area in-situ. The lunar south pole is thought to contain water ice that could be a source of oxygen, fuel, and water for future missions, or perhaps even for a future lunar base or colony.

August 21, 2023August 21, 2023 by Matt Williams

Russia's Luna 25 Lander Crashed Into the Moon

The Luna-25 mission lifting off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on Aug. 11th. Credit: Roscosmos/Reuters

On August 10th, 2023, Roscosmos’ Luna-25 mission launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome atop a Soyuz-2 rocket. This mission was the first lunar mission to launch from Russia since the 1970s and would be the first Russian lander to touch down in the South-Pole Aitken basin. This mission was part of Roscosmos’ partnership with China to develop an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) in the region by 2030. Unfortunately, Russia announced on Saturday, August 19th, that the lander spun out of control and crashed into the surface.

August 11, 2023August 11, 2023 by Andy Tomaswick

Deploying a Huge Antenna On The Moon Could Study Its Insides

Understanding what lies under the lunar surface could be critical to future exploration efforts. A series of missions have already mapped some parts of the sub-surface of the Moon. Still, few have delved deep inside, where large lava caverns or potentially valuable water or mineral deposits may lie. But that might be about to change. NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) supplied funding to a novel technology developed by a team at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) that could solve the long-standing problem of seeing what lies within the Moon.

August 10, 2023August 10, 2023 by Andy Tomaswick

We Could Get Material On The Moon By Shocking It With Lightning

Lately, plenty of ideas have been floating around for methods to mine the Moon. That is undoubtedly partly due to the growing enthusiasm for Artemis, NASA’s lunar exploration program, and its planned support for a long-term human presence on the Moon. But what would make the best technique to get valuable material off the lunar surface? How about zapping it with lightning? That is the idea behind a NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts grant given to Dr. Amelia Grieg of the University of Texas at El Paso. And it seems to work.

August 5, 2023August 5, 2023 by Andy Tomaswick

Spacecraft, Landers and Rovers Could be Recycled for Parts on the Moon

Additive manufacturing is slowly becoming more and more useful as the technology improves. One of the places it continues its development is in the realm of space exploration. It has long been mooted as an integral part of any in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) efforts and is especially important for ensuring early explorers on the Moon have the right tools and materials they need to survive. The European Space Agency is supporting that research effort, as their Technology Development Element fund supported work by an Austrian company called Incus to develop a 3D printing solution that could reprint metal parts on the Moon.

August 3, 2023August 4, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

China’s Chang’e-7 Will Deploy a Hopper that Jumps into a Crater in Search of Water Ice

Artist rendition of potential future facilities on the lunar surface. (Credit: CFP)

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese National Space Administration recently published a study in the journal Space: Science & Technology outlining how the upcoming Chang’e-7 mission, due to launch in 2026, will use a combination of orbital observations and in-situ analyses to help identify the location, amount, and dispersion of water-ice in the permanently-shadowed regions (PSRs) of the Moon, specifically at the lunar south pole.

July 18, 2023July 18, 2023 by Andy Tomaswick

We Could Get Large Amounts of Water From the Moon by Directing the Sun At It

One of the most commonly discussed challenges when starting our species’ space exploration journey is how to get the resources necessary for life off of the Earth. Typically this is thought of as two things – water and oxygen, but, luckily, oxygen can be supplied by splitting apart a water molecule, so the most critical resource we could find in space is water. Commonly called a “volatile” in the language of space resources, water has been the focal point of many plans for in-situ resource utilization on the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere. Some of those plans have been well thought out, others not. One particular showed some promise when it was selected as part of NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) funding back in 2019, and here we’ll take a closer look at it.

July 18, 2023July 18, 2023 by Matt Williams

China Will Use Two Rockets to Put Humans on the Moon

Schematic diagram of China's proposed Lunar Lander. Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office

As of 2019, China began conducting preliminary studies for a crewed lunar mission that would take place by the 2030s. Two years later, the China National Space Agency (CNSA) and Roscosmos announced a partnership to create an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) around the South Pole-Aitken Basin. The proposed timeline for development came down to three phases: Reconnaissance (2021-25), Construction (2025-35), and Utilization (2035-onward). Earlier this year, China announced that its space agency would send the first crewed mission to the lunar surface by 2030.

On July 12th, during the 9th China (International) Commercial Aerospace Forum in Wuhan, China, Chinese officials offered additional information about its crewed lunar exploration program. This included Deputy chief engineer Zhang Hailian of the China Manned Space Engineering (CMSE) office announcing the preliminary plan for China’s first crewed lunar mission. As Zhang illustrated with a series of animations, the mission will consist of two carrier rockets launching all the necessary elements to the Moon, which will then rendezvous in orbit and land on the surface to conduct science operations.

July 17, 2023July 17, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

NASA Artemis DIMPLE Instrument Suite to Explore Moon’s Mysterious Volcanic Features

NASA recently selected a new science payload that will travel to the Moon through a series of robotic missions via the agency’s Artemis program. This instrument suite, known as the Dating an Irregular Mare Patch with a Lunar Explorer (DIMPLE), will have the task of studying the Ina Irregular Mare Patch, also known as Ina, which is a small depression that could provide insights into the Moon’s volcanic history. It was discovered using orbital images from the Apollo 15 crew, and despite several past studies, its origin remains unclear.