Image (Credit): Official emblem of the Apollo 17 lunar landing mission. (NASA)
On this day in 1972, Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan was the last human to be on the Moon. He was the eleventh human to ever step on the Moon.
Here is the full crew of Apollo 17:
Eugene A. Cernan, Commander
Harrison H. Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot
Ronald E. Evans, Command Module Pilot
Mr. Cernan, who passed away in 2017, was also part of the Apollo 10 mission that orbited the moon without landing (similar to the upcoming Artemis II mission).
With the successful orbit of the Orion spacecraft around the Moon this month, let’s hope the 50 year dryspell is finally over and the United States can again be the nation putting humans back on the lunar surface. Of course, we will be followed by others, including the Chinese. Yet it’s important the first space-faring nation get back in the game and restart the human exploration of the Moon, and then Mars soon thereafter.
Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is partnering with Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp to pitch a lunar lander to NASA as the agency seeks to send humans to the moon again, the companies announced on Tuesday. The joint moon lander proposal, led by Blue Origin, marks the companies’ second attempt to win a coveted moon lander contract as NASA seeks more options for getting astronauts to the lunar surface under its multibillion dollar Artemis program.
Researchers from Western have shown that a fireball that originated at the edge of the Solar System was likely made of rock, not ice, challenging long-held beliefs about how the Solar System was formed. Just at the edge of our Solar System and halfway to the nearest stars is a collection of icy objects sailing through space, known as the Oort Cloud. Passing stars sometimes nudge these icy travellers towards the Sun, and we see them as comets with long tails. Scientists have yet to observe any objects in the Oort Cloud directly, but everything detected so far coming from its direction has been made of ice. Theoretically, the very basis of understanding our Solar System’s beginnings is built upon the foundation that only icy objects exist in these outer reaches and certainly, nothing made of rock.
The EnVision mission is ESA’s fifth medium-class mission to Venus. It’s being planned in a partnership between NASA and ESA, and NASA will be providing the synthetic aperture radar instrument, which will map the surface (much as Magellan did). In addition to the two radars, the orbiter will carry spectrometers to study the atmosphere and surface. They will monitor trace gases in the atmosphere and analyze surface composition. The idea is to look for surface changes that might be linked to signs of active volcanism. Along with the VERITAS and DAVINCI missions, EnVision should reveal all we need to know about volcanic activity on Venus.
Image (Credit): iSpace mission milestones for the upcoming lunar landing. (iSpace)
While the Orion spacecraft was heading back to Earth, the Japanese HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander was on its way to the Moon. The name HAKUTO refers to the white rabbit that lives on the moon in Japanese folklore.
The Japanese private firm iSpace is behind the lunar mission, becoming the first private company to place a lander on the Moon. The lunar lander’s milestones are shown below, with the landing to occur next April.
Both the mission and payload are multinational. Investors in iSpace include the Development Bank of Japan, Suzuki Motor, Japan Airlines, and Airbus Ventures, which the payload includes items from the U.S. (including a NASA satellite looking for water), Canada, Japan (rover), and the United Arab Emirates (rover).
This should be the first of many iSpace lunar missions, demonstrating the role of commercial parties in the ongoing race back to the Moon.
Image (Credit): Milestones for the AKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander. (iSpace)
Image (Credit): The return on the Orion capsule over the Pacific Ocean on December 11th. (NASA)
The Orion has landed, or splashed down to be more accurate. The Artemis I mission had a successful finish with the Orion capsule parachuting down into the Pacific at 12:40 p.m. EST today. At the time of this posting, the capsule was still afloat in the water while awaiting a review by engineers before being taken aboard the USS Portland.
Image (Credit): SpaceX’s Starship rocket to be used for travel to Mars. (SpaceX)
You have probably heard of the new artificial intelligence program ChatGPT, which can compose stories and articles. So what happens when you ask it to do a simple task? I asked the program to compose a poem to cover the following scenario:
Elon Musk has become frustrated with Twitter, so he takes a rocket to Mars to live there forever.
Here is what I received from ChatGSP:
Elon Musk, oh how he tried
To make Twitter work for him,
But in the end, he sighed
Fed up with all the noise
The constant need for attention
He made a bold decision
He’d leave this world behind
And start anew on Mars
Where he could truly shine
With his rocket at the ready
He blasted off to the stars
Leaving Earth and its troubles steady
On the Red Planet he would live
Where he could truly be himself
And all his dreams he could fulfill
No more anger, no more frustration
Just peace and solitude at last
On Mars, he found his new destination.
Not a bad start. Maybe ChatGPS needs to get in touch with the SpaceX engineers working at Twitter to determine whether this adventure can be arranged.
Extra: Here is another poem ChatGTP put together on a 2025 moon landing. It was not perfect. For example, I don’t think we will need to worry about “lunar mud.”
In 2025 we took a trip to the moon
To see what secrets it held in its dune
We strapped on our suits and climbed in our ship
And blasted off into the endless abyss
The stars shone bright as we soared through the sky
And the moon grew larger as we drew nigh
We landed on the surface with a thud
And took our first steps on the lunar mud
We explored the craters and the rocky terrain
And marveled at the view of Earth again
We planted a flag and collected some rocks
And gazed at the stars from a lunar box
We took lots of pictures and had lots of fun
But soon it was time to return to Earth, our home
We climbed back in our ship and took off with a roar
Leaving the moon to shine bright once more
But the memories of our trip will never fade
And the experience will forever be engraved
In our hearts and minds as a wondrous feat
A trip to the moon, a dream complete.
Our Awesome Universe 