Space Quote: Can China Win the Lunar Race This Time?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Image of Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan on the Moon’s surface. (NASA)

“As the U.S. has flailed, China and its partners have marched forward, notching one success after another. There is no reason to believe they will not be first to send a crewed mission to the lunar south pole, where only a half dozen or so promising regions exist to safely land. Depending on how the currently vague noninterference rules are interpreted and enforced by the Chinese (and others), significant parts of the moon might end up off-limits for anyone else to explore or mine. We do not know for certain how China might behave on the lunar surface—this is part of the conundrum—but terrestrial conflicts in the South China Sea and China’s regular infractions of sovereign airspace give scant rationale for optimism.”

-Quote from an article in Scientific American titled “NASA Needs a ‘Lunar Marathon’ to Match China on the Moon.” The author of the piece is Thomas Zurbuchen, who previously worked at NASA and is now is professor and director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology’s ETH Zürich | Space. For another take on where the US is with its Artemis lunar program, you can read an ARS Technica article titled “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Saving NASA’s Floundering Artemis Program.”

NASA Cancels VIPER Moon Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): An artist’s rendering of the NASA’s PRIME-1 spacecraft approaching the Moon. The mission will need to accomplish some of the work previously assigned to the VIPER mission. (NASA)

It has not been a great year for NASA so far. While the Chinese brought back samples from the far side of the Moon, we saw two NASA-contracted commercial spacecraft either fail to reach the Moon or critically mess up the landing. Plus we now have a Boeing capsule stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) while SpaceX just flubbed a rocket launch that brings into question manned flights to the ISS.

Am I missing anything? Oh yeah, and NASA has decided to cancel its Moon rover, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) project, after spending $450 million. Cost overruns and multiple delays had made the mission too expensive and too late in the game to be useful.

Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington, stated:

We are committed to studying and exploring the Moon for the benefit of humanity through the [Commercial Lunar Payload Services] program…The agency has an array of missions planned to look for ice and other resources on the Moon over the next five years. Our path forward will make maximum use of the technology and work that went into VIPER, while preserving critical funds to support our robust lunar portfolio.

Fortunately, VIPER was one of a number of missions designed to seek water on the lunar surface. For example, NASA has the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) , which is still scheduled to land at the South Pole later this year.

It has been a rough year for NASA, but the multiple missions planned for the Moon provide more opportunities to get it right, while the ISS issues do not appear insurmountable. NASA just needs a break, and its commercial partners need to prove they can meet the goals that were set for them.

Note: If you were one of the people who added your name to the VIPER mission, maybe NASA will open up another opportunity for your name on the Moon.

China Successfully Retrieves Moon Rocks

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The capsule retrieval site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

It was a good day for China as it became the first nation to successfully retrieve a lunar sample from the far side of the Moon. The Chang’e-6 return capsule safely landed in China earlier today following the mission’s start back on May 3. The sample itself departed the Moon’s surface on June 4.

Wang Qiong, deputy chief designer of the Chang’e-6 mission, stated:

A portion of the samples will be stored permanently, while another portion will be stored at a different location as backup in case of disasters. Then we will prepare the remaining portion, and distribute them to scientists in China and foreign countries in accordance with the lunar sample management regulations.

Congratulations to the Chinese people. Hopefully, the entire scientific community can benefit from what the lunar sample tells us.

China Lands Chang’e 6 on the Far Side of the Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Chang’e 6 stacked in the clean room here on Earth before its successful launch to the Moon. (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)

Yesterday, China successfully landed on the Moon again, this time on the far side with its Chang’e 6 mission. The probe is now in the unexplored South Pole region where it can study the lunar surface.

If all goes well, collected samples from this area will be returned to Earth for additional study. The Chang’e-6 mission includes an orbiter, a returner, a lander and an ascender.

China already returned a lunar sample successfully back in 2020 as part of its Chang’e 5 mission.

You can watch a video of the lunar landing here.

You can also read more about the mission at this China National Space Administration (CNSA) site.

Space Stories: Robot Trains on the Moon, Commercial Space Stations, and Russian Lunar Reactors

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Flexible Levitation on a Track system on the lunar surface with planet Earth on the horizon. (NASA/Ethan Schaler)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—NDTV: “NASA Announces Plans To Build First Railway System On Moon“

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) readies to return astronauts to the moon, it has announced its plans to build a levitating robot train on the lunar surface. In a blog post, the American space agency provided details about the project called “Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT)”, which aims to provide a “robotic transport system” to support future lunar activities of astronauts visiting the moon. The transport system will be critical to the daily operation of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s, NASA said in a statement. 

—IEEE Spectrum: “Commercial Space Stations Approach Launch Phase“

A changing of the guard in space stations is on the horizon as private companies work toward providing new opportunities for science, commerce, and tourism in outer space. Blue Origin is one of a number of private-sector actors aiming to harbor commercial activities in low Earth orbit (LEO) as the creaking and leaking International Space Station (ISS) approaches its drawdown. Partners in Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef program, including firms Redwire, Sierra Space, and Boeing, are each reporting progress in their respective components of the program. The collaboration itself may not be on such strong ground. Such endeavors may also end up slowed and controlled by regulation so far absent from many new, commercial areas of space.

—Newsweek: “Russia Reveals New China Nuclear Moon Base Details“

Details about joint plans between Moscow and Beijing to put a lunar nuclear reactor within the next decade have been revealed by the head of Russia’s space agency. In March, Roscosmos announced plans to work with China to build an automated nuclear reactor to power a proposed lunar base that the two countries would operate together within the next decade. To construct the site, Roscosmos director general Yury Borisov said two months ago it was looking at using nuclear-powered rockets to transfer cargo to the moon, but had not yet figured out how to build these spacecraft safely. In an article published Wednesday by state news outlet RIA Novosti, Borisov said that development of the plant was underway and the countries were working on creating experimental and research facilities as part of the project.