Tag: moon mission

Luna-25 Spacecraft Made Adjustments While Attempting to Prepare for Landing on Lunar Surface

Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft adjusted its orbit on Friday as it prepared to attempt the first landing near the south pole of the moon, space agency Roscosmos said.

“Today at 09:20 Moscow time (11:50 am IST), the propulsion system of the automatic station performed an orbit correction lasting 40 seconds. Its goal is to provide the best conditions for the subsequent construction of a pre-landing orbit,” Roscosmos said in a statement.

It said the adjustment went smoothly and the spacecraft’s onboard systems and communications were all functioning normally. The space agency also released an image of moon shared by Luna-25 on August 17.

Luna-25 shared the first picture of the lunar surface on August 17
Photo Credit: Telegram/ Roscosmos

 

Russian space chief Yuri Borisov said last week that Luna-25 aimed to land on August 21.

An Indian spacecraft, Chandrayaan-3, is also orbiting the moon in readiness for a landing near the south pole, where scientists believe there are significant quantities of frozen water that could support a human presence there in the future.

Much is riding on the success of Russia’s first lunar mission in 47 years, with Moscow attempting to prove that it is still a leader in space exploration despite the huge costs of the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions aimed at curbing its access to technology.

Luna-25 was launched from the Ruusia’s Vostochny spaceport on August 11, 2023 aboard Soyuz 2.1v rocket. The lander is expected to touch down on the moon on August 21. On the other hand, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, on board the LVM-3 rocket. The lander is expecting its touchdown on lunar surface on August 23. 

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NASA Partners With Blue Origin to Build Spacecraft for Moon Mission

A team led by Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin won a coveted NASA contract to build a spacecraft that will send astronauts to and from the moon‘s surface, NASA’s chief announced on Friday, capping a high-stakes contest.

NASA’s decision will give the agency a second ride to the moon under its Artemis program, after it awarded Elon Musk‘s SpaceX $3 billion (nearly Rs. 24,850 crore) in 2021 to land astronauts on the moon for the first time since the final Apollo mission in 1972.

Those initial missions using SpaceX’s Starship system are slated for later this decade.

The Blue Origin contract is valued roughly $3.4 billion (nearly Rs. 28,150 crore), NASA’s exploration chief Jim Free said, with Blue Origin privately contributing “well north” of that amount, Blue Origin’s lunar lander head John Couluris said.

“Honored to be on this journey with @NASA to land astronauts on the Moon — this time to stay,” Amazon.com billionaire founder Bezos said in a tweet after the announcement.

Blue Origin plans to build its 52-foot (16-meter) tall Blue Moon lander in a partnership with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, spacecraft software firm Draper, and robotics firm Astrobotic.

SpaceX’s Starship lander is poised to conduct the first two astronaut moon landings under NASA’s Artemis program, sending a pair of astronauts to the lunar surface for each mission. The Blue Moon landing, planned for 2029, is also expected to ferry two astronauts to the surface.

“Our partnership will only add to this golden age of human spaceflight,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. He added that having a second moon lander for the agency’s Artemis mission promotes commercial competition, echoing a trend in recent years that reduces costs for NASA.

Friday’s announcement in Washington was a long-awaited outcome for Blue Origin, which had unsuccessfully had competed for past contracts. The space company overcame a rival bid from Leidos-owned defense contractor Dynetics Inc, the head of a partnership with Northrop Grumman.

Those companies lost out to SpaceX for the 2021 contract, part of an initial moon lander procurement program. NASA under that program said it could pick up to two companies, but blamed budget constraints for only going with SpaceX.

This new contract is a boost for Bezos, who since founding Blue Origin in 2000 has invested billions into the company to compete for high-profile commercial and government space contracts with SpaceX, a dominant force in satellite launches and human spaceflight.

After losing in 2021, Blue Origin unsuccessfully fought to overturn NASA’s decision to ignore its Blue Moon lander, first with a watchdog agency and then in court.

Blue Origin and lawmakers had pressured NASA to award a second lunar lander contract to promote commercial competition and ensure the agency has a backup ride to the moon. NASA in early 2022 announced the program for a second lander contract.

Couluris, who will lead Blue Origin’s development of the moon lander, said Friday’s award was hard fought outcome.

“We’ve been working for some time, and we’re still ready to go,” he said.

© Thomson Reuters 2023 

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China Unveils Plan to Build Magpie Bridge-2 Relay Satellite System for Space Exploration: Report

China will start building relay satellites that by 2030 will act as a communication bridge between missions to the moon and beyond, and ground operations on Earth, Chinese state media reported on Wednesday.

A pilot of the satellite constellation will support China’s ongoing lunar exploration programme and the building of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing Wu Yanhua, chief designer of China’s deep space exploration project.

To kick off the building of the constellation – called Queqiao-2, or Magpie Bridge-2, named after a bridge made up of magpies in a Chinese myth – a communications relay satellite between the far side of the moon and Earth will be launched in 2024 to support uncrewed lunar missions this decade.

That year, China plans to launch the Chang’e-6 mission to retrieve lunar samples from an ancient basin in the far side of the moon.

The Chang’e-7 mission will be launched around 2026 to explore lunar resources on the moon’s south pole, with the aim of sustaining long-term human habitation.

That will be followed by the Chang’e-8 mission around 2028, when a basic model of the ILRS will be constructed. So far, China has secured participation from Russia and Venezuela.

China aims to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.

In the next phase, a basic constellation will be constructed around 2040 to support communications, navigation and remote-sensing services for manned lunar and deep space exploration missions to planets such as Mars and Venus, Wu said.

In 2020, the uncrewed Chang’e-5 probe, named after the mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, took back to Earth China’s first lunar soil samples.

China made its first lunar landing in 2013, and aims to be a major space power by 2030.

© Thomson Reuters 2023
 

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NASA Plans to Conduct Artemis 1 SLS Launch’s Final Wet Dress Rehearsal in June

NASA is planning to make another attempt at testing the Artemis 1 SLS rocket in early June for the last time before launching it into space. The space agency said it will bring the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in early June for the next wet dress rehearsal attempt. A wet dress rehearsal involves following all the launch-day procedures, including loading the propellant, without actually launching the mission. This activity is aimed at finding any issues with the system and rectifying them in time for the actual launch.

With June as the target for the next test attempt, the launch of the Artemis 1 unnamed mission is expected to be pushed back again. The ambitious mission to send humans to the moon has faced several delays in its timeline. On the first flight, NASA will not send astronauts but the Orion spacecraft will fly around our closest celestial neighbour to study it.

NASA, in a blog post, said that its engineers have successfully addressed issues identified during previous rehearsal attempts of SLS, including the liquid hydrogen system leak. “Plans call for the next wet dress rehearsal to take place about 14 days after the rocket arrives at the pad,” it added. NASA officials said they are aiming for a launch window in August.

Previous attempts at conducting the wet dress rehearsal had to be either halted mid-way or delayed because of technical issues. The agency first delayed the final tests scheduled for April 4 after identifying issues with the helium check valve. A second attempt, on April 14, was prevented after a leak was discovered during liquid hydrogen loading operations. The rocket had to be rolled back to the vehicle assembly building for troubleshooting.

The SLS is designed to be the most powerful rocket ever built and it can carry more payload to deep space than any other vehicle. NASA plans to use it for human exploration of the moon and Mars, and send robotic missions to Saturn and Jupiter.

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