The voyaging Odysseus remains on course for a moon landing this week. The Odysseus moon lander, built by Houston company Intuitive Machines, completed two engine burns in deep space on Feb. 16 and Feb. 18 and is sailing on the right course through space, the company said on X. The mission lifted off on a a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Feb. 15 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and all systems and science are healthy as it makes its way towards the moon. But the lander will soon…
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Australia seeks public help to design its 1st moon rover, Roo-ver
Australia’s first lunar rover has a name — now, it needs a design. The Australian Space Agency is building a semi-autonomous rover, called “Roo-ver,” that will launch to the moon as early as 2026 in partnership with NASAs Artemis lunar program. The rover will collect samples of lunar “soil,” specifically known as regolith, from which NASA will attempt to extract oxygen — a key step toward establishing a sustainable human presence on the moon and producing rocket fuel to support future missions to Mars. Recently, Australia hosted a naming competition…
Read MorePrivate Odysseus moon lander beams home 1st photos from space
A pioneering moon lander has beamed home its first photos from the final frontier. Intuitive Machines‘ robotic Odysseus spacecraft snapped a few selfies with Earth in the background shortly after its Feb. 15 launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — and we can all check them out. “Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted its first IM-1 mission images to Earth on February 16, 2024. The images were captured shortly after separation from @SpaceX’s second stage on Intuitive Machines’ first journey to the moon under @NASA’s CLPS initiative,” the Houston-based company wrote Saturday…
Read MoreUruguay signs Artemis Accords for responsible space exploration
Uruguay has joined the United States’ effort to establish widespread principles to guide space exploration. Uruguay’s foreign minister Omar Paganini signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the South American country during the annual U.S.-Uruguay bilateral inter-ministerial dialogue on Feb. 15 in Washington, D.C. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson participated in the signing ceremony for the agency. “NASA welcomes Uruguay as the newest member of the Artemis Accords family,” Nelson said in a NASA statement. “The United States and Uruguay share a commitment to democracy and peace, and now, we expand…
Read MorePrivate ‘Odysseus’ lander heads for the moon after SpaceX launch
A pioneering private moon mission is going well so far. The robotic Odysseus moon lander, which was built by Houston company Intuitive Machines, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early this morning (Feb. 15) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The liftoff went smoothly, and Odysseus got up and running on its own as planned. The lander has been “successfully commissioned in space by establishing a stable attitude, solar charging and radio communications contact with the company’s mission operations center in Houston,” Intuitive Machines wrote in a brief…
Read MoreSLIM lander’s precise ‘moon sniper’ tech will lend itself to future lunar missions
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Mariel Borowitz is an Associate Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology and director of the Nunn School Program on International Affairs, Science, and Technology. Japan landed its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, or SLIM, craft on the surface of the moon on Jan. 20, 2024. Despite a power issue with the lander, the event holds both political and technical importance. It’s Japan’s first lunar…
Read MoreThe moon could be perfect for cutting-edge telescopes — but not if we don’t protect it
Space scientists are eager to protect the option of doing astronomy from the moon. There are plans in the works to place astronomical hardware on the lunar landscape such as super-cooled infrared telescopes, a swath of gravitational wave detectors, large Arecibo-like radio telescopes, even peek-a-boo instruments tuned up to seek out evidence for “out there” aliens. Yes, the future of lunar astronomy beckons. But some scientists say there’s an urgent need to protect any moon-based astronomical equipment from interference caused by other planned activities on the moon, ensuring they can carry…
Read More‘We proved that you can land wherever you want.’ Japan’s SLIM moon probe nailed precise lunar landing, JAXA says
Japan’s SLIM lander touchdown may have given an entirely new definition to the expression “on the nose.” Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) representatives revealed that the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) made a strange but precise landing on the moon. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday (Jan. 25), JAXA scientists said that SLIM had touched down within 328 feet (100 meters) of its selected lunar landing site on Jan. 19, accomplishing its primary mission of making a pinpoint landing. “We proved that you can land wherever you want,…
Read MoreYou can pay to have your ashes buried on the moon. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
When NASA attempted to return to the Moon for the first time in 50 years on January 8, more was at risk than just US$108 million worth of development and equipment. The agency earned the ire of the Native American Navajo people, who made a bid to stop the launch because of an unusual inclusion in the payload. The Peregrine lander (which completed its controlled re-entry into the atmosphere late last week) was carrying human ashes, including those of famed science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke. A commercial partnership also allowed paying customers to…
Read MoreThere’s lots of water on the moon for astronauts. But is it safe to drink?
Water appears to be abundant near the moon’s south pole, but drinking it could be a safety problem for astronauts. A new moon challenge asks the public for ideas to purify drinking water for astronauts, reducing the need for shipments from Earth. The Aqualunar contest is open to residents of Canada and the United Kingdom, and you can send in your ideas right now, through April 8. “It is very likely that water exists on the moon, but it contains contaminants,” the Canadian Space Agency wrote in its briefing for…
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