Fly Me to the Moon
The Russia-India moon lander race, a new water-hunting NASA rover, and all the other ways the world is preparing for lunar life this week
Hello Celestial Citizens and Continuum readers,
If you are like me, you might have found that this is the summer of letting go and accepting the cosmically twisted world that we live in. When gut-wrenching tragedies, stark realities, and other once-in-a-generation moments stack up - sometimes the only relief can be an escape even if just for a few hours.
Go to a movie they said. It will be fun they said…
In an unintended, random string of events, I had the opportunity last week to see the following films:
Monday night: Barbie
Tuesday night: Oppenheimer
Wednesday night: A Million Miles Away
Looking back now, I see the error of my ways. But when I embarked on this 3-day cinematic voyage, I had no idea the emotional turmoil that would ensue. Yes, folks - I laughed, I cried, I had an existential crisis.
Sparing you all the full film review, here were my headlining responses to each film:
Barbie: Wow, society really is one big Mojo Dojo Casa House and we are just living in it. But also, my mom is a really cool human and I should probably tell her that more often. Love you Mom!
Oppenheimer: Everyone is deeply flawed, toxic egos set off the real chain reaction, and the world is ending.
A Million Miles Away: Bless this inspirational astronaut biopic about José Hernández for showing me the meaning of love and following your dreams. It broke the downward spiral I was on by mid-week. Comes out September 15th, and it’s the space movie we need right now.
And now, here is the space beat you came here for…
Top Headlines
Lun-ey Tunes – Lately, it seems NASA and most global agencies are singing to the tune of the moon, as plans of human lunar exploration ramp up. At an August 8th briefing at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA associate administrator Jim Free provided an update on Artemis, most notably regarding the first Artemis mission that will actually put humans on the surface of the moon, Artemis 3. While Free did not formally adjust the mission launch date currently set for December 2025, he provided a reminder that the Artemis schedule is not and cannot be set in stone. As much as any mission needs dates to work towards, the possibility of spacecraft development delays and lessons learned from Artemis 1 and 2 could realistically affect the launch date. Ultimately, human safety comes before deadlines. On this note of flexibility, the agency has also announced that Artemis 4, scheduled to launch in 2028, will be the first crew to utilize the Gateway, NASA’s moon-orbiting outpost. Though the Gateway should theoretically be headed for the final frontier before the launch of Artemis 3, the agency is likely trying to create some leeway so that a delay in either mission will not create a domino effect.
The Worth of Water – In other lunar news, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer seems to be bang on track after recently completing its vacuum testing. The Lockheed Martin spacecraft will study that sweet, sweet moon water – and no, not the mystic stuff. Other global agencies are similarly on the lunar water hunt, but the Trailblazer is set up to do so with a fine tooth comb– er, instrument? The JPL-built High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3) and the UK Space Agency’s Lunar Thermal Mapper (LVM) – both now incorporated into the craft – will not only look for the location, form and amount of water on the rocky body, but they will also study its thermal properties and surface composition. So yeah, we guess you could relate the Trailblazer to that friend who, when handed a glass of water, asks is this Fiji?
LunArchitecture – Complementary to NASA’s lunar efforts are those of DARPA, who announced a 10-year long study focused on “Lunar Architecture” this week. With so many entities working on lunar systems, the idea of LunA-10 is to develop an integrated system of services, like navigation, communications, and power. You may be wondering: why is DARPA investing in lunar systems when the nation’s dedicated space agency is all over it? Isn’t the air around defense spending already spicy enough? According to DARPA, lunar technologies such as the thermal management necessary for power sources could have national security applications outside of the moon. Certainly, these systems would not be used towards military activities such as weapons testing or deployment, as the 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits it.
The Lunar Rover Race - The U.S. is not the only country fixated on the moon. Russia’s first lunar probe in nearly half a century entered lunar orbit Wednesday after a successful launch last week from Vostochny Cosmodrome. The Luna-25 will attempt its landing as early as August 21st – two days prior to India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover. The Chandrayaan-3 ascent to space was more gradual than that of the Luna-25, launching back in mid-July and taking a few weeks to reach lunar orbit. So, we’ll have to see if slow-and-steady really does win the race, or if Russia’s rushing (sorry, had to) will earn them first dibs on the moon’s south pole region. Warding off some initial online speculation, Russia’s Luna 25 is adopting the “pics or didn’t happen” policy by sending its mother country photo evidence of its journey so far.
(Don’t Fear) The Reaper – On August 11th, the U.S. Space Force ceremoniously activated a unit called the 75th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron, or the ISRS. Represented by a patch embellished with the Grim Reaper – the nose of which is in the shape of the Space Force Delta – the unit is the first to focus on adversary satellites. In development for over four years, the newly unveiled unit declares an objective of locating, analyzing and potentially disarming satellites deemed hostile. The ISRS will also focus on “counterspace forces,” which essentially include any system that intentionally interferes with U.S. satellites during conflict, such as signal-jammers, blinding lasers, or hacking. So, apparently adversary countries should fear the reaper, no matter the amount of cowbell.
In Other NASA News – While the agency may seem zeroed in on the moon these days, NASA hasn’t forgotten its other children. For instance, NASA’s outpost in Canberra, Australia successfully reestablished two-way communications with their faraway Voyager 2 spacecraft on August 4th, meaning the 46-year-old outer planet explorer is back in the game. In another blast from the past, the STEREO-A – one half of NASA’s sun-observing Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory – passed by the Earth this past weekend after 17 years away. When they’re not looking in the past or to the moon, NASA’s looking at Mars. Excitement circulated after recent testing of the agency’s Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) – designed to return Mars samples to Earth – proved the vehicle is well on track to be the first rocket to launch from another planet. During testing, the MAV team used a vacuum chamber to simulate the cold temperatures of the red planet. After experiencing the hottest month on Earth since 1880, we bet a siesta in that vacuum chamber doesn’t sound too shabby to most Earth-dwellers. But at -4 degrees Fahrenheit, it may have to be a quick nap.
Tech to the Rescue – Our regulars will know that we had quite a bit to say about the Pew Research Center study that pinpointed women as the primary voice behind planetary defense and against deep space exploration, when in reality the statistics revealed 60% of women and actually 61% of men prioritized asteroid defense systems. Well, good news for all genders: a new software known as HelioLinc3D has entered the chat. The program recently found a potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid missed by the NASA-funded ATLAS, or Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, proving the program’s immense value in the development of asteroid defense methods. What an exciting update for the American people. PEOPLE. Not just women.
The JWST Download
The JWST sheds new light on the most distant star ever detected. At 28 billion light years away, Tolkien-inspired Earendel is more than twice as hot as our sun.
When not inspired by Tolkien, astronomers love to name space phenomena after themselves – or in the case of what’s now confirmed to be one of the earliest galaxies ever seen, their family.
A Global Space
Peru - According to a press release on August 10th, Peru recently hosted a military exercise with satellite image specialists from the United States, Peru, Columbia, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil and the United Kingdom. The exercise examined the value of commercial satellite data, determining that this data allows for more efficient information transfer between international partners. Without the red tape of “classified” data that comes along with military operations, the parties involved in the exercise were able to quickly locate a “dark” vessel off the coast of Peru – suspected of illegal fishing – using commercial technology.
Japan / South Korea / U.S. – A trilateral summit today at Camp David will give three countries a platform to discuss space cooperation, from a military and commercial perspective. It’s not hard to guess what these three will be hoping to achieve together from space. Summed up by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the “United States, Japan, and the ROK are strengthening our interoperability and exploring ways to better share information about missile threats from North Korea.”
ESA – The European Space Agency shows off the value of a space perspective with the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, which captured a fissure eruption near Reykjavik in Iceland. Astronomer Phil Plait writes more about the eruption and examines the possible imaging filters used by the satellite in his
from last week.Russia – While the nation may be building hype around its Luna-25 moon lander, it seems that no one – not even the BRICS countries – wants to play in Russia’s space station. As the station is still in development, Russia has incorporated potential international modules in its design, offering opportunities for scientific research to the BRICS nations, African countries and Belarus. However, at the Army 2023 forum held near Moscow – running from August 14th to August 20th – a Roscosmos director announced that the Russian Orbital Station has not locked in any partners “so far.”
China – This past weekend, China launched its Land Exploration-4 01, or Ludi Tance-4 01 satellite via a Long March 3B rocket, a weather-observing satellite destined for geosynchronous orbit. The satellite’s successful entry into orbit is momentous because this is the world’s first SAR geosynchronous satellite (that we know of). While the nation’s existing high-res, Earth-watching satellite system known as CHEOS provides China with a quality image, an SAR satellite in geosynchronous orbit offers constant coverage, even through cloud cover. These two technologies together thoroughly equip China for natural disaster prevention, which in this climate – figuratively and literally – is incredibly valuable.
Space Reads!
It turns out those tiki drinks you’re sipping on this summer aren’t the only things garnished with umbrellas. Here’s why one scientist thinks hitching an umbrella to an asteroid could save the world.
Ah, forever. A word typically associated with love, diamonds, best friends. But when that lofty descriptor is saddled next to a word like chemical, nobody is smiling – especially not the astronauts on the PFA-contaminated ISS.
Though Ridley Scott has made us believe that “in space, no one can hear you scream,” new research shows it is possible for sound waves to brave the vacuum. Good news for audiophiles, bad news for anyone trying to get away with space murder.
And that’s a wrap on this week in space news! Keep an eye out this coming Monday for MOONSHOT, our paid subscriber newsletter covering the commercial space sector. A big thank you to Tess Ryan for writing this edition with me and for keeping up with the cosmos! We hope you enjoyed reading Continuum this week and will share it with your friends. And if you really, really like us, then consider becoming a paid subscriber or gifting a subscription to the Allan in your life.
Keep it celestial people,
Britt
CEO of Celestial Citizen & Creator of Continuum
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