Chinese Spying: The Moon Race Just Got Ugly

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Vicki Hamilton from Pixabay.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has reported that the Chinese have been hacking into US government agencies since as early as 2018. One of the targets of the Chinese hacker group, known as QTFY, was NASA.

A DOJ press release from earlier today, titled Justice Department and FBI Seize Platforms Operated and Used by China State-Sponsored Hackers to Target U.S. Critical Infrastructure, stated:

Among the victims of QTFY computer intrusion activity are the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Federal Reserve, Department of Energy, Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Senate.

At this time, the nature of what was taken from NASA and other government agencies was not provided. However, given the importance of the Artemis mission for both national and commercial purposes, it is not hard to believe that Artemis information was part of the hack.

It may be to NASA’s advantage that it has been operating by the seat of its pants for more than a year now. There was no Artemis strategy to steal. In addition, much of NASA’s work is in the hands of the private sector, so that extra layer of protection may have helped.

It is worth noting that many federal agencies were spending last year fighting off internal hackers from the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which did great damage across the federal government.

The Chinese efforts have been detected and ended. I am not sure you can say the same thing about DOGE.

Update: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has reported that the Chinese hackers were unable to access NASA data.

Space Quote: SpaceX Expanding into Louisiana

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Dragon capsule on the launchpad at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (SpaceX)

“Today is a pivotal moment for Louisiana. This announcement pushes our state beyond $250 billion in new investment and puts us at the center of the next great frontier…We have the people and talent to build what the world once thought impossible, creating jobs on land, across the Gulf and through space. Our job creation knows no bounds. This is America First. This is Louisiana First. I want to thank Elon Musk and the entire SpaceX team for choosing Louisiana.”

–Statement by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry regarding SpaceX’s announcement to build its fourth space port in the state. The $100 billion investment by SpaceX is expected to create 3,000 new direct jobs as well as 8,100 new indirect jobs. The first launch from the planned site is not expected until 2029.

Space Stories: A Far Side Satellite, Congressional Space Medals, and the Scrubbing of a Chinese Moon Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Cosmocube satellite on the far side of the Moon. (Cosmocube)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Universe Today: “The CosmoCube Satellite Will Listen to the Early Universe From the Far Side of the Moon”

Multiple space agencies are gearing up to send missions to the Moon in the near future…For one thing, the far side of the Moon is “radio-quiet,” meaning that it is not subject to radio interference from terrestrial sources. This makes the environment the perfect place to conduct radio astronomy research, including the new CosmoCube satellite currently under development at the University of Cambridge. Using the Moon as a natural shield, this satellite will listen for faint whispers (the 21-centimeter line) emitted by hydrogen atoms that existed between the Big Bang and the period known as “Cosmic Dawn.”

—Science Daily: “Trump to Award Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II Astronauts“

President Donald J. Trump will present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to each member of NASA’s Artemis II crew during a ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 28. The medal is one of the highest honors associated with human spaceflight in the United States. It recognizes astronauts whose achievements have made an exceptional contribution to the nation’s space program.

—Scientific American: “China Delays Ambitious Chang’e 7 Moon Mission until 2027“

China’s lunar ambitions took a hit after the country called off the launch of a spacecraft that it has aimed to make the first to ever land on the moon’s south pole. Chang’e 7 was supposed to launch onboard a Long March 5 rocket on August 24, but the launch was scrubbed on Sunday evening, China’s Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement. Poor weather conditions linked to Typhoon Narra were likely a factor. As a result, the mission will be put on ice until at least 2027.

Note: No podcast will be available this week. The program was finicky and difficult to edit.

Pic of the Week: SpaceX Rocket Part Creates Crater on Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The two images show the lunar surface before and after the impact of the Falcon 9 upper stage on August 5, 2026. (NASA Goddard/Intuitive Machines)

Earlier this week, NASA released the image above showing the crater created by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage. The upper stage was part of an earlier SpaceX mission from January 2025 that launched the Firefly Blue Ghost 1 mission. This lunar image was captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter between August 11 and 12.

NASA explained the complex process needed to locate the new crater:

Finding the impact site took global coordination among experts and hobbyists. Independent astronomers first identified the rocket’s trajectory using publicly available data. NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies, which tracks natural objects that could pose hazards to Earth for the agency’s Planetary Defense program, used this opportunity to test and validate tools and techniques for predicting impacts.

Based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the center incrementally refined the trajectory until identifying the location of impact, which it provided to the Republic of Korea for their Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (Danuri) team. The team used the high-resolution LUTI camera on Danuri a few hours later to image the crater, finding the prediction was accurate to about 0.6 miles.

After capturing images of the crater, the Danuri mission sent coordinates to NASA’s LRO team to help refine their follow-up imaging sequence. Comparing their new crater images with the pre-impact images, the LRO team updated the crater center coordinates: 19.4759°N, 266.7138°E, 511 meters elevation.

Space Quote: Swift Will Be a Shooting Star Later This Year

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Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of An artist’s concept of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in orbit with the spacecraft’s part labeled. (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab)

“This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting. The team moved with extraordinary speed to give Swift a chance to carry out more science while advancing capabilities America will need for satellite servicing in the future. We are going to learn everything we can from LINK’s rendezvous attempt and put those lessons to work on the missions that follow.”

–Statement by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman after the failure of the $30 million LINK spacecraft mission to boost NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher altitude to extend its life. The $500 million observatory was launched in 2004 to capture incoming gamma-ray bursts from the universe. The observatory is expected to burn up in the atmosphere later this year.