Lunar Landings News and Discussions

[Yuli Ban]

Separate from the general Moon thread, here's a thread specially dedicated to manned and unmanned lunar missions.


2022 is full of first steps to the Moon

After years of development delays, NASA’s Space Launch System, or S.L.S., could make its first journey to space — without any humans — as early as May 2022.

The mission, called Artemis 1, will mark the first in a series of flights under NASA’s Artemis program by S.L.S., NASA’s centerpiece rocket system for getting moon-bound astronauts off Earth. For Artemis 1, S.L.S. will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to send a capsule named Orion around the moon and back, rehearsing a trajectory that will be performed by Artemis 2, the subsequent mission that is scheduled to carry astronauts sometime in 2024. The third mission, Artemis 3, will result in a moon landing.

Like any major space mission, Artemis 1 has been delayed several times. It was initially planned for 2020, then pushed to various times throughout 2021 because of development challenges and setbacks caused by the pandemic. NASA said on Feb. 2 that “teams are not working any major issues,” but said the latest delay — from March 2022 to subsequent months — was needed to complete tasks required to prepare the rocket for a launchpad test known as a wet dress rehearsal, which is expected to occur in March.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

Goodyear developing airless metal tires for GM's moon buggy

Updated 1325 GMT (2125 HKT) July 20, 2022

General Motors and Lockheed Martin are working together on a new Lunar Rover. but it needs tires. So, Goodyear is now joining the team.

GM (GM) and Goodyear (GT) have been over this dry, dusty ground before. Both companies worked on NASA's original Lunar Roving Vehicles that went to the moon in the early 1970s. GM (then working with Boeing, instead of Lockheed Martin) and the three lunar rovers they created are still up there sitting on Goodyear tires made from wire mesh.

Tires like the ones we use on Earth — made from rubber and filled with air — won't work on the moon for a few reasons.

First, enormous temperature swings from up to 260 degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime down to -280 degrees at night makes an air-filled tire impossible. Air expands and contracts as temperature changes, so keeping an air-filled tire from going flat at night or exploding during the day would be extremely difficult.

Second, the moon is bathed in intense radiation that degrades rubber because there is no atmosphere.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/20/busi ... index.html

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[caltrek]

Technical Issues Delay the first Launch of NASA's New Moon Rocket
by Miriam Kramer
August 29 , 2022

Introduction:

(Axios) NASA's uncrewed Artemis I launch of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule was called off on Monday.

Why it matters: NASA plans to use the SLS rocket and Orion to return people to the Moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program in the 1970s.

The latest: An engine issue prevented the SLS from getting off the pad in Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

• One of the rocket's four engines didn't get up to the correct temperature, preventing the space agency from launching.
• NASA has backup launch dates on Sept. 2 and Sept. 5, but it wasn't immediately clear whether the space agency would be able to fix the issues and target one of those days.

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/artem ... ed-engine

[caltrek]

10,000 Items Are Flying to the Moon on Artemis I And Some of Them Are… Curious
by Katy Evans
August 31, 2022

Introduction:

(IFL Science) Hope is not lost that Artemis I, NASA’s historic mission to kick off the next stage of going back to the Moon, will fly this week. Although it is an uncrewed mission, there are some very eager passengers on board, including Snoopy, Shaun the Sheep, and some very NSFW-looking manikins.

Among other things, Artemis I is an important test mission to ensure the safety of astronauts on future missions by checking things, such as that the Orion spacecraft can withstand the temperatures of reentry through Earth’s atmosphere – not something you want to try out with people onboard.

As is a long-standing tradition for NASA missions, starting with Apollo, Artemis will also be taking mementos, commemorative items, and gifts of gratitude to all those that have made this mission possible, around 10,000 items in all.

NASA has confirmed that two items from Apollo 11, the mission that first put humans on the Moon, are onboard: a small sample of Moondust, and a piece of the rocket that enabled its collection more than 50 years ago, on loan from the Smithsonian. Neil Armstong took a piece of the Wright brothers’ Wright Flyer plane with him in 1969, so perhaps one day a piece of Artemis will fly to Mars.

Two female LEGO astronauts and Shaun the Sheep are flying the flag for NASA and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) educational outreach programs, while Snoopy is acting as the mission’s all-important gravity indicator. There are even 90 Girl Scout space science badges that will be awarded to the winners of a “To the Moon and Back” essay contest.

Read more and view photos here: https://www.iflscience.com/10-000-item ... ous-65123

Edit: Here is more on Artemis I from Vox: https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/8/27/23 ... r-florida

[caltrek]

Artemis I Has A New Launch Date for This Week
by Dr Alfredo Carpineti, PhD.
August 31, 2022

(IFL Science) After Monday’s scrubbed launch, NASA is ready to try again. Artemis I will now leave Earth in a new launch window which will open on Saturday, September 3 at 2:17 p.m. EDT. The window will be open for two hours. Everything going well, this will be the first flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the agency’s brand-new Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/artemis-i-h ... eek-65119

[wjfox]

Chinese space designers eye moon base in volcanic caves for long-term stays after 2035

Published: 10:00pm, 4 Sep, 2022

• Hollow lava channels underground offer natural shield against space radiation and extreme temperatures on the moon
• ‘Laurel Tree’ lunar base is currently at the design phase, Chinese space architect tells the national science assembly

Space architects in China are designing a moon base carved out of volcanic caves, as the country looks at long-term stays for astronauts after 2035.

The tunnels, also known as underground lava tubes, were carved out of molten rock during ancient volcanic eruptions. While the outside of the lava flow cooled more quickly and solidified, the rest poured out to leave a hollow elongated shell behind.

The tubes can be several kilometres long and tens of metres wide, offering a natural shelter against space radiation and extreme temperatures on the lunar surface.

Such tunnels and their outlets have been found all over the moon, and they offer alternative locations for building bases beyond its south pole – which is thought to harbour abundant water ice – according to Pan Wente, assistant professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology’s Architectural Design and Research Institute.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science ... -long-term

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[caltrek]

Private Companies Race to the Moon: Japan Spacecraft Set to Take Early Lead
by Elizabeth Gibney
November 14, 2022

Introduction:

(Nature) A lunar craft made by a Japanese company is vying to become the first commercial mission to land on the Moon. ispace’s M1 lander is scheduled to launch around 22 November from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The lander will carry payloads, including Moon rovers, for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA. If the mission is successful, the vehicles will mark both countries’ first forays onto the Moon’s surface; so far only the space agencies of the United States, China and the Soviet Union have successfully landed there.

M1, part of ispace’s Hakuto-R programme, will launch on a rocket built by SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California. The craft will take a circuitous route to the Moon, so it will land sometime at the end of March or in early April 2023, depending on its final launch date. This means that it could yet be overtaken by other commercial missions launching in 2023.

Destination, Moon!

The Moon has become a popular destination among national space agencies and private companies. The success of the missions by ispace and other firms will be a “huge, important step to developing the lunar ecosystem”, says Ryo Ujiie, chief technology officer at ispace. This system is ultimately geared towards harvesting water on the Moon. Some companies hope that lunar water can be used to produce rocket fuel that could eventually make Solar System exploration cheaper.

A successful mission for a private company funded by its customers will be “pretty exciting”, because it will show that the model works, opening the door for other firms, says Calzada Diaz, who previously worked at ispace. And research is likely to benefit, she adds. “Just knowing that it’s easier, faster and possible to go to the Moon more often is already important for science.”

Read more here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03675-8

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NASA Just Successfully Launched Its Artemis 1 Moon Rocket
November 16, 2022

Introduction:

(Science Alert) After two failed attempts, NASA has successfully launched its Moon-bound megarocket the Space Launch System, which will travel beyond the far side of the Moon and back – further than any other habitable spacecraft so far.

The Artemis 1 mission is the first step in NASA's plan to return to the Moon for the first time in 50 years, and eventually travel to Mars in the 2030s.

The rocket launched at 0648 UTC Wednesday 16 November 2022 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

By 0657 UTC NASA announced that the SLS rocket had reached main engine cutoff in the mission timeline. The RS-25 engines powered off and the core stage had separated.

The next step is for the solar arrays to be deployed so that the rocket can be powered by the Sun.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/breaking- ... on-rocket

[caltrek]

[weatheriscool]

NASA capsule on way to moon after launch by giant new rocket
Source: AP

By MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A space capsule hurtled toward the moon Wednesday for the first time in 50 years, following a thunderous launch of NASA’s mightiest rocket in a dress rehearsal for astronaut flights.

No one was on board this debut flight, just three test dummies. The capsule is headed for a wide orbit around the moon and then a return to Earth with a Pacific splashdown in about three weeks.

After years of delays and billions in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket roared skyward, rising from Kennedy Space Center on 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of thrust and hitting 100 mph (160 kph) within seconds. The Orion capsule was perched on top and, less than two hours into the flight, busted out of Earth’s orbit toward the moon.

“It was pretty overwhelming,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. ”We’re going out to explore the heavens, and this is the next step.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/nasa-moon-ro ... osition_10

[wjfox]

NASA Awards SpaceX Second Contract Option for Artemis Moon Landing

Nov 15, 2022

NASA has awarded a contract modification to SpaceX to further develop its Starship human landing system to meet agency requirements for long-term human exploration of the Moon under Artemis.

With this addition, SpaceX will provide a second crewed landing demonstration mission in 2027 as part of NASA’s Artemis IV mission.

“Returning astronauts to the Moon to learn, live, and work is a bold endeavor. With multiple planned landers, from SpaceX and future partners, NASA will be better positioned to accomplish the missions of tomorrow: conducting more science on the surface of the Moon than ever before and preparing for crewed missions to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa ... -landing-0

[Time_Traveller]

Artemis: Nasa expects humans to live on Moon this decade

Humans could stay on the Moon for lengthy periods during this decade, a Nasa official has told the BBC.

Howard Hu, who leads the Orion lunar spacecraft programme for the agency, said habitats would be needed to support scientific missions.

He told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that Wednesday's launch of the Artemis rocket, which carries Orion, was a "historic day for human space flight".

Orion is currently about 134,000km (83,300 miles) from the Moon.

The 100m-tall Artemis rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center as part of Nasa's mission to take astronauts back to Earth's satellite.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63688229

Not sure if they mean a moon colony or a small moon outpost but realistically i would think more like the 2040s?

[wjfox]

[raklian]

The orbital mechanics.

[ººº]

The orbital mechanics.

Why until Dec. 11? Such an expensive (?) spacecraft should last more I guess.