Lunar Landings News and Discussions

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India’s moon rover confirms sulfur and detects several other elements near the lunar south pole

BY ASHOK SHARMA
Updated 8:48 PM EDT, August 29, 2023

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s moon rover confirmed the presence of sulfur and detected several other elements near the lunar south pole as it searches for signs of frozen water nearly a week after its historic moon landing, India’s space agency said Tuesday.

The rover’s laser-induced spectroscope instrument also detected aluminum, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen and silicon on the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO, said in a post on its website.

The lunar rover had come down a ramp from the lander of India’s spacecraft after last Wednesday’s touchdown near the moon’s south pole. The Chandrayan-3 Rover is expected to conduct experiments over 14 days, the ISRO has said.

The rover “unambiguously confirms the presence of sulfur,” ISRO said. It also is searching for signs of frozen water that could help future astronaut missions, as a potential source of drinking water or to make rocket fuel.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/indias-moon- ... d4048a5d05

[caltrek]

Japan Blasts Off On A Moon Mission Unlike Any Ever Seen Before
by Tom Hale
September 8, 2023

Introduction:

(IFL Science) Japan’s “Moon Sniper” mission has blasted off on its mission to land on the lunar surface with pinpoint precision. While most Moon landings are designed to touch down within a range of several kilometers, this mission aims to land within just 100 meters (328 feet) of its target.

A rocket holding the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe was successfully launched on the morning of September 7 from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

You can watch a full livestream of the launch in the video player below.

Just 14 minutes after blast-off, the rocket released a satellite, putting it into orbit around Earth where it will study the formation of structures in the universe and the evolution of galaxy clusters.

Meanwhile, the remaining SLIM probe is on its long voyage toward the lunar surface, ready for its “pinpoint landing” sometime in early 2024. If it pulls off this feat, Japan will become the fifth country to successfully touch down on the Moon.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/japan-blas ... ore-70610

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India's Chandrayaan-3 moon lander shines in radar images from lunar orbit (photos)
By Elizabeth Howell published about 20 hours ago
The mission is sleeping on the surface after a successful two-week sojourn.

India's new moon lander and rover were just spotted by another lunar probe.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission from India, which landed on the moon Aug. 23, shines in new pictures from a fellow spacecraft in orbit. The lander is visible in radar imagery taken by another Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) moon mission: Chandrayaan-2, which arrived in lunar orbit in 2019.

ISRO released the new imagery on X (formerly called Twitter) on Saturday (Sept. 9), based on data taken three days beforehand. The Chandrayaan-3 lander is not active right now, however; the near side of the moon (where the mission landed) is in darkness right now for two weeks, meaning all the solar-powered hardware is hibernating.

It may be that Chandrayaan-3's lander and its small ridealong rover emerge from their sleep when sunlight appears again, but the duo have met all their major objectives, per ISRO officials. The rover, named Pragyan, successfully deployed from its lander, Vikram, and took pictures of the area around it.

More:
https://www.space.com/chandrayaan-3-moo ... tification

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[Nanotechandmorefuture]

For once the most truthful post about the 1960s American moon landings. They sent a rover up there which is believable. Human beings have never been on the moon because if so it would not have such a big media attention around it. They were probably sending satellites to create the grid that monitors everything here on earth and per Capricorn One of the 1970s movie made the moon landing humans video somewhere in the USA.

[wjfox]

India aims to send astronaut to the Moon by 2040

6 hours ago

India aims to send an astronaut to the Moon by 2040, the government has said.

The country's space goals also include plans for a space station by 2035.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced these ambitions on Tuesday, and also asked scientists to work on missions to Venus and Mars.

In August, India became the first country to land a spacecraft on the Moon's south pole, and in September it launched a rocket to study the Sun.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is also working on the Gaganyaan project, which aims to send a human crew to an orbit of 400km (248 miles) and bring them back safely to land in Indian waters. On Saturday, the space agency will conduct a key test in the mission.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-67142307

[wjfox]

'Mateship' or 'Kakirra'? Australia turns to public to name its 1st moon rover

By Samantha Mathewson
published 1 day ago

The Australian Space Agency has revealed its shortlist of names for the country's first lunar rover — and you can help choose the winner by casting your vote.

In partnership with NASA, the agency's Australian-made, semi-autonomous rover is slated to launch to the moon as part of a future Artemis mission by as early as 2026. The rover will have the ability to pick up lunar rocks and dust, then bring the specimens back to a moon lander operated by NASA.

More than 8,000 entries were initially submitted to Australia’s rover-naming competition, which began in September. And now that the agency has narrowed down the final four candidates — "Coolamon," "Kakirra," "Mateship" and "Roo-ver" — the public is invited to vote on their favorite. Polls will remain open online through Dec. 1.

The lunar rover is part of Australia’s Trailblazer program under the country’s Moon to Mars initiative.

"Drawing on Australia's world-leading remote operations expertise, the rover will collect lunar soil, known as regolith,” officials said in a statement announcing the naming competition. Such regolith is expected to contain oxygen in the form of oxide. "NASA will attempt to extract oxygen from the sample. This is a key step towards a sustainable human presence on the moon."

https://www.space.com/australia-first-m ... -name-vote



Credit: Dept. of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources

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Astrolab Semiautonomous Lunar Rover Targets 2026 Ride on SpaceX Starship
November 25, 2023 by Brian Wang

Astrolab wants to create a new era of lunar mobility with a semiautonomous lunar rover.