Two research proposals for the upcoming Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission expected to launch in October 2008 will look at the electrical properties of lunar dust and water-ice deposits on the Moon. The first, called the "Mapping Lunar Surface Electric Fields and Characterizing the Exospheric Dust Environment") will investigate how electrical fields on the lunar surface are propelling dust across the Moon. Lunar dust, which becomes electrostatically-charged as it moves across the surface, sticks to almost everything - astronaut suits, robotic rovers and instruments - and is generally regarded as a nuisance, if not a hazard, to working astronauts. Not enough is known about how much becomes charged, how much is transported, where it moves most across the lunar surface, or how its effects will hamper lunar exploration. NASA decided this area needs to be researched more, and when finished, they should have a better map of its impact - not only to the future proposed missions - but also how it together with a human presence on the Moon will affect the lunar environment. The second proposal, called the "Enhancement of Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector Mission Operations and Science Return", will investigate how neutron particles - created as a result of cosmic rays striking the lunar surface - are slowed down due to the presence of hydrogen in the soil. By monitoring the neutron speeds, particularly at the pole regions first detected by the Lunar Prospector mission in 1999, their hydrogen relationship to water-ice (H2O) could suggest potential deposits for exploitation in a future lunar base. Water - either as a free resource in the lunar soil or having to be transported from Earth to the Moon - will be an essential requirement for future lunar exploration. Not only can it be used to grow food in laboratories on the Moon, but it can also be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen for use as rocket fuel and breathable oxygen. Both proposals will be backed up by instruments already onboard LRO (see list of instruments), and are being funded by NASA through the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Md., who are building and managing LRO. Top

Launch of India's Chandrayaan-1 mission that was scheduled to go to the Moon in April is now expected to be delayed by upto two months. Reports by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) say the delay is due to another mission - a remote sensing satellite called CartoSat 2-A - that they will have to launch first. Chandrayaan-1 is India's first mission to the Moon devoted to high-resolution remote sensing of the lunar surface. Onboard are several instruments - an impactor that will help analyses of surface materials, an X-ray spectrometer, a high-resolution laser-ranging instrument, and a terrain mapping camera with 3-D imaging capability. Also, as well as carrying scientific instruments from both Bulgaria and the European Space Agency, Chandrayaan-1 will ferry two NASA research instruments - the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar, and a Moon Mineralogy Mapper which will carry out high resolution mapping of the lunar surface and distribution of various chemical elements and minerals. The Chandrayaan-1 mission has an operational lifetime of upto 2 years, and will be put into a lunar polar orbiter at an altitude of about 100 km. There, it will look at the lunar surface in the visible, near-infrared, X-ray and low energy gamma ray regions. If successful, ISRO hope to launch another similar type mission in 2015. Top

6 February 2008: Moon Basins - A lot more discovered

The darker regions of the Moon are made up of basalt lava deposits which extruded through fissures and cracks; created as a result by giant-sized impactors that struck the early-formed lunar crust. These impactors left behind huge basins (Imbrium, Nubium, Crisium, Serenitatis, Oceanus Procellarum...etc.,); their numbers of which across all of the Moon amount to 45 in all. New research, however, conducted by NASA scientist, Herb Frey - who initially studied Mars's dense mesh of elevations using the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument onboard the Mars Global Surveyor mission - suggests that there may be another 47 basins hidden in and on the lunar surface, right next to pre-existing basins. Frey's research is based around data he studied from the Unified Lunar Control Network - a combined grid of data gleaned during the Apollo and Orbiter missions, as well as images taken by telescopes on Earth - whose three dimensional selenodetic coordinates (latitude, longitude, and radial position) indicate that other, less obvious basins could also have been created because the topography of the lunar surface shows so. The results, if true, may indicate that the Moon was bombarded more by giant-sized objects than was previously understood; opening up a whole new area of study as to the moon's early history, and how these impactors moulded the lunar surface we see today. Top

25 January 2008: Explosive deposits on the Moon ripe for lunar base requirements

Observational data from several Earth-based radio telescopes of the Aristarchus Plateau - a raised 200 km rectangular block located in the vast lava flows of north-eastern Oceanus Procellarum - suggests that pyroclastic deposits in the region could one day be used for a future lunar base. Recognized early in the Apollo days as being unique in its geologic diversity, the plateau is famous for having one of the largest sinuous valleys on the Moon - possibly due to a collapsed lava tube that fell in on itself millions of years ago. The plateau consists of unusually dark mantling material that rises 2 kilometres above the 'smooth-ish' floor of Oceanus Procellarum; representing an explosive stage of basaltic volcanism that filled the huge impact basins across all of the Moon some 3.9 billion years ago (the Moon is 4.6 billion years old). The vast deposits in the plateau are composed of microscopic glass spheres as well as other species rich in iron, and the scientists who conducted the research in mid 2007 say these deposits could someday be used for exploitation of say, O2, H2,or halogens. Laboratory research on Earth has shown that bulk lunar pyroclastic deposits (some tens of meters thick in the plateau region) are much better suited for facilitating the mining and processing requirements. Access to Oxygen resources at a lunar base, for example, could be used in the future to keep astronauts alive and for the burning of fuel for rockets. The resources could greatly reduce overall costs of missions to a future base; which in other circumstances would need to ferry these resources from Earth to the Moon. The new data represent Earth-based radar images taken at 12.6 and 70 cm wavelengths respectively, and appear in the February 2008 issue of Geology (Vol 36, Issue 2, pp 135-138) Top

18 January 2008: Moon base versus manned missions to asteroids - VSE

This Feb 12 -13, a team of US planetary scientists, several astronauts and former NASA division directors will meet privately at Stanford University - not to discuss plans for a future lunar base on the moon's surface, but rather talk about abandoning the concept entirely and instead send manned missions to an asteroid. Under the NASA/Bush's Vision for Space Exploration a lunar base is currently planned to begin construction by 2020. As it would be used for further exploration to other planets like Mars by 2035, the above dissenters say that by cancelling the construction of the lunar base, a much earlier manned flight mission to Mars would be possible; opening up the whole space exploration initiative that bit quicker. The above plans are based upon suggestions from the team that a lunar base, and construction of it through numerous trips of machinery and equipment to our only natural satellite, will slow down development in other areas of the space exploration program. Moreover, the team suggest that as current interest in the Moon isn't all that popular among the public, and that there's doubt to the finances being available over the lifetime of the base being built, wouldn't it be better now to stop the NASA/Bush program and get a more viable manned spaceflight missions' program on track - sooner rather than later. It's anyone's guess whether anything coming from the meeting in February will change the way the current US space exploration program is going, however, one might pose the question - "is this team of scientists shooting themselves in the US foot?". After all, the US isn't the only space program currently planning to go to the Moon. China, Japan, India, Russia, Europe and the UK all have plans someday to set up some kind of a base of their own (eventually), or, get involved with a base from other countries. If the US are off trying to land on an asteroid or on the planet Mars, the country may loose out in terms of several areas of research, developments and new technologies that would someday be used for planetary exploration. Yes, they would undoubtedly have a stake in someway in each of these projects and these countries efforts, but would they hold the leading card anymore when it comes to exploration of the Moon? No! One thing for sure, however, is that the growing dissent about which way to take the next appropriate step has to be debated more, and this meeting is surely not the last of many to come. Top .

9 January 2008: Lowest frequency echo reflected from the Moon

A team of scientists working at the US Naval Research, the US Air Force, and the University of New Mexico, have detected the lowest-ever radar frequencies reflected from the lunar surface. The data, gathered during a two-day experiment last October using a high power transmitter located in Alaska called HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program), show that it is possible to launch high power radio waves towards the Moon and detect the reflected lower frequency waves (of long wavelength) from its surface in Earth transmitters. The reflected signals are weaker because of the long distance they have to travel between the Moon and the Earth, however, they can still carry back information about the the properties of the moon's topography, after the low frequency radar waves have propagated to varying depths below the lunar surface. HAARP sent out the signals at both 7.4075 MHz and 9.4075 MHz respectively, however, an array of antennae called the LWA (Long Wavelength Array), currently being built in New Mexico for studies of space physics and astrophysics, were able to detect the returned weak signals. LWA is only designed to work below the 88 MHz edge region of the FM band, however, in order for them to detect the reflected lower frequencies from the Moon (~ 7.4075 MHz), the antennae were equipped with specially designed digital receivers to improve their performance. HAARP's full total power capability is about 3.6 MW, and this was used to transmit pulses two seconds in length every five seconds over a period of two hours each day - one hour at each frequency. Such a pulse pattern makes the reflected signals, arriving back from the Moon 2.4 seconds later, immediately recognizable from the HAARP signal. Detecting the signals, however, was not a simple case of direct observation between the Moon and the Earth! Instead, the scientists had to use the underside of the earth's ionosphere (the region of the Earth's atmosphere from 50 to 400 km in altitude) to detect the reflected signals as they passed through it; which also allowed them to study the interaction between the two - both the signal and the ionosphere. Overall, the experiment demonstrated that the lower frequency signals were possible to detect, and that HAARP could be used for future research of the Moon using such a setup.  Top

1 January 2008: Recalibrating by the light of the Moon

Instruments onboard the EPOXI mission - formerly called 'Deep Impact' - were successfully recalibrated during a gravity-assist of the Earth as the spacecraft set a course for encounter with a comet in October 2011. The recalibration involved a high resolution camera, an infrared spectrometer and a medium resolution camera onboard the spacecraft; whose main objectives will be to study the comet's (comet Hartley 2) surface, as well as look for extrasolar planets from three nearby stars. The recalibration was necessary as the instruments onboard required a different set of adjustments to those of other past missions that conducted similar research in the cometary and extrasolar planetary areas. As the Moon has been observed many times across all wavelengths during other missions, comparisons of that data to data taken by EPOXI allowed the engineers to make the necessary recalibrations for the instruments onboard. The recalibrations took place between the 29 and 31 December as EPOXI made its closest approach to Earth in its orbit, and the lunar observations results proved very positive with all instruments working fully and correct. Deep Impact was launched in January 2005 and successfully impacted a probe onto comet Tempel 1 on the 4 July 2005. As the spacecraft was in excellent condition after the encounter, it was decided by NASA to extend the mission by sending it to comet Hartley 2, and also conduct extrasolar planetary studies before the spacecraft reaches its objective in 2011. Top

19 December 2007: The Moon gets a bit younger

New isotopic data from lunar rock samples suggests that our Moon may have formed later than once believed. The research, as reported in the journal, Nature, is based around decay measurements of tungsten (W) metal isotopes inside the rock samples. The Moon's origin is believed to have come about when the early proto-Earth was struck by a Mars-sized object. Vast amounts of impactor and early proto-Earth material mixed together as it orbited around the disrupted Earth, and this later accreted to form the Moon. However, because of the enormous energies involved in the impact, both bodies developed a global-scale magma ocean each, which then cooled and solidified into the Earth and Moon we see today. Radiometric decay data of W locked within the Earth and the Moon initially suggested that the event may have occurred around 30 million years after the Solar System was born 4.567 billion years ago. But this new research is saying that these previous data were not completely corrected for from another tungsten variant - ¹⁸²W produced by the decay of ¹⁸²Ta (tantalum) - which incurs an excess of the original W isotope. As a result, spurious ages for the age of the formation of the Moon arise. Taking this into account, the research indicates that the Moon could not have formed before 62 million years after the initiation of Solar System accretion. The new age agrees with previous findings that the rate of magma-ocean solidification was much slower than once thought, and that other planets in the Solar System may have gone through similar processes. The later time for the Moon's formation (which, therefore, makes the Moon younger) challenges the current view that the terrestrial planets grew rapidly, and also challenges ideas about their early cooling histories. It may mean that Earth and Mars took at least 50 million years, and possibly hundreds of millions of years, to reach their final mass (that is, 99% of their present size).Top

17 December 2007: KAGUYA takes a spectral look at the farside of Moon

An instrument onboard Japan's recently launched lunar spacecraft, KAGUYA, has taken the first ever   continuous reflectance spectra of the farside of the Moon. Just one of 15 instruments onboard the main orbiting spacecraft, the Spectral Profiler (SP) spectrometer was able to take images in the visible to near infrared region (from 0.5 to 2.6nm, with spectral resolution of 6 to 8nm and spatial resolution 500m) of the lunar surface as it flew some 100 km above. Data from the SP, together with several other instruments onboard, for example, the Multi-band Imager, the X-ray Spectrometer and the Gamma-ray Spectrometer, will give an overall perspective about the moon’s mineralogical distribution and composition. Serious studies about these mineral distributions and compositions won't, therefore, begin until all instruments onboard KAGUYA are working together properly. That said, engineers at JAXA are currently working with each instrument to test and calibrate them before KAGUYA is truly deemed a working orbiting probe. Top

13 December 2007: Moon lander will be named Altair

"Houston, Altair has landed" will most likely be the words uttered by an astronaut in the near future as he/she sets down on the lunar surface. The reusable Altair (formerly called the Lunar Surface Access Module) will be capable of putting four astronauts down on the lunar surface, and then returning them back into space where it will dock with an orbiting spacecraft (Orion) overhead for safe return to Earth. Under NASA's Constellation program, Altair will be launched separately from Earth onboard an Ares V rocket into low earth orbit, while Orion (with crew members onboard) will be launched on a Ares I rocket. The two will then dock in space, transfer into lunar orbit, and then Altair will undock from the Orion spacecraft and descend down to the surface for a weeklong mission. Altair reusables are hoped to deliver equipment and essential supplies to build the foundations for the first outpost on the Moon (possibly in the South Pole region), which is expected to be fully established by 2020. Previous designs for the module envisioned a large habitat to be left on the lunar surface, with a separate ascent stage for returning astronauts back into lunar orbit, however, as first design concepts have yet to be announced (and tested and built between 2009 and 2011), the 47 metric tonne mass requirement will be somewhat of a challenge. While the name Altair has its roots somewhere in the Arabic language (Altair = "the flying one"), the lander will, however, prove a testing ground not only for landings of an ascent stage on the lunar surface, but also how future landers will be produced and designed (both philosophically as well as technically) for the many different landing requirements on other planets in our Solar System.Top

12 December 2007: Earth's magnetosphere reducing particle exposure on the Moon

According to new research by scientists working in Washington University, earth's magnetic shield (its magnetosphere) which deflects dangerous high energy solar particles away from us, could also be deflecting lower energetic ionospheric particles from striking the Moon. Solar energetic particles (or SEPs) are predominantly produced during solar flares (solar storms) on the Sun which occur from the abrupt release of the energy stored in the sun's magnetic fields. These particles stream outwards away from the solar flare event close to the speed of light, and strike earth's upper atmosphere that sometimes cause disruption to orbiting communications satellites. The particles, however, also have an effect in earth's ionosphere, primarily with oxygen, which produce a secondary stream of less energetic particles (ionospheric particles) that flow mainly in the tail end of the magnetosphere. As the Moon is always encompassed within the magnetosphere, the ionospheric particles as they flow past it can sometimes be denser at certain times during certain points in the moon's orbit around the Earth. The researchers in Washington, however, are saying that while this may be the case, it also can be the reverse where the magnetosphere can deflect away the harmful particles, producing less denser concentrations at certain times in the moon's orbit around the Earth. Thus, for an astronaut working on the lunar surface during such a particle event, his exposure would very much be increased or decreased depending upon his location, and the position of the Moon in its orbit around the Earth. The research could be of significant use for those astronauts who will work on the Moon in the coming future. Top

11 December 2007: GRAIL mission to survey moon's weak gravity

Of the three Discovery missions - VESPER (a Venus mission), OSIRIS (an asteroid mission) and GRAIL (a Moon mission) - picked today by NASA, the latter will join an array of other planned missions to the Moon in the very near future. Consisting of two small orbiting probes to measure the moon's weak gravity field, GRAIL (Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory) will orbit the Moon for upto 90 days and detect minute variances in the moon's gravity using microwave ranging instruments as it passes over the lunar surface. The measurements should reveal the slightest changes in the moon's weak gravity, and produce data nearly a thousand times better than from previous lunar missions todate. In effect, the survey should tell an awful lot about the Moon's interior from crust to core, reveal some new findings about the moon's subsurface structure and thermal history, and also about the formation of rocky planets and moons. A camera aboard each spacecraft will also allow students and the public to interact with observations from the satellites. The $375m mission is expected to launch around 2011, and the data retrieved will be used to compliment future missions like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter due for launch in October 2008 as well as support NASA's exploration goals for returning humans to the moon by 2020. NASA's Discovery Program was created in 1992 as a response to get cost-effective, but highly-focused missions into space to carry out research for support of more larger missions in the future. GRAIL was chosen from 24 submissions, all of which had to contain certain scientific requirements from implementation aspects to technical issues. Top

6 December 2007: Did volcanoes on the Moon occur earlier than expected?

According to a new study, as reported in the current issue of Nature, of a moon meteorite found in the Kalahari Desert, geologic evidence inside it may suggest that volcanoes on the lunar surface erupted earlier than once thought. Previous studies of rock samples taken during the Apollo program between 1969 to 1972 suggested that volcanic activity on the Moon occurred mainly after the LHB (Late Heavy Bombardment) some 3.8 to 3.9 billion years ago. However, the research conducted by a leading team of international scientists now suggest that the activity may have occurred 150 million years after the Moon formed (the Moon is believed to have formed 4.5 billion years ago). During the LHB, the Moon's surface was heavily bombarded by meteorites which produced huge craters where joint fissures and volcanoes allowed lava to erupt onto the surface, producing the huge basalt plains or Mares ('Seas') we see on the Moon's surface today. However, as the Kalahari meteorite, which is a basaltic type rock (lava becomes basaltic when it cools) that contains a specific ratio of certain elements created as a result of the splitting of uranium, the unique ratio puts the meteorite's age and formation at around 4.35 billion old. The result may indicate that magma was being erupted onto the lunar surface very soon (in geologic terms) after the Moon had formed. The majority of known mare basalt samples have ages younger than about 3.9, however, as there aren't enough samples of other ancient lunar basalts like the Kalahari meteorite, definitive evidence of early lunar volcanic activity is rare. The Kalahari meteorite was discovered in Botswana in 1999, and is one of the oldest-known mare basaltic samples in existence on Earth. It is classified as a very-low-Ti mare-basalt breccia (that is, its geologic makeup consists of very low titanium content), which derived from a relatively depleted source of magma material during its ascent from the lunar interior. Top

5 December 2007: SMART-1 gives a whole new look to the Moon's north pole

A single mosaic of 30 images taken of the lunar north pole by the European Space Agency's SMART-1 mission is giving a whole new view of the region like never before. Covering an area of approximately 800km by 600km in size, the image, which shows a range of craters of many different sizes, is of special interest because some of the craters in permanent shadow may harbour water-ice deposits. The deposits, which may likely be volatiles left behind by comets and water-rich asteroids as they crashed onto the Moon during its formation, could prove very useful in the future for establishment of a lunar base. Colonists living at the base would need plenty of water to grow food, produce rocket fuel (from the hydrogen in H2O), and build up oxygen reserves for breathing. Moreover, water could also act a barrier against dangerous radiation to astronauts. The deposits, which may lie several feet down in frozen layers of lunar soil within the shadowed regions, could be extracted by the colonists as they set up the lunar base. Two previous missions, Clementine and Lunar Prospector, detected water-ice signatures back in the 1990s around both pole regions, but analyses of the data has proved a controversial issue. Several missions planned to go to the Moon within this decade and the next (see Missions page) will again check to see if they do really exist, as their potential and importance will play a very major role in the success of future space exploration. If, however, a lunar base is going to be established in the near future, the lunar north pole won't exactly be first choice of site as, unlike the south pole, very few craters there remain in shadow. The original mosaic of images from SMART-1' were taken with the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) micro-camera onboard the probe between May 2005 and February 2006. As it flew over the region at a distance of about 3000km, the camera took hundreds of close-up photos of the surface through both wide-field (about 300km across) and medium-resolution views (300 metres per pixel) -- each image photographed through coloured filters and long exposures. On the 3 September 2006, SMART-1 was intentionally crashed onto the surface at the Lake of Excellence, as astronomers back on Earth recorded the event through telescopes around the world - hoping to learn more about impact dynamics and debris kicked up from the event. Top

5 December 2007: Chinese global moon map on the horizon

As the recently launched Chinese Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter continues to collect high resolution images of the moon's surface, officials involved with the mission suggest that a new global map of the Moon is on the way. Previous global maps of the Moon have only been produced from observational data gathered by American, Russian and European lunar orbiters, and as a consequence features and lunar landmarks have mostly been given names from a western perspective - honouring, mostly, people who made a major contribution to science, philosophy and astronomy...etc. However, as Chang'e 1 is currently the only lunar probe orbiting the Moon at the moment, and will have upto several months of lunar mapping ahead of two planned missions in 2008 (NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India's Chandraan-1), new discoveries in the intervening period are set to be given an eastern influence. Chinese people may, over the next few months, hear announcements of names that they may be familiar with. For instance, will there be the Yang Liwei (China's first astronaut) crater, the Mao Zedong Sea mare (Sea), or even the Peking rille? The list is endless! There are currently upto nine craters on the Moon named after Chinese - four on the nearside (the side of the Moon that always faces Earth) and 5 on the farside. One is named after the famous Chinese pioneering astronomer, Kao Ping-Tse, the astrologist, Shi-Shen, the mathematician, Tsu Chung-Chi, and even the Chinese mythical female character, Chang-Ngo, who stole and swallowed her husband's long-life elixir that, in the end, made her fly to the Moon and never to return to Earth again. While some of these people and characters will, obviously, be unknown (if not mispronounced) by most westerners, Chinese people around the world will easily recognise them, and gratify at the place of recognition they have been given on the Moon. Top

3 December 2007: Chang'e 1 photo is authentic

In a surprising turnaround to last week's release by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) of a photo taken by the country's only lunar orbiter, Chang'e 1, controversy surrounds the authenticity of the image. The trouble began when regular moon observers on Chinese websites suggested that the Chang'e 1 photo looked very similar to a photo from one of NASA's lunar orbiters - possibly the Clementine 1994 mission - taken some years ago. The region in both pictures do look very alike, however, in the Chang'e 1 photo there appears to be an additional feature - an extra crater (circled), which further sparked the controversy. Chinese officials from the administration, of course, denied the allegations saying the Chang'e 1 photo is authentic, and that the two show differences of light direction and shadows in certain craters. As the resolution is much better in the Chang'e 1 image than the Clementine image, close inspection does show nicely the differences between the two and, moreover, the extra crater can be explained. It appears that one strip of Chang'e 1's 19 individual photos taken of the area may be overlapping onto another photo strip at a slight misalignment, and it's this that is producing the additional crater effect. The original observers who instigated the controversy have so far made no response to CNSA, however, it looks like they may now have egg noodles on their face. The original Chang'e 1 photo was unveiled to the public on the 26 November 2007 by the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, and the mission is China's first venture to the Moon. Over a period of a year, the spacecraft will take abundance and distribution measurements of elements on the lunar surface, and explore the solar wind environment between the Earth and the Moon. Top

2 December 2007: Odyssey Moon and the Google Lunar X PRIZE

Plans of Odyssey Moon, a privately funded mission that proposes to land a robotic probe on the lunar surface, will be unveiled this Thursday, 6 December, at the Space Investment Summit in San Jose, California. Representatives of the proposed mission, just one in the 350 other proposed missions from teams worldwide, is vying for the sum of $30 million offered on the 13 September last by Google who want small companies or groups of individuals to build and launch a spacecraft to the Moon. The team working on Odyssey Moon is mainly Isle of Man-based, and intentions are, firstly, to deliver a small robotic lander to the surface with a scientific payload onboard, followed later by additional exploration and commercial payloads. At least 40 countries among the 350 are involved in the competition, and the team working with Odyssey Moon is the first to complete registration for the PRIZE. The Google Lunar X Prize, as it is officially known, is financially backed by Googleeer’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, working with the X Prize Foundation in Santa Monica, California. Of course, not all of the 350 proposed mission designs will come to fruition before the competition deadline ends in 2014, however, as the PRIZE has gained so much attention from highly respected companies around the world, the overall winner could easily be announced within the next three to four years. Some of the countries that made proposals include: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, and the USA. The main aim of the competition, however, is to encourage a global, private race to the Moon - well before any main space agency or international government can - and those interested in registering can do so (see registration form here). Top

26 November 2007: First photo of lunar surface from Chang'e-1

Today, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) released its first picture of the Moon taken by the Chang'e-1 lunar orbiter that launched on 24 October 2007. The image was unveiled at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre by the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, who, in a passionate and inspiring speech, hailed it as a major step in China's dream of exploring the moon. The rectangular image, which shows an area of the lunar surface some 460 km by 280 km in size (lunar coordinates 54 to 70S, 57 to 83E) was pieced together from 19 individual photos taken by its onboard CCD stereo camera. The launch of Chang'e-1 is the third milestone in China's space exploration program, and follows on previous successes that the country has had in putting communication satellites into space, as well as a manned flight in 2003. China's future exploration plans sees a moon landing and launch of a moon rover around 2012, and another rover to land on the Moon that will retrieve lunar soil and return it to Earth around 2017. No manned lunar landings are planned as yet, however, CNSA says that this does not rule out one in the near future. The 2,350-kg Chang'e-1 satellite, which has an array of upto eight scientific instruments, is set to carry out a three-dimensional survey of the Moon over a period of a year, and take abundance and distribution measurements of elements on the lunar surface. It will also investigate characteristics of the lunar soil (the regolith), and explore the solar wind environment between the Earth and the Moon. Top

23 November 2007: Moon map on eBay fails to meet reserve price

The eighteenth century Moon map, created by Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (1677 - 1750) - a German mathematician, astronomer and cartographer - that recently went up for sale on eBay failed to meet its reserve price (unknown) on Thursday (Nov-22-07 11:55:00 PST). The bidding stopped at $1,580.00 from nine bidders during the 24 bids in total that were made. The engraved map is one of the best-known works of Doppelmayr, which was published in the Atlas Novus Coelestis in 1742. The atlas was intended as a general introduction to astronomy, and contained upto 30 star charts and illustrations of planetary systems. Many works from several renowned scientists of the day were also included; from the elliptic theories of Kepler, Boulliau, Seth Ward to the lunar theories of Tycho Brahe, Horrocks and Newton, as well as the cometary theory of Edmund Halley (he of comet Halley fame). Doppelmayr during his career created several sundials and mathematical instruments, and while he made no discoveries of importance himself, he successfully disseminated and translated several scientific works of others from French into English into German. He died on 1st December 1750 in Nuremberg. In 1791, the German lunar and planetary observer Johann Hieronymus Schroeter named a lunar crater (64 kilometres in diameter just on the edge of Mare Humorum at 42W, 28S) after him. Top

20 November 2007: Spitzer study shows our Moon is truly unique

A new study by a group of scientists working with the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that the formation of the Moon in our Solar System is uncommon in the Universe. The study, which involved observing upto 400 young stars for signatures of dust - produced as a result of collisions between rocky material orbiting around the stars that would eventually form into planets and moons - signified that only 1 in the 400 showed the tell-tale sign. Our own Moon is believed to have formed from the early forming Earth over 4 billion years ago, when a Mars-sized object struck it a glancing blow. The impact ejected vast amounts of material and dust into obit around the Earth, and this later accreted together to form the Moon. Based on the assumption that if this is the normal, dynamic process of how planets and moons form in young star systems (in the study case all the stars were roughly 30 million years old), then the dust signatures around such systems should show up. But, according to the 400 observations, they don't. The scientists were able to calculate the probability of a solar system making a moon like Earth's, and found that the likely chance of one forming amounted to only 5 to 10 percent at most. From their results, they are now suggesting that, for the most part, planet and moon formation has ended by 30 millions years after a young star has formed. The results will appear in the 20 November 2007 issue of the Astrophysical Journal (Volume 670, Number 1, Part 1). Top

20 November: South Korea eyes the Moon

The South Korean's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has announced that their country will put a probe in orbit around the Moon by 2020, and a lander on its surface by 2025. Responsible for the planned launches will be the Daejeon-based Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) - currently preparing a small launch vehicle (KSLV-I) capable of lofting a 100 kilogram satellite into low orbit around the Earth in 2008. A newer, but larger version to be built by 2017, called the KSLV-II, will be used to get the two planned missions to the Moon, and will be capable of carrying much heavier payloads. The orbiter probe is expected to take three years to build, and will be used to take images of the moon's surface and carry out other lunar research. The second probe will include an orbiter, a lander and a remote-controlled robot, which will carry out scientific experiments on the surface. South Korea has over the last decade sent several small communication and research satellites into space using foreign-launched rockets, however, the country is now adopting a more independent approach as KARI receives increased spending by the Korean Government. KARI is set to complete construction of a space research centre (Naro Space Centre) and a rocket launching pad on an island some 500 km south of Seoul in 2008, and next April will send their own Korean astronaut, Ko San, with two other cosmonauts onboard a Russian vehicle to the International Space Station. KARI's main functions include conducting R&D on satellites, sounding rockets and aircraft, technical support for Korean aerospace industries, and assistance to the government's policy in the aerospace field. Top

15 November 2007: Antarctic environment to be used for lunar habitat tests

During a 13-month long test to be staged at the McMurdo Station situated in the Antarctic, NASA are to deploy an inflatable habitat that may someday may be used on the lunar surface. Looking, for all intents and purposes, like a plastic greenhouse that one might set up in a back garden, the inflatable habitat will be used to collect data about how the harsh conditions in the Antarctic may affect its performance and design. The habitat is loaded with sensors throughout to record power consumption and damage tolerance in such extreme environments, and engineers will also study improvements in packing, transportation and its set up. While these conditions may not represent exactly those that astronauts will experience while living on the Moon (or Mars), they are, however, a close comparison. Inflatable habitats have the advantage over other metal-type habitats in that they are extremely lightweight but strong. They are also extremely flexible, enough so to be redeployed and collapsed several times over in very short times, and small enough (when collapsed) to be stored easily in tight spaces onboard a spacecraft. The habitats are usually made up from composite materials (for instance, layers of carbon fibre) that, when bonded together with epoxy resin, gives them an even stronger 'strength-to-weight' ratio than other light-weight metals such as aluminium. Moreover, they can provide radiation and hypervelocity particle impact protection from outside threats, and maintain a warm and comfortable environment for its inhabitants inside. This habitat experiment is just one of a number of concepts that NASA is testing for possible use on planets and moons within our Solar System. And while they won't exactly be the main habitat that will make up the final lunar base, their ease of construction will allow them to be used for extension of existing, but more sturdier, habitats and laboratories, as well for use in away sorties from the main base. The habitat is being developed under NASA’s Innovative Partnership Program, who are partnering on the project with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and ILC Dover - the same company which created the spacesuits that astronauts used on the Moon during the Apollo program. Top

13 November 2007: Earth rises and sets - from the Moon

The Japanese spacecraft, KAGUYA, that currently is orbiting the Moon, has taken the first high definition images of the Earth 'rising' and the 'setting' over the lunar limb. Floating like a small, blue-white marble backdropped against a dark sky and a series of huge craters on the lunar surface, the earth-rise/set images were observed, not as a direct result of the Earth actually rising or setting at the moon's horizon, but rather KAGUYA's view of it as it orbits around the Moon. This doesn't mean to say that earth-risings and earth-settings aren't possible from the Moon itself for someone standing on its surface. During its orbit around Earth, the moon's speed and rotational axial tilt changes as a result of it being synchronously locked with the Earth - that is, the moon's monthly rotation on its axis roughly equals its monthly orbital revolution around our planet. This 'locked setup' between the two produces what are known as libration effects, where the Moon appears to 'nod' and 'wobble' (but not actual physical nodding or wobbling of the Moon) in its orbit, as viewed from Earth. For someone standing on the Moon, therefore, at certain locations (mainly around the poles and the equator's edges), these libration effects would cause the person to see earth-rises and earth-sets. The KAGUYA images are something that will become very common over the mission's lifetime, and something that future lunar explorers will see as they live and work at a lunar base - expected to be established by 2020. While the HDTV images aren't the first KAGUYA has taken of the Earth since the mission launched on 14 September 2007, they are, however, the world's first high-definition earth-rise and earth-set images taken from about 380,000 km away from the Earth in space. For more images of the event see here. Top

7 November 2007: First high definition images of Moon taken by KAGUYA

The first images taken of the lunar surface from an altitude of 100 kilometres by Japan's unmanned Moon mission, KAGUYA (or SELENE), are proving to be excellent. The images, taken by the onboard high definition TV camera (HDTV), show a very detailed surface area of craters and other lunar features close to the northern end of Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms). The HDTV took a series of images on the 31 October as KAGUYA passed over the region in a polar orbit around the Moon, and each was taken from different angles and during different shading conditions. This isn't the first time that the HDTV has been used, as on 1 October last it also took the first high-definition image of the Earth from so deep in space (about 110,000 km away from the Earth). All images were received at the JAXA Usuda Deep Space Centre in Japan, and processed by the Nihon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) Japanese Broadcasting Corporation. KAGUYA was launched on 14 September 2007 from the Tanegashima Space Centre, and its primary objectives are to obtain scientific data about the moon's origin and evolution through means of mapping the surface. It will also release two other smaller satellites in the coming weeks that will use an array of scientific instruments to take selenodesic (the physical geography) and gravimetric (gravity) measurements of the lunar surface. For more and larger images taken by KAGUYA, see here from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) website. Top

6 November 2007: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon in Ireland

Beginning on the 16 November 2007 and running right through to 17 February 2008, the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Ireland, will exhibit a series of 100 woodblock prints with the Moon as its central character. Produced by Japanese artist, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi who completed them shortly before his death in 1892, the "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon", exhibition links together ancient stories from Japanese and Chinese legend and history, and the artist's own social comment about his country's glorious past in an approaching western ideology, forced into Japan during the 1860s. The prints also have an underlying theme running through them of poverty and the state of mental illness, as Yoshitoshi himself experienced later in life through depression as commissions grew scarce. These experiences had an enormous effect on his style, which led him to produce prints that looked more at the psychological aspect of a particular event or persona, and how the viewer might understand them. The exhibition is being lent by the Museum of International Folk Art, Museum of New Mexico, USA, which was collected from all over the world by the late Joseph and Else Chapman. The Chester Beatty Library is housed in an eighteenth-century Clock Tower Building, and is world famous for its collection of rare artistic, religious and secular manuscripts and books - some of which include representative samples of the world’s heritage from about 2700 BC to the present century.  Top

5 November 2007: China’s Chang’e 1 spacecraft lines up for lunar orbit

Orbital data returned so far from the Chang'e 1 mission which launched two weeks ago on a one-year mission to the moon are so positive that the spacecraft is now having to skip correction manoeuvres. The spacecraft is behaving so well, in fact (says controllers at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre), that the planned orbital manoeuvre to lower its orbit for tomorrow, 6 Nov., needn't go ahead because Chang'e 1 is right on the button. Another orbit correction (really, breaking manoeuvres that slow down the speed of the craft) is planned the next day, 7 Nov., and after that, Chang'e 1 is on its final approach to the Moon. This is good news for the spacecraft's future as the skip in manoeuvres saves a lot of fuel, allowing possible extension to the year-long mission by upto several months at least. The orbital manoeuvres are designed to ensure that the craft is lined up properly for its final trajectory before it enters into orbit around the Moon. These manoeuvres are an essential requirement for any spacecraft about to approach a planet or any other celestial object, like a comet or asteroid, because if they don't work correctly in time, missions could be put in jeopardy. As Chang'e 1's speed and position are within necessary bounds, controllers on Earth monitoring the craft say that it is safe for it fly to the Moon directly. Several corrections have already been carried out since Chang'e 1 entered into an Earth/Moon transfer orbit over the last few days, and now all that is for it to be captured by the moon’s gravity. Small bursts from rocket firings will then place the spacecraft into a circular, polar orbit where the mission can truly begin. Chang'e will globally map the Moon, analyze the content and distribution of elements on its surface, and take thickness measurements of the lunar soil. Chang'e 1 will also measure the spatial distribution of low-energy ions in the solar wind and the near-lunar region. Top

25 October 2007: X-Prize galore in lunar lander competition

NASA's Centennial Challenges Program is offering $2 million to any one, or team of people, who can demonstrate that they can design a rocket which could be used for future lunar research. To win the prize, participants must design a rocket that can take off vertically, climb to a defined altitude, and then land again vertically at another fixed target from the launch-pad. They then have to do the reverse procedure all over again within a predetermined time, until the rocket has landed back on its original pad. The whole idea behind the competition is to get businesses and technologies involved in designing a commercially viable rocket for the moon, that could some day be used to ferry humans and cargo there and back again to Earth. Offer of the prize will take place during the Wirefly X PRIZE Cup, held at the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on 26 to 28 October. Top

24 October 2007: China's Chang'e 1 mission launches to the Moon

Within the next few weeks the moon is yet again to receive another visiting spacecraft that only last month saw the Japanese spacecraft, Kaguya, enter into orbit around its environment. Chang’e 1 is China’s first step of a three-stage moon program, which over the coming decade will involve a lander probe setting down on the lunar surface around 2012, and a sample return mission of soil and rocks back to Earth around 2020. The spacecraft will use a series of scientific instruments to obtain three-dimensional images of the lunar surface, take distribution measurements of essential elements for possible exploitation in the near future, and acquire thickness depths of the moon’s soil – the regolith. Expected to last a year, with possible extension afterwards depending on its health status, Chang’e 1 will also take measurements of ion activity in the solar wind and the near-lunar region. Both China and Japan are the first countries to get back to the Moon again since last visited by the ESA Smart-1 mission back in September 2006 (which was intentionally crashed onto the lunar surface), as several more countries, like the USA, India, Germany and Russia also plan to return over the coming years. Top

20 October 2007: Calibrating by the Gamma Ray Moon

It’s always been known that gamma rays emit off the surface of the moon, caused as a result of cosmic rays striking its surface. Now scientists working with the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) suggest that they may be able to use the moon’s gamma rays to calibrate instruments on the telescope. Cosmic rays are charged particles in space that come from stars and our Sun. Some of these rays have very high energies that when they strike with the nucleus of atoms in soil, for example, the moon’s soil, a scattering of nuclei (neutrons) is released. These, in turn, collide with each other in the process producing an ‘excitation’ effect, which then emit gamma rays to release the extra energy so that they can return to their normal rest state. As the scientists working with GLAST know with certainty the rate of these gamma rays coming off the moon, the telescope should receive a percentage of these rays according to how well the instrument is calibrated. This calibration can then be cross-checked with other calibration methods for the telescope to ensure that GLAST is working fine. GLAST is scheduled for launch in early 2008. It will look at objects that emit high energy wavelengths of light, and will complement NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) mission, a satellite launched in 2002. Top

9 October 2007: An Institute for the Moon

Lunar research wouldn’t be top of the list of choice for most PhDs students heading into full-time career positions right now. With little R&A (Research & Analysis) funding available to them in this area, and missions to the Moon far and few between, more and more are opting into main-stream research in other fields of astronomy. Now, NASA is trying to stem this ebbing tide by creating the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI). Its main objective will be to entice young scientists into lunar research now, so as that a more mature community of lunar scientists would be around in time for return to the Moon within the next decade (currently, those working in lunar research are of the Apollo era). The new NLSI is a welcome initiative, and adds an additional boost for lunar research to already existing programs like, for instance, the LSSO (Lunar Sortie Science Opportunities) program and the new LASER (Lunar Advanced Science and Exploration Research) R&A program (see more on these programs here). Managed by NASA Ames Research Centre, NLSI will initially create 4 to 5 teams at a cost of $1m to $2m each, which is expected to increase on a yearly basis as more and more apply for positions. Top

1 October 2007: Accommodating the Moon

Within the next decade after “boots on the Moon” have successfully walked there again, survival for the lunarnauts as they live and work on the surface will most certainly depend on factors of transport and habitat. Already the Ares and Orion rockets for getting to the Moon are well in their advanced stage, however, transport and habitat designs for use on the lunar surface are very much way behind. NASA and others are now considering (and testing) new approaches that might work, so trial and error are much to the foe on these essential survival products. The most favoured approach from NASA right now for the future lunar architecture is to land as large a complete habitat as is possible (the Ares V launch vehicle has a shroud diameter of 8.7 metres) on the surface, and possibly join other complete habitats to it afterwards in as few flights as is possible. These would then form the foundations for building a much larger base, possibly at Shackleton Crater near the South Pole, and all done within the constraints of the necessary lunar architecture of power supplies, living quarters and rovers. In respects of a better rover, for example, the unpressurized Apollo rover used back in the 70s had a limited range of 10-15 km, however, NASA are now looking at using a pressurised rover that would be capable of towing a trailer and having a pressurised compartment with spacesuits attached. The Lunarnauts could then easily step into the suits and walk on the surface, and step back out again into the pressurised compartment when finished their work. The trailer could also be filled with supplies and scientific instruments for longer missions; allowing sorties of upto 3 to 14 days in length (travelling upto 200 km and 960 km away from base respectively). Starting with incremental build-up of four-person crews making several, seven-day visits to the moon, the first base is expected to start around 2020. Top

18 September 2007: A Googling on Google Moon

Google Moon is getting better as now it is possible to zoom in on areas where most of the Apollo missions took place. On-liners get a feel for all the locations the astronauts visited - through pictures accompanied with text - learning about the features they encountered and their interaction with the lunar surface. Google Moon was launched last year and currently is getting a major make-over. In the meantime, Google are offering $30 million to companies that can land a robot camera to roam on the Moon and send back high-resolution snaps and data. Upto $20 million of the prize money will go towards design of a vehicle that can move around automatically and transmit data back to Earth, while the other $10 million will be divided up in half - $5 million offered for a stationary device that sends data, and $5 million for a robot vehicle that discovers ice or water, that can travel further than five kilometres or capture images of space vehicles abandoned there from old missions. The prizes are offered until December 31, 2012, after which a lowered grand prize of 12 million dollars can be won.Top

14 September 2007: Japan launches to the Moon

Japan’s SELENE, or Kaguya, spacecraft is finally on its way to the Moon for a year-long mission to conduct a global survey of its surface. Equipped with a suite of scientific instruments onboard, the probe will look in areas, such as, the moon’s mineralogical composition, its tectonic history, and investigate areas of interest at its polar regions of potential sites for construction of an astronomical observatory. Kaguya will also release two small satellites on different orbits around the Moon to carry out gravitometric measurements of the lunar farside, and detection of the moon’s tenuous ionosphere. Though Japan are initially proposing a year-long mission, if the probe is still in good condition it could get an additional extension, else, all three could be intentionally crashed onto the lunar surface to find out more about its soil. On another, less scientific note, Kaguya will also carry more than 400,000 names and messages from people who submitted them last year – the reasons of which were mainly for getting people interested in the mission. Kaguya will also kick off an International Lunar Decade, where several nations around the world are currently preparing unmanned and manned missions to go to the Moon. Top

13 September 2007: UK recommends more involvement in lunar research

Among the many recommendations published in a new report from the Space Exploration Working Group in the United Kingdom, a new 5-year-long programme could see British astronauts in space by 2014 and working at a lunar base by 2020. The report makes several recommendations about the UK's involvement in human spaceflight and ways to take a more independent route in future lunar research projects. By avoiding the normal but costly route in programmes associated with NASA or ESA, the UK would instead purchase seats on Russian Soyuz rockets and train their future astronauts there. The costs – amounting to between £50 and £70 million over the five-year period – could see two UK astronauts working onboard the International Space Station by 2014 at first, and then working alongside other international space agencies at a lunar base in research of the moon and its many resources. The UK has been technically involved with lunar robotic missions in the past and has a wealth of expertise in this area, but now is the time, the report recommends, to get involved more. Through facilitation of robotic equipment in areas, for example, in rover, seismic and sample-return lunar projects, involvement in these could lead to an increased role in manned missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond through the Global Exploration Strategy. Overall, the report is a very timely review of the UK's current position in space exploration, especially now as findings from the British National Space Centre on its space policy is due to be reported within the next few months. Top

1 September 2007: Walk and Roll on the Moon

ATHLETE – the ‘All Terrain Hex Limbed Extra Terrestrial Explorer’ – is a robotic experiment that JPL at NASA hope to launch to the moon within the next decade. The hexagonal-shaped vehicle, which has six individual legs with a wheel at each end, is capable of roving or walking about on the lunar surface - carrying cargo like equipment or a small habitat to anywhere it wants to go. While the wheels can work together in coordination in moderate to hard terrain, the legs, on the other hand, allows ATHLETE to work in softer to extreme terrain. Each leg has an additional capability where power tools like drills or clampers can be attached, which can then operate off the motor that powers the wheels to roll. When an interesting area of terrain is seen, ATHLETE can walk or roll upto it, stop, and then use a different tool on each leg to investigate it more. Moreover, stereo-cameras on each leg allows close inspection of the intended target and a more effective way of seeing what the tool is actually doing. ATHLETE also has six pairs of stereoscopic cameras suitably located around each face of the hexagonal-shaped frame; giving the vehicle full panoramic 3D views everywhere in any direction. ATHLETE is in its prototype stage right now measuring approximately 3 metres across in diameter, however, a fully-built version will be upto twice that size when it eventually gets to land on the moon. Capable of carrying upto twenty tons at a time, its unique mobility and manipulation capabilities will be of enormous advantage for establishing the first lunar base – expected to start sometime around 2020.Top

23 August 2007: Data answering questions about Moon’s geological/volcanic past

Dynamic structures like compression wrinkles and tectonics faults hidden underneath the lunar crust are slowly being understood, using data from two lunar missions – ESA’s SMART-1 spacecraft that crashed on the moon in 2006 and NASA’s Clementine spacecraft that ended in 1994 due to power failure. High resolution images taken by SMART-1’s AMIE micro-camera and Clementine’s multi-spectral images taken at various wavelengths in the visible, ultraviolet and infrared, are determining the tectonics of the moon's giant basins and the history of volcanic flooding of mid-sized craters, inside and around the lunar basins. Lunar basins formed over 3.8 billion years ago when heavy bombardment of the lunar surface produced huge basin-like craters that fractured the lithosphere beneath. As the Moon had already cooled, there were no molten rocks to flood these basins immediately, however, approximately a billion years later; decay of radioactive elements deep within the moon’s interior began to heat up mantle material again. This welled up through the cracks (concentric faults around the basins) and volcanic vents in the lithosphere, producing a series of thin, extensive lava sheets that filled the basins. The fault structures and volcanic vents obviously became covered up during the process, however, as Clementine’s multi-spectral instruments could literally ‘see’ these signatures below the surface, the data could then be combined with AMIE’s surface data to give an overall explanation of the history of the region. While SMART-1 crashed onto the Moon on the 3 September 2006 in a region known as the Lake of Excellence, and Clementine was put into a geocentric orbit that took it somewhere in through the Van Allen radiation belts, the data gleaned from both missions will continue to be analysed for many years yet. Top

21 August 2007: Germany makes plans for an unmanned mission to Moon

In 2012, the German Aerospace Centre at DLR hopes to launch an unmanned mission to the Moon called the ‘Lunar Exploration Orbiter’ (LEO). The proposed mission consist of two satellites (a 700 kg main satellite and 150 kg sub-satellite), and each will fly in formation around the moon taking simultaneous measurements in several fields. Some of LEO’s suite of instruments consists of: spectrometers to look at a broad range of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum; microwave and radar experiments to look deep down under the surface at ancient structures like impacts and ghost craters; and a very sensitive camera known as SMOSH to detect flash events from impacts as the happen over the four-year life-long term of the mission. The instruments also include a magnetometer and gradiometer for detecting the moon’s relative magnetic and gravity fields; the data of which will be invaluable for determining aspects about the moon’s interior. LEO is Germany’s first independent venture into exploration of the Moon, and the hope is that it will establish the country as a leader among other space-faring nations; demonstrating their expertise and technological know-how. As of August 2007, LEO is currently in its feasibility stage, however, following the presentation of DLR’s results, a final costed mission proposal will be presented to the German government this October. The mission was first proposed at the European Planetary Science Congress 2007, held at Potsdam in Germany between 20 and 24 August 2007. Top

13 August 2007: United Kingdom eyes the Moon...again

NASA and British company, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), have got together to design a lunar orbiter, called Magnolia. The contract, lasting nine months initially, may result in a new type of orbiter that NASA might use in the near future, as it searches for possible signs of water hidden in permanently-shadowed craters on the Moon. SSTL’s past experience of delivering cost effective satellite missions within rapid timescales over the last 25 years will be of enormous benefit to NASA. Having been involved with 27 missions launched todate, SSTL’s design will look at areas of the propulsion system, the avionics and communications setup for the orbiter, but not at the scientific instruments side of things as these will be done elsewhere. While this is the first phase of the US-UK alliance for designing a lunar orbiter, future phases starting in 2008 could lead to further involvement of the company’s expertise in this area. Magnolia is planned to launch sometime around 2012, but is not the first lunar mission that SSTL, have been involved with. Last year, the company performed a lunar exploration design study for PPARC – the UK’s government's Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, now disbanded and merged into Science & Technology Facilities Council – on two low cost lunar missions, called MoonLITE and MoonRaker respectively. MoonLITE involved propelling four small penetrators with a suite of instruments onboard into the Moon’s farside surface to take seismic measurements and compositional data. MoonRaker involved landing a small robotic craft at the Moon’s South Pole region of the Moon to investigate potential water, oxygen and hydrogen deposits trapped in the permanent shadows of craters. While there hasn't been further developments from the UK’s future plans for these two missions, their potential is still an option, as the nation gets evermore involved in space exploration. Top

6 August 2007: NASA looks at proposals for science on the Moon

Four astrophysics proposals by NASA have been chosen for potential use on the Moon in the near future. The proposals include two laser-ranging experiments, a small radio telescope array, and X-ray telescopes for measuring x-ray emissions from the Sun. The four proposals are called:
(1) A Lunar Laser Ranging Array for the 21st Century
(2) Precision Lunar Laser Ranging
(3) Radio Observatory for Lunar Sortie Science
(4) Lunar-Based Soft X-ray Science
The first two experiments {(1) & (2)} above will be used to determine accurately the distance from the Moon to the Earth. Similar-type instruments, called retro-reflectors, have already been left on the Moon by the Apollo missions back in the 70s -- the data of which has proved as an invaluable resource for scientific as well as other studies such as orbital dynamics. The problem with the Apollo retro-reflectors left behind was that they were clustered too close together (some within 26 degrees latitude of the equator, with the most useful ones within 24 degrees longitude of the sub-earth meridian), which weakened their geometrical strength. These retro-reflectors, however, will be placed at locations other than the Apollo sites, which will enable the study of additional effects, particularly those that rely on the measurement of the lunar librations, along with submillimetre measurements that will produce the most accurate Earth-Moon distance todate. The radio telescope array proposal (3), or ROLSS, will consist of 3 equal-length arms, 500 meters long, which will be laid down on the lunar surface in the form of a Y. Each arm will have 16 antennas interconnected on strips of a thin polyimide film, on which radio antennas and transmission lines are deposited. These strips during transport will be stored as small rolls, less than 25 cm in diameter and 1 m wide, and would later be unrolled by astronauts on the surface. The fourth experiment (4) consist of a series of small, light-weight, low-power, wide field-of-view soft X-ray telescopes that would be deployed on the lunar surface. Capable of taking X-ray imaging of real-time, global views of the solar wind/lunar interaction, the telescopes will also look at solar wind/Mars and astrosphere/ISM interactions that in-situ observations cannot achieve at the moment. An additional advantage is that the telescopes will be outside Earth's bowshock; giving them the unique vantage point from which to observe X-ray emission from the Earth's magnetosheath. Top

21 July 2007: Japan’s SELENE lunar mission suffers delay

The Japanese lunar mission, SELENE  that was to launch later this month has experienced another setback when inspection of condensers with two smaller satellites onboard the main orbiter were found to be installed incorrectly. The setback is nothing new for the engineers at the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), as several attempts over the last four years to launch the probe has been delayed many times. Recently renamed Kaguya in honour of a Japanese folktale, the problem was not originally discovered on the smaller satellites themselves but rather on another satellite – WIND (Wideband Internetworking Engineering Test and Demonstration Satellite) – which showed reverse polarity on its installed condensers. As the two smaller satellites (the Relay satellite and the VRAD satellite) also have similar components, these will now have to be changed and rechecked – possibly pushing the launch date into September. See here for more information about the SELENE mission. Top

20 July 2007: Robots practise manoeuvres for Moon exploration

Two robots currently conducting manoeuvres as they rove around a crater in the Arctic Circle could someday be doing the same thing on the Moon within the next decade. The two rovers, called K10 Black and K10 Red, each carry a single 3-D laser-scanner and ground-penetrator onboard, which are able to map, respectively, features on the surface as far away as 3,280 feet away and below the ground as deep as 16.4 feet down. Similar in appearance to craters on the Moon, the rovers are covering approximately 120 acres of terrain in a crater called Haughton, close to a facility at Devon Island in Canada (the Haughton Mars base) – known well for research involving Mars simulation programmes. The four-wheeled rovers are remotely controlled from the base using the Global Positioning System, navigating around using stereo cameras, laser scanners and Sun-trackers. The data gathered from the experience will be used for future plans to return humans to the Moon in ~ 2020; establishing a base there that then will act as a stepping-off point for future endeavours to other planets like Mars and beyond. The research is being conducted by NASA’s Ames Intelligent Robotics Group. Top

11 July 2007: Mixing it up for rockets to the Moon

Controlling how a rocket or lunar lander manoeuvres in space or towards landing on the surface of the Moon depends very much on how you can control its power output. Power output in rockets today rely on the fuel it uses – commonly a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen – that can generate the necessary thrust, without loss of performance or over-burdening of payload requirements that other fuels demand. Recent tests with NASA’s new engine design – the Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine (CECE) – have proven very positive with flexibility over the mixtures above mentioned, which allow better control over the throttling capability from full power down to 10 percent of its thrust. Using a specially-designed bypass valve to direct the mixtures that drives the propellant into a combustion chamber that then provides the thrust, the test-firings show an operability performance of stable combustion to 20 percent power, or a 5-to-1 throttling ratio. While problems related to a chugging and vibrational effect occur as the percentage is pushed down further, engineers say modifications in the injector fuel design may allow stable combustion at a 10-to-1 throttle ratio. Top

10 July 2007: Designs on a lunar lander

When NASA sets a man on the Moon before the end of the next decade, the lander they will use will have to be top of the range. Given the advances in technology design, the new lander will be lighter but stronger, more adaptable to the astronauts’ needs and requirements, and have refined power and structural load requirements for better landing and take-off manoeuvres. NASA’s lunar lander project team are now holding talks with well-established designers to see if they can put together the best possible lander yet; integrating current technical design knowledge with lessons learned from lunar landers of the Apollo missions (1969 – 1972). The landers currently being designed will not only have to be capable of landing the next generation of astronauts on the surface, but also able to perform unmanned, rocket-powered manoeuvres for delivery of payloads to the lunar surface and lunar orbit. As part of NASA’s Centennial Challenge, competitions are now being organized to get the best design and designers come up with a lander that will suit all needs. The first will be held in October 2007 in New Mexico as part of the 2007 Wirefly X-Prize Air and Space Exposition. Top

28 June 2007: Evidence of Earth-Moon link

According to the ‘giant impact’ theory, the Moon was created when a Mars-sized object struck a glancing blow at the early proto-Earth ~ 4.5 billion years ago. The impact ejected vast amounts of material – both of the Earth and the Mars-sized object – into orbit around the Earth, which later accreted together to form the Moon. While the theory has never been proved, research by scientists from the UK, USA and Switzerland say that they may have found a possible link between the two bodies to support the theory. By comparing small isotopic differences in samples taken from the Earth, meteorites and other planetary materials, such products may be as a result of processes associated from evaporative losses when large bodies collide. In particular, the research shows that basalt material both from the Earth and the Moon contain heavy forms of silicate isotopic compositions, not seen in other planetary bodies, for instance, Mars or the asteroid, Vesta. The differences between these formations are enough to suggest that during the initial impact, large-scale isotopic equilibrium mixed evenly in both materials of the early Earth and the Mar-sized object; resulting in the Moon and Earth having heavy isotopic elements being the same. For more information see here. Top

27 June 2007: Lunar TLPs solved?

TLPs, or Transient Lunar Phenomena, are bright flashes that occasionally are seen to emit in particular regions on the lunar surface. Generally believed to be caused by escape of gases through cracks on the surface from deep within the moon's interior, the exact reason as to why they occur has eluded scientists for hundreds of years. New research, however, by astronomers in Columbia University show that a correlation between radon gas emissions recorded by past spacecrafts may hold the key to the puzzle. The results the researchers used come mainly from gas outbursts data recorded by several orbiting spacecrafts, particularly NASA’s Apollo 15 mission in 1971 and the robotic Lunar Prospector in 1998. A pattern in the data showed up the correlation, but it also managed to rid false, unconfirmed reports. The astronomers aren’t completely sure of the exact composition of the gas that may be causing the reported flashes, however, from previous measurements indications are that TLPs in some way may be due to radon gas mixing with other gases inside the moon. Radon is a natural radioactive gas that has no taste, smell or colour. It is found in all soils and rocks to some degree on Earth, and on the Moon, and is formed in the ground by the radioactive decay of small amounts of radium which itself is a decay product of uranium. With so many unconfirmed reports of TLPs by amateurs and professionals alike, the researchers are now planning to observe the Moon for such phenomena using a robotic camera on a telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in northern Chile. Capable of scanning the moon for TLPs every few seconds, hopes are that an unbiased record could eventually be amassed; producing a confirmed map of regions of where they most likely occur. Top

21 June 2007: NASA accepts proposals and programs for lunar science

Under NASA’s Lunar Sortie Science Opportunities (LSSO) Program to develop new opportunities for science investigation of the Moon, seven instrument-experiment proposals from over 70 submissions have been chosen. The proposals will compliment two already existing programs – the Lunar Advanced Science and Exploration Research (LASER) Program and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Participating Scientist Program – and together, they will increase lunar knowledge for eventual human settlement on the moon in the near future. The proposed experiments include: an instrument to investigate lunar science and hazards relative to seismology and heat; a mass spectrometer to take volatile measurements by pyrolysis (breaking down matter into oils, hydrocarbon gas) of the lunar soil; an experiment to look at the moon’s radiation environment; a science kit for characterising the different types of lunar soil; and an instrument to look at lunar dust which creates problems for astronauts as they work. All studies will eventually result into a simple, autonomous ‘suitcase science package’ that can be easily deployed on the surface by astronauts. Existing lunar data taken during past Apollo and lunar robotic missions will also be supported under the programs, resulting in a greater understanding about the origin and evolution of the Moon.Top

20 June 2007: Liquid mirror telescope for Moon

In the very near future when a human presence and lunar base is well established on the Moon, astronomers could be observing the sky using a very unique telescope made of liquid. Research carried out by scientists in Canada, USA and in Northern Ireland, suggests that by coating ionic liquids with silver and then set the whole lot spinning on a very large, pan-type structure, the makings for a reflecting telescope for the Moon could be possible. Liquid telescopes aren’t a new idea; the Large Zenith Telescope sited in the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest in Vancouver, Canada, has been operating for awhile now. It spins mercury on a large 6-metre flat pan that is then able to produce the correct curvature (a parabola) for focusing light into a point. The telescope works just like a normal Newtonian reflecting telescope, except that it can only point straight upwards in one direction -- its zenith overhead. The mercury works fine for Earth conditions, however, using it as a liquid base for a similar type telescope on the lunar surface wouldn’t be possible, as the extremes of space (temperatures changes, vacuum...etc.,) would affect its metallic properties. But ionic liquids have the potential to get past that problem. When combined with other metals and elements, an ionic liquid telescope could withstand the damaging extremes; opening up the potential for a future optical telescope for the Moon. The telescope, when finished, could be up to a thousand times more sensitive than the current James Webb Space Telescope, due for launch in 2013. Top

  13 June 2007: Japanese lunar probe gets August launch date

Japan's space agency JAXA announced today that their SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) lunar mission will be launched on 16 August 2007. SELENE (now nicknamed "Kaguya" after a Japanese folktale) will use a suite of instruments onboard to perform a global survey of the Moon and determine aspects about its surface and interior, such as, its elemental abundance, minerals, topology and gravity. The data will help in the future lunar exploration of space and hopefully give some answers about its evolution and origin. SELENE essentially consists of three separate satellites: an Orbiter that will go into a tight 100 km (62 miles) circular orbit around the moon; and two probes that will each go into lower orbits – the first, a Relay satellite that will study areas such as the moon’s gravity field on the farside, and the second, called VRAD, that will measure the position and precession of the moon. The mission is expected last about a year with possible extension, but JAXA may afterwards decide to crash-land all three onto the surface, learning more about the Moon’s regolith (its soil). The launch will take place at the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Centre, and launch window extends from between 17 – 23 August 2007 and 13 – 21 September 2007. (See more about SELENE here).Top

  31 May 2007: 14 space agencies agree vision for Moon

Following the 3rd joint ESA/ASI workshop on international cooperation for sustainable space exploration held in Italy today, the top 14 space agencies from around the world have published their agreed vision for the Moon, Mars and beyond. Called “The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Co-ordination” (PDF file), chapter 4 of the document indicates scientific exploration of the Moon involving three types of investigations: science “of the Moon”, science “from the Moon”, and science “on the Moon”. Science “of the Moon”, looks to extensive robotic exploration and sophisticated surveying by humans at sites of high scientific interest; science “from the Moon”, will take advantage of the moon's lack of atmosphere and its ‘radio quiet’ environment to provide a stable platform for observing the universe; while science “on the Moon”, will investigate the effects of the lunar environment on robotic instruments, equipment and humans. (See more about future exploration here). Top

  28 May 2007: Earth-monitoring stations on the Moon

In a recent study conducted by geophysicists at the University of Michigan of past Apollo 15 data concerning the Moon’s surface temperature, Earth’s current climate system could benefit by putting temperature stations on the Moon. The Apollo 15 data was initially obtained by temperature probes inserted into the Moon’s soil (the regolith), which monitored changes in its surface and subsurface over a period of 41 months (mid 1972 to late 1975). The data uncovered a lunar night-time warming trend consistent with a global dimming of Earth due to a general decrease of sunlight over land surfaces. As the Moon was not affected by atmospheric, hydrospheric or biospheric complications then (and is not now), the stations could prove useful for monitoring and predicting climate changes on Earth, and compliment current ground- and space-based Earth satellites. Top

  May 23 2007: NASA’s Constellation Program

NASA today released a review on their Constellation Program, which will eventually create a new space transportation system to take astronauts into Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars. Review of the program, which is mainly responsible for the Ares launch vehicles, the Orion crew capsule, and ground and space-based activities, is an on-going assessment of all the above activities until ready for launch. NASA will be conducting regular reviews over the next few years: firstly, a review in August 2007 to see how the Orion system is developing against predicted design performance; secondly, another significant design review in summer 2008 and, thirdly a critical design review in early 2010. The Constellation Program is also closely following NASA’s Lunar Architecture Team, which will eventually formulate requirements for a lunar surface outpost on the Moon -- the reviews of which are expected to be out around 2009. On 17 October 2007, Science Applications International will announce that its subsidiary, Benham Companies, will be awarded a $51.4 million cost-plus- incentive-fee contract by NASA to design, engineer and build two testing facilities. These two new testing facilities and the other facilities being readied under separate efforts will allow the Orion spacecraft, consisting of the launch abort system and the crew and service modules, to undergo thermal- vacuum, acoustic, mechanical vibration and electromagnetic compatibility evaluations within the confines of the SPF during development and qualification. These new testing facilities also will support NASA's Constellation Program's future spacecraft and other systems required for exploration missions to the Moon, Mars and other destinations in the solar system. (See more about the future challenges ahead here). Top

 22 May 2007: China closes in on Moon

China’s Chang’e-1 spacecraft – their first to the Moon – is currently set for launch sometime in the last quarter of 2007. Chang’e-1 is the first of a trio in China’s Moon exploration program that includes: firstly, observing the Moon from orbit; secondly, landing a rover on the Moon; and, thirdly, conducting a sample-retrieval mission to the Moon and returning it back to Earth again. Chang’e-1 will carry 24 scientific instruments, including CCD three-dimensional cameras, microprobe instruments and a high-energy sun particle detector. The China National Space Administration responsible for the program says that the second phase will most like see a rover probe on the surface by 2012, later followed by another rover on the surface that will have capabilities to launch back to Earth a small capsule with samples of the Moon inside, sometime around 2020. (See more about Chang'e-1 here). Top

  15 May 2007: Europe looks towards a future Moon

During a European Science Foundation (ESF)-led workshop held in Athens today 88 scientists from 11 European countries discussed the moon’s future role for a robust European exploration programme. Two key requirements for effective exploration will be access to the lunar surface by establishing outposts on its surface, and a drilling capability to several hundred metres depth. While both objectives could essentially be done through robotic means, a human presence working on the surface, it was advised, would be far better. The Moon is an ideal target for solar system historians and planetary research, as its environment preserves a 4 billion year-long record of events that could answer major questions in geophysics, geology and planetary science. Of particular interest and uncertainty is the intriguing question of whether simple organic molecules, or amino acids, were ever delivered onto the lunar surface by impacting comets. Such discoveries would not only have far-reaching consequences for the historical record of events on and under the lunar surface, but also revolutionise the debate about the origin of life on Earth and other planets. Top