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…
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SLIM 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…
Read MoreNASA’s Lunar Retroreflector Network could make landing on the moon much easier
In the future, rocketing in making precision landings on the moon’s craggy, rocky and crater-pocked face won’t be as hard. At least that’s the goal of NASA’s Lunar Retroreflector Array (LRA) program, an initiative that is interfacing with U.S. and foreign lunar lander initiatives. LRA consists of a dome-shaped device, topped by small glass prism retroreflectors. That contrivance is then mounted to a moon lander and delivered to the lunar surface. The LRA can bounce laser light from other orbiting and incoming spacecraft, functioning as a permanent location marker on…
Read MoreJapan’s SLIM lander beams moon images home before Jan. 19 landing (photos)
After arriving in orbit around the moon on Christmas Day, Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) moon lander has beamed back its first images of the lunar surface. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) revealed the monochrome but highly detailed images of the crater-pocketed moon surface on its X feed, formerly Twitter. The images were created after the spacecraft was successfully inserted into lunar orbit at 2:51 a.m. EST (0951 GMT or 4:51 p.m. Japan time) on Monday (Dec. 25). Related: Japan’s SLIM ‘moon sniper’ lander arrives in lunar orbit for…
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