Space Quote: Venezuela Aims for the Moon

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Image (Credit): Artist’s concept of a Chinese Moon base. (South China Morning Post)

“…scientific, technological, industrial and aerospace cooperation will sooner rather than later (send) the first Venezuelan man and woman to the moon in a Chinese spacecraft.”

–Statement by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in reference to an agreement with China that would train Venezuelan astronauts in China in preparation for a future Moon mission. China has previously stated its plans to land humans on the lunar surface by 2030 and establish a Moon base in the 2030s. Other countries have already signed agreements with China related to the lunar base, including Russia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates.

Another Crew Heads for the ISS

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Image (Credit): The Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft blasts off to the ISS from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on September 15, 2023. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Earlier today, US astronaut astronaut Loral O’Hara as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub departed from Kazakhstan on a Soyuz rocket that will take them to the International Space Station (ISS). The space station will be crowded again until the three relieved crew members, including US astronaut Frank Rubio, can return to Earth.

You can watch today’s launch at this NASA site on YouTube. You can also follow the mission via NASA’s blog.

The Moon Has One More Crater

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Image (Credit): Contrast between two views of the lunar surface from June 27, 2020, and Aug. 24, 2023, which is before and after the crash of Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft. (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University)

If President Putin wanted to leave a mark, he has done so on the Moon. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has apparently located the spot where the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed, as shown in the before and after shot above.

Given that craters can last for billions of years on the Moon’s surface, we can rest assured that the Russians have made an indelible mark on a distant land.

Russia, let’s call it a win and recall those troops from Ukraine.

By the way, maybe we should call the new crater Putin’s Sunset.

Space Quote: The Changing Competition in Space and Elsewhere

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Image (Credit): 3D view of a crater on the Moon generated from images captured by Chandrayaan 2 orbiter’s Terrain Mapping Camera in 2019. (ISRO)

“…a comparison with India is illuminating: India’s economy was about half the size of Russia’s when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Today, India’s economy is 50 percent bigger than Russia’s. Forget about keeping pace with the United States: Russia can’t keep up with India.”

-Editorial in The Washington Post by David Von Drehle titled “India’s Brilliant Moon Landing Illuminates Russia’s Drastic Decline.” India’s steady progress on space missions, including Chandrayaan 2 back in 2019 (shown above), has occurred during Russia’s slow decline and current situation. This cannot be lost on Russia as its cosmonaut traveled to the International Space Station this weekend aboard an American rocket. Around the world, space programs are moving on without Russia, which was the leading nation at the start of the Space Age.

A New Crew Departs for the ISS

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Image (Credit): ISS crew preparing for August 26, 2023 launch. (Terry Renna/AP Photo)

A new crew departed Earth for the International Space Station (ISS) at 3:27am ET today from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The crew includes:

  • NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli,
  • ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen,
  • JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and
  • Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.

The new crew should be onboard the ISS tomorrow morning, bringing the number of occupants at the station to 11 until 4 crew members return to Earth in a few days.

Russia is probably happy to have attention back on the ISS rather than the Moon for the moment. It has not been a good week for the Russian space program.

You can read more about the new crew members at this NASA site.