Japan's SELENE Disproves Concept of 'Peak of Eternal Light' on the Moon March 5, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : Japan, Kaguya, Malapert, Peak of Eternal Light, Polar ice, Shackleton, solar power , 4comments
In what seems to be a little-noticed but highly important development for lunar base planning, Japan‘s SELENE (also known as Kaguya) lunar orbiter last month determined that the concept of a ‘Peak of Eternal Light‘ at either of the lunar poles does not exist.
The possibility of a Peak of Eternal Light at one of several locations, including the rim of Shackleton Crater or on Malapert (both at the South Pole), made those locations prime candidates for early lunar bases. Having eternal sunlight is, clearly, an advantage for any outpost relying largely on solar power :) .
Some of these points at the lunar poles do have as much as 89% illumination, though, so they remain very strong locations as far as near-constant solar power.
The pessimists of the universe, though, will rejoice in knowing that permanent shadow was confirmed to exist–leading to potential water ice.
The JAXA team’s findings were published in the U.S. journal of Geophysics last month.
New Google Lunar X PRIZE Team Announced: SYNERGY MOON Becomes #17 March 2, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Lunar-direct, private sector , 2comments
A new team for the pivotal Google Lunar X PRIZE has been announced!
SYNERGY MOON, an international effort, is now the 17th official team vying for the $30 million in prizes (including the $20 million Grand Prize).
The team is a collaboration of three companies: InterPlanetary Ventures, Interorbital Systems(IOS), and the Human Synergy Project.
(Edit: Language on the team page initially made it sound like they were attempting a lunar-direct mission, and I originally had a section here about that until I then noticed mention of a “lunar lander”–which would be incongruent with lunar-direct in the classic sense as the rocket would be the lander.)
(Edit 2, 3/23: As Interorbital CEO Randa Milliron has clarified today in a comment on this post, the method is in fact the outright lunar-direct method, differing from Apollo. Which is really cool :D See the full comment).
For more details on SYNERGY MOON, check out their official Google Lunar X PRIZE team page, as well as their own official website.
China's Chang'e-1 Lunar Orbiter Impacts Moon, Ending 2007 Mission March 1, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : Base Race, Chang'e, China , add a comment
Today at around 4:13pm Beijing time, China’s 2007-launched Chang’e-1 lunar orbiter ended its mission with a controlled impact on the lunar surface (meant as both a disposal and a test descent for future, lander missions).
The Chang’e-1, which produced notable imagery (including a complete map image of the lunar surface—click here for a humongous file of that from SpaceRef), is the first of three stages of the Chang’e program–the second phase is a rover that will land on the lunar surface and collect samples, with the third stage (~2017) being a lunar rover that will bring/launch the mineral samples back to Earth.
I’ve embedded below a video highlighting all three stages of the Chang’e program. The video has a lot of spectacular rendered imagery, some of the best space-related animation I’ve seen; check it out:
NASA Awards Constellation Spacesuit Contract March 1, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : NASA , 1 comment so far
NASA has announced that it has awarded the contract for development of the Constellation spacesuits to Oceaneering.
Primarily a firm for deepwater drilling operations, Oceaneering also serves defense and aerospace, including space systems.
At left is an early NASA rendering of the suit that American astronauts will wear the next time they step out onto the Moon.
For a great, really detailed look at space suit function and history, check out the article from HowStuffWorks on the subject.