First Light from Moon Mineralogy Mapper

A wonderful taste of the 3M (Moon Minerology Mapper) instrument that will fly on the Lunar Reconnaisannce Orbiter next year has been leaked in the above from precisely the same package flying on-board Chandrayaan right now. As usual, we have Charles A. Wood to thank for bringing it to the Pioneer's attention, at the essential LPOD, where he, in turn, offers appropriate gratitude (and a better version of this image plus an explanation of the same, HERE.

Next moon footprints Chinese, aero group warns

China's First Taikonaut Yang Liwei

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The aerospace industry is urging the United States to rev up a 21st century space race that could otherwise see a Chinese astronaut beating America back to the moon -- last visited by U.S. Apollo explorers in 1972.

Becoming a laggard in space exploration simply because of economic woes would sacrifice technology opportunities and the ability to inspire future generations, said Marion Blakey, chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association.

China and India have made important strides in space in recent months, triggering talk of a new space race.

"It has been a long time since we've had anyone breathing down our necks. Now we do," Blakey told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington.

"The idea that the next boots on the moon are probably going to be Chinese is something that the public has not realized," said Blakey, who represents most of the companies that propelled 5 Apollo missions to the moon's surface some four decades ago.

Twelve U.S. astronauts have walked on the moon. The last human footprints were left by Eugene Cernan in 1972.

India launched its first unmanned moon mission in October.

That came on the heels of China's first space walk which grabbed international attention in September.

The 1960s space race that led to the successful Apollo moonshots was fueled by the Cold War.
The Aerospace Industries Association is campaigning for continued funding for defense and other aerospace sectors despite the economic slowdown, saying aerospace supports more than two million well-paid jobs in all 50 U.S. states.

But executives acknowledge the industry is bracing for a leaner period after several years of strong spending.

"I do not believe the American people will trade off the importance of exploring what clearly is the next frontier in the middle of short-term economic duress," Blakey said.

In January 2004, President George W. Bush announced a new plan for the United States to return to the moon as early as 2015 and no later than 2020, and use it as a stepping stone to deeper voyages into space including a future trip to Mars.

Europe last month agreed on a boost in space spending. But its $13 billion budget smaller that NASA of the United States at around $17.3 billion in 2008.

(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)

Aldrin to speak at Red Cross fund-raiser

Dr. Edwin M. Aldrin

Lauren Gregory, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Dec. 17: The Greater Chattanooga Area Chapter of the American Red Cross announced this morning that celebrated astronaut Buzz Aldrin will be the speaker at its 2009 Hometown Heroes luncheon March 4.

“We think it is appropriate that Dr. Aldrin, an authentic American hero, will headline this stellar event, which highlights the accomplishments of five of our very own local Hometown Heroes,” said Barbara Alexander, the chapter’s executive director.

Read more HERE.

X-Prize Mystery Team Revealed at Ames

MOUNTAIN VIEW, December 17 - Next Giant Leap, a small company that was fourth to qualifyto compete for the Google Lunar X-Prize publically announced its name and team members at NASA Ames Research Center. 

Next Giant Leap boasts "highly qualified members from the academic, aerospace and small business communities," and was, according to press reports, "founded on the concept that a small but focused team is the ideal vehicle to efficiently engineer the winning Google Lunar X Prize entry. 

Michael Joyce founded the team November 2007, which until until today was known only as "the "Mystery Team."

"Our first year was well spent, recruiting the best possible team members and building the strong working relationships required to reach our goals," said Joyce. "With the world class team we have assembled we are ready to take the next giant leap forward required to win the Google X Prize and establish ourselves as commercial lunar services company."

"We've reveled in the additional excitement that has centered around our 'Mystery Team' and are thrilled to have them finally reveal their true identities," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman / CEO of the X Prize Foundation. "We are delighted to have them go public as we believe they will be a strong contender with experienced participants, a strong academic partner and several innovative, small space companies."

The lead systems integrator for NGL is MicroSat Systems, Inc., known for its innovation in small spacecraft. On May 7, 2008, MicroSat Systems was awarded a contract to build 18 Orbcomm Inc. satellites with an option for 30 more. In charge of the difficult task of landing safely on the Moon is the Draper Laboratory. Draper has been involved in space guidance navigation and control since the earliest days of the space program supporting Apollo, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. The Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the leading engineering institution in the United States, is a key academic partner. The MIT team includes five time Shuttle astronaut Jeff Hoffman and Professor David Miller, head of MIT's Space Systems Laboratory and developer of the innovative SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites) payload on the International Space Station.

"When approached to join the Next Giant Leap team, we thought it was an outstanding opportunity for our students to be exposed to several agile, cutting-edge companies in the space business while working on a very challenging project," said MIT professor Jeff Hoffman. "We feel that this team has the right stuff to have a shot at capturing this very challenging prize."

Other innovative small companies that are partners on the team include Aurora Flight Sciences, a company that operates on the frontiers of flight with specialties in unmanned aerial vehicles and manned space hardware, and Busek Co. Inc., a company that specializes in advanced space propulsion, especially electrical propulsion systems.

"It's an exciting time to see companies in the private sector working to develop a vehicle that will land on the lunar surface," said NASA Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden. "These competitions bring new and innovative ideas that everyone in the space community can benefit from and that's a win-win for everybody."

Read more HERE.

ISRO to redesign Soyuz for India

Daily Tech is reporting the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has partnered with Roscosmos to redesign the Soyuz configuration for the purposes of developing their future manned space program.

India, on the heels of having successfully placed Chandrayaan 1 in Lunar Orbit, has been promoting it's long-held ambitions of placing astronauts in orbit and landing on the Moon.

Read the Daily Tech report HERE.

XCOR Test-Fires proposed Lynx Engine

MOJAVE - PRNewswire XCOR announced Monday it successfully completed a first test fire of the rocket engine that is planned for use as power the Lynx suborbital launch vehicle to the edge of space.

The new engine, designated the 5K18, produces between 2500-2900 lbf thrust burning a mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene. The engine was fired Monday at XCOR's test facility located at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. 

The first test of the engine was performed using pressure-fed propellants whereas the final version of the engine will be fed using XCOR's proprietary cryogenic piston pump for liquid oxygen and a similar piston pump for kerosene.

"Today's successful hot fire marks an important step forward in building the Lynx," said XCOR CEO Jeff Greason. "The 5K18 builds on our previous experience in designing and building reliable, durable and fully reusable rocket engines from 15 lbf thrust up to 7500 lbf, that will make it possible to provide affordable access to space."

Read more HERE.

Tough Decision Looms on Space Shuttle's Fate

A Rare Twin Shuttle Deployment, that ultimately became a juggling act when the Hubble Servicing Mission was indefinitely postponed, two months ago

Wall Street Journal Editorial, December 17: By ANDY PASZTOR

President-elect Barack Obama's NASA transition team faces a tough early choice between extending the life of the aging space shuttle and accelerating its replacement.

Bush Administration plans call for grounding the shuttle by 2010 for budget and safety reasons. But congressional and industry critics worry that the expected five-year gap before the shuttle's replacement is prepared to blast off would lead to a crippling loss of program expertise and sap political support for manned space flights.

Read the rest HERE.

NASA Solicits Altair Lander Feedback

NASA has formally requested comment from its vendors on the basic design of the proposed Altair lander, advertised as the first planetary lander for the Constellation program underdevelopment, the successor to the Space Shuttle program.

Because the actual concepts of testing very long duration manned spaceflight, transfers and manned landings on Mars, for example, have yet to be tested nor designed, Altair is really a lunar lander, and the successor to the Apollo Lunar Module.

Accorting to the Huntsville Times: "NASA released a draft request for proposals, or RFP, Tuesday to seek industry support for the design of its Altair lunar lander vehicle, part of NASA's Constellation Program. The space agency intends to use the Altair lander as a lander and a habitat, with astronauts living and working on the moon for several weeks."

Marshall Space Flight Center is part of the Altair lander development team and will develop the lander's descent rocket motor. Altair Conceptual Design Contract will define operational concepts, support requirements reviews, and refine design concepts for the Altair vehicle. A draft of the final version of the RFP, expected in late January.

A conference will gather in Houston, Thursday, to share information sharing about the Altair conceptual design contract. For a copy of the draft RFP, and for more information about the conference, visit: HERE.

THEMIS Spacecraft Fleet Detects "Giant Breach" in Geomagnetic Field

NASA Science News service is reporting this evening of a "Giant Breech" in the sunward side of Earth's wider magnetic field "ten times anything ever detected."

The data comes from analysis of telemetry from the five THEMIS satellites mapping Earth's natural protection against solar particle events like solar flares and the steady proton wind that oscillates to highest intensity at Solar Maximum.

This is not the so-called South Atlantic Anomaly where belts of energetic particles remain trapped in the Van Allen Belts, constantly recharged by the interaction between the solar wind, the geomagnetic dynamo and the solar-system-wide heliomagnetic field, the massive magnetic field of the Sun itself that twists itself to ribbons near the star itself but rushes, at Solar Max, to the Kuiper Belt and beyond, until the Inverse-Square Law, present strengths of the massive influence's fields lines encounter the mostly unknown vagaries, in turn, of the galaxy's magnetic field and the Heliopause, where the Pioneers and Voyagers of the 1970's and 1980's steadily make their way out and away from the Solar System itself.

One hundred times closer to our apparently solitary Main Sequence Yellow Dwarf (and somewhat variable Home Star (visible to the naked eye only some short 50 light years away) Earth's very dynamic and apparenly dynamo-driven planetary magnetic field is unique among the rocky planets of the Inner Solar System, driven directly by the rotation of Earth's molten iron core, incongruent with the rotation of the Earth at large.

Because the berycenter of the Earth-Moon system (the center of mass around which both Earth and Moon rotate) is situated well beneath Earth's thin outer crust but well away from the center of the Earth, and some propose the same tidal forces in Earth's oceans known to be caused by the Moon similary plays an inexorable part in maintaining the defferential angular momentum of Earth's core with crust, actually producing the force that drived the motion of these fluids and generatign geomagnetism, as well. Though this is unlikely.

Still others suggest the Moon plays some role in plate tectonics, in keeping the core from cooling, hardening and ending the atypical long-life of Earth's central dynamo, beyond the heat produced by the steady decay of radioactive elements. Upon this geomagnetic field depends all life on land.

Regardless of this fanciful, fundamentally conjecture, this newly discovered breech may have resulted by as much as a ten percent weakening of Earth magnetic field, most notably under the South Atlantic over the last 400 years.

Of course, Earth's magnetic field has "flipped" continuously reversing its polarity many thousands of times in the past four million years.

The Sun's overall Heliomagnetic field is characteristically weaked, at the moment, in coordination with a the present and mostly continued ebb in overall solar activity. (Also, as a result, the steady infall of Galactic Cosmic Rays, some the heaviest and highest known, has inversely increased from 40 to 50 percent from Solar Maximum, since the refraction of such dangerous energetic particals is as importand to the long-term survival of terrestrial life is accomplished by the Sun's vast magnetic field.)

Whether the barely understood, complex dynamics of what fuels Earth's vital geomagnetism is related also to weaker than normal solar activity and, most importantly, the health of the Earth's convection of Earth's deep mantle, this latest discovery is bound to cause some premature alarm, and the continuous anxious hope that this situation may begin to change before Solar Cycle 24 advances finallyback to Solar Maximum, once again, some years from now.

Be assured, however, that none of this has anything to do with beliefs in Anthrologenic Global Warming, unless an increase in the infall of Galactic Cosmic Rays is, as still others have suggested, and with a straight fact, thers suggest, directly related to the availability of aerosols and dust for surficial condensate to create an increase in low cloud cover. The result would be an increase in Earth's albedo and an drop in average Earth surface temperatures.

Maybe.

American Geophysical Union Kaguya Briefing

"You went on location and took pretty pictures of what
you saw. That's entertainment. Trouble is Government
thinks it will confuse people"
-Dave Ossman (The Firesign Theater)

Emily Lakdawalla reports from the Planetary Society Blog of an highlighted instrument by instrument status report of the Kaguya Lunar Orbiter.

The highlight of the presentation was presentation of an updated large scale lunar gravity map, a large scale (i.e., small size = "large scale") version of which was posted December 9, to the Japanese language version of the Kaguya Image Gallery. (The English side has apparently been disabled, for more than a month, for cryptic reasons related to "the accident." Reports of server problems at JAXA have reportedly been rectified.)

Most enthusiasts long ago downloaded laser altimeter topography maps, in small scale and in English. A shaded (very much more useful, but just as poorly labled) version is now available for those skilled at locating craters characterized by size of distinctive relief. Even the Japanese labled version is sparcely labled but far superior to the initial versions released in April.

Yesterday we reported on Friday's announcement from Kaguya's new project manager Susumi Sasaki from December 10 that the platform would be deorbited before the summer of 2009.

Prior to this plans call for Kaguya to be brought down to a highland skimming low orbit to continue adding to already considerable datasets from the project and explicitly to add highly anticipated information about the Moon's delicate crustal magnetic anomalies.

Meanwhile, perhaps to compensate for what can only be described as a failed online image gallery, JAXA has uploaded a few of the more famous 4:3 high-definition Kaguya videos to YouTube. Some of the 25 even feature English voice overs.

The Kaguya Image Gallery is a sore spot for those of us impatient for a minimum of regular and predictable updates. The promise offered by the Gallery has never been delivered upon, even in Japanese, and most of the 70 or so of the largest HDTV images have had to be literally hacked off non-public servers belonging to the NHK television. Updates have been lax, when compared to even "raw" images usually made available as soon as possible by NASA JPL Deep Space missions teams, like those collaborations devoted to Cassini and the MRO's.

Far from getting better, the situation has only gotten worse, leading some to wonder if the reason may be the target, our Moon. Forty years ago amateurs would wait sometimes six months for the first National Geographic renditions of the Apollo missions. Those same images can't compare to the High Resolution restoration from original slides to digital gradually making their way to online archives, many of whom seem spectacularly new, as though they were taken earlier today.

Charles A. Wood asked, in an aside on his invaluable (and entertaining) LPOD wrote today concerning the hard work of collating data from many new and historic missions by the US Geological Service, that he was uncertain ESA's SMART-1 even existed. The Chinese have only begun releasing very "small-scale" wall maps of the Moon's albedo, none of which is of much real use in its present form, except perhaps to China. Japan, meanwhile, has been stingy with its data and India started well, but seems to be setting a similar sporadic pattern of image relief.

If NASA tries this with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, I won't be the only one to raise more than just a "bit of an annoying fuss."

As NASA forgot in the early days, and still forgets too often today, that each of these missions is neglecting the sheer entertainment value that these projects present, too what is, by far, the greatest number of people who pay most of the bill.

Two New Teams Qualify for Google X-Prize

Part One of a Two-Part, Two-Day Announcement
Introduces Two Teams

MOUNTAIN VIEW -- Two new international teams in the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a $30 million competition by the X PRIZE Foundation to land a vehicle on the Moon, travel 500 meters, and transmit a "Mooncast" back to Earth, were announced today in a tele-press conference from Google Headquarters. The announcement was held as part of a Team Summit at Google Headquarters and NASA Ames. These recent additions bring the total number of teams to 16, from seven different countries.

Part two of this two-day announcement will reveal the identity of the "Mystery Team" which is scheduled for Wednesday, December 17 at 8:30 am, PST at NASA Ames. Also announced during the tele-conference was the groundbreaking of a new mission control center for Team Lunatrex, in the City of Anderson, South Carolina.

The two new teams are:

EUROLUNA: Based in Europe and led by Palle Haastrup, who is a founding member and current president of the European Lunar Exploration Association, Team Euroluna is comprised of six people who range from 16 - 60 years old and whose backgrounds span from chemical and mechanical engineering to software and business administration. Team Euroluna plans to utilize commercial, off-the-shelf technologies that will be downsized and implemented in the design of their craft, ROMIT. Designed to be lightweight and small, ROMIT will be powered by solar cells (with a total power of less than 20W) and will have six solar panels. Additionally, all control and command operations will be remotely controlled, with only limited computing power on the Moon.

SELENE: Headed by Markus Bindhammer, Team Selene (whose name represents the Greek goddess of the Moon) is based in China and consists of a Chinese and German group of mathematicians, physicists and designers along with aerospace and robotic engineers. Team Selene's concept of a rocket car as the lunar rover will be driven by a rocket engine and powered by solid fuel, liquid fuel or compressed gas. The ignition system of LuRoCA 1, the working title of the vehicle, will be activated by remote control or by a timer circuit. The cost-efficient craft will also be equipped with four HD cameras and will be characterized by the simplicity of its operation and insusceptibility to malfunctions.

"The Google Lunar X PRIZE is truly an international competition, and with the addition of Euroluna and Selene, our first teams headquartered in Denmark and China, respectively, the competition continues to grow throughout the world," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "I'm confident that their participation will inspire others to reach for the stars, and wish both teams the best of luck!"

The announcement was made during a two-day Google Lunar X PRIZE Team Summit, where teams were able to give "mock" sponsorship presentations to a group of Silicon Valley venture capitalists who provided guidance on their business plan pitches and gave advice on how to raise money more effectively. One of the objectives of the Team Summit was to help leverage the financial playing field for the Google Lunar X PRIZE and allow teams to raise the money they need for a successful trip to the Moon.

ABOUT THE GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE

The $30 million prize purse is segmented into a $20 million Grand Prize, a $5 million Second Prize and $5 million in bonus prizes. To win the Grand Prize, a team must successfully soft land a privately funded spacecraft on the Moon, rove on the lunar surface for a minimum of 500 meters, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to the Earth. The Grand Prize is $20 million until December 31st 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15 million until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation. For more information about the Google Lunar X PRIZE, please visit www.googlelunarxprize.org.

USGS Digital Lunar Orbiter Atlas Take Shape

When Charles A. Wood learns about it, the rest of us, who follow his daily LPOD postings, learn about it too. This morning, for December 16, 2008, Chuck took note of the new United States Digital Lunar Orbiter Atlas coming online from Flagstaff, giving credit where credit is due.

Having used the USGS Map-A-Planet server as a study aid to accompany Chuck's excellent book, The Modern Moon: A Personal View, this morning's post is timely. The reconstruction and restoration and, finally, the online digitization of legacy data from the Lunar Orbiter (1966-1968), along with the datasets from Clementine, have proven invaluable.

In Chuck's one-of-a-kind style, the veteran Lunar Scientist and observer also calls for a serious update of recognized lunar nomenclature.

"The fact that the non-crater Geminus E still exists as a name shows that lunar nomenclature needs a modern updating!" Chuck writes. "Perhaps, someday, the much better resolution and uniformity of coverage images from SMART-1 (did that mission really exist?), Kaguya, Chandrayaan-1, Chang'e-1 and LRO will be available to make the first atlas using 21st century data. In the meantime we should thank Jenny for her herculean efforts - she is the Mary Blagg of this century - and her maps are much better!"

Make LPOD a Daily Routine

Frank Borman to Address EAA

Apollo 8 commander to speak to
Experimental Aircraft Association
40th Anniversary of
First Manned Mission to the Moon.

OSHKOSH - Cmdr. Frank Borman will give the keynote address Wednesday at the Wright Brothers Memorial Banquet, sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Borman was commander of Apollo 8 in December 1968 when it became the first manned craft to orbit the moon. The 40th anniversary of that launch is Dec. 21.

Borman and Jim Lovell and William Anders spent six days in space and orbited the Moon 10 times, conducting research that ensure the success of Apollo 11 seven months later.

Coming as it did at the end of what many believe to have been the "incredible year," highlighted by the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy, the Apollo 8 crew read from Genesis, during a Christmas Eve broadcast from lunar orbit.

NASA Ames solicits bids for LADEE propulsion

NASA/ARC plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the following Commercial item/services: Spacecraft Propulsion System for the Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). NASA intends to utilize a phased acquisition approach using progressive competition down-selection procedures.

The project has determined that in order to make the most informed decision regarding the acquisition of the propulsion system, it would be beneficial to acquire a variety of preliminary design studies in order to insure the most advantageous approach is followed.

Interested vendors shall submit a brief summary (To include a description of the technical approach to the project, vendor capabilities and past performance on similar projects) to the point of contact identified below by December 29, 2008.

Read the Solicitation Request HERE.

Kaguya End of Mission Plan Detailed

In a statement from Susumu Sasaki, who took over as Project Manager of Japan's Kaguya lunar orbiter in October, a short extension and end of mission plan has been accounced. Kaguya, which has delivered to the ground outstanding High Definition Television images and billions of bytes of science data from its suite of instruments since 2007, is to be deorbited before next Summer.

Before this guided impact is performed, however, extended mission planners are planning to bring the orbiter, and its subsatellites, down into a much lower orbit in order to add to our state of knowledge of the Moon's crustal magnetic anomalies.

Sasaki's Statement was posted to the web Dec. 12, and can be read HERE.

40 Years After: Impact of Apollo 8 Remembered

By Bruce Lieberman

San Diego Union-Tribune
Like most astronauts in the 1960s, the Apollo 8 crew members were Cold War warriors. Their mission was to fly to the moon, scout landing sites and return safely to Earth.

But on Dec. 24, 1968, as Apollo 8 completed its third orbit around the moon, James Lovell Jr., Frank Borman and William Anders saw something that made the mission more than another battle to prevail over the Soviet Union.

They saw the Earth, emerging from the lunar horizon as their spacecraft flew 69 miles above a dead, monochromatic moonscape.

“The Earth was the only thing in the universe that had any color,” said Borman, now 80. “It was a long way away.”

The sight was one of the few uplifting moments in a year pummeled by war, assassinations and civil unrest.

The three men were nearly a quarter million miles from home – the farthest anyone had yet ventured. Their mission would clear the way for Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin to land on the moon seven months later.

Read the rest HERE.

Macau: New Lunar Lab for Chang'e Data

Anni La, Macau Daily Times

The Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) yesterday held a launching ceremony to unveil the laboratory which is set to study the data collected by the satellite Chang'e 1.

Jointly established by the National Astronomical Observatory and MUST, the lunar and planet exploring collaborative laboratory is going to fulfill three assignments in the coming two years.

Tong Chi Kin, president of Administrative Committee of the Science and Technology Fund, said that establishing such a laboratory in Macau will upgrade the overall science and technology development in the SAR.

He added that the establishment of the laboratory was shown as a remark to make contributions to the motherland and also help rearing the local scientific academics.

Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China's Lunar Exploration Program said that “we hope to develop a lab which is open, sustainable while having a close connection with the outcome of the lunar exploration, so that it can conduct a high quality research.”

He also went on to say that since the lab was being supported by the Science and Technology Fund, it actually had already laid a “very good” platform to set up the research here in Macau.

According to Tong, the Chang'e 1 's lunar exploration program has been running for over a year and hasn't had any big impediments.

“We also had obtained adequate amount of data and materials that the research needs,” told the chief scientist.

The laboratory will study and analyse data collected from the Chang'e 1 and also establish a close connection with other international laboratories to exchange experiences on the lunar and planet software technology.

Following the launching ceremony, MUST also held a seminar which discussed the “Chang'e lunar exploration data analysis, appliance and study.”

Commentary: Lunar Homesteading is the Way

From Lauren David, Moon Colony: io9.com

As the Asian space race heats up, nations are beginning to ask who owns Earth’s lone satellite. According to a prominent researcher on the subject, lunar property rights should be strictly first come, first served.

With Indian, Chinese, and Japanese spacecraft now orbiting the moon and the US and Japan planning to build lunar bases, it’s only a matter of time before disputes arise over who has a right to build on and mine the moon and where. The UN’s so-called Moon Treaty declares that the moon is part of mankind’s common heritage, and would ban ownership of any extraterrestrial party, but the treaty has never passed and has not been ratified by any nation with a space program.

According to Virgiliu Pop, that’s all for the best, since the UN has the wrong idea. Pop is a Romanian space lawyer who has written extensively on the topic of lunar property. His latest book Who Owns the Moon? Extraterrestrial Aspects of Land and Mineral Resources, Pop explores the possibility of creating a legal framework for property and natural resources law on the moon. At the heart of this exploration is the notion that energetic individuals, rather than international coalitions, will need to claim property in order to advance the cause of extraterrestrial colonization:

Read the Rest HERE.

Friday Full Moon largest since 1993

Image Moon courtesy CalSky, Apparent waning Moon as seen at ~2230 UT from eastern North Carolina, 12 December 2008.

True distance: 0.0023835 AU = 55.904 Earth radii = 356565.2 km
Light time:  0h 00m 01.19s 
Elongation from sun 174.91°, west (visible in the morning)

More competitors for Google Lunar X Prize

(Hat Tip to VoIP Forum)

X Prize Foundation will introduce two new teams and reveal the identities of the blogging "Mystery Team" next week.

More...

Lunar Landing Challenge of the Future

Hat Tip to Mike Fabio, Google X-Prize LAUNCH PAD

Very impressive video. Just like Rocket Racing League, I think we're entering a new era of sporting events.

NASA sets out Ares V development plan

By Rob Coppinger Flight International

NASA has detailed its plans to spend at least $68 million until 2013 on the development of the largest rocket ever, its proposed Ares V cargo launch vehicle (CaLV) that will send the USA back to the Moon by 2020.

Taller and more powerful than the Saturn V, with a gross lift-off mass of just over 3.7 million kg (8.17 million lb), the 116m (360ft)-high rocket is limited by NASA's Kennedy Space Center vehicle assembly building's height.

Unveiled as the cargo launch vehicle (CaLV) in 2005 and renamed Ares V in 2006, it will have two two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) for its first-stage and a core stage that uses six Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne 797,000lb (3,500kN)-thrust (108% in vacuum) RS-68B engines. Its upper, Earth Departure Stage (EDS) will use the PW&R 294,000lb (1,308kN)-thrust J-2X, derived from Saturn V’s second-stage J-2 and under development for the Ares I crew launch vehicle’s (CLV) upper stage.

Launched 90min after Ares I, the CaLV's mission is to put the 45,000kg Altair Lunar Lander into a 242km (150miles) orbit at a 29° inclination, using its EDS, which has a mass of 101,900kg after its ascent burn.

Read the Rest HERE.

Lunar Landing Concepts (FredNET)

Team FREDNET: Posts overview of some lunar landing concepts being worked on.

HERE.

36 Years Ago Today

Charles A. Wood, whose wonderful 2003 book The Modern Moon: A Personal View I'm finally getting to read, is the Grand Archivist of Record of all things Lunar at Lunar Picture of the Day (LPOD). It's my first stop, every Siderial Day.

Moments ago, I was mentioning Dr. Harrison Schmitt in a private posting, mostly explaining why a paper due January 10 has distracted me from normal human behaviors, big time, since the first of this month.

And Lo, Chuck had not forgotten that "34 years ago today," December 11, 1972, the last manned mission to Earth's Moon landed in Taurus-Littrow Valley. Dr. Schmitt, the only actual scientist to visit the Moon, was Lunar Module pilot, commanded by Captain Gene Cernan. Like all twelve Americans who have been to the Moon, the brief experience continues to this day. Cernan tours and talks to classrooms, inspiring young people who must, eventually, follow. Dr. Schmitt just resigned as head of NASA's Science Directorate, and blasted, appropriately I think, The Planetary Society for forgetting how essential Lunar experience must be before we can overcome the very real hurdles of read deeps space missions.

"The last humans landed on the Moon a generation ago," Chuck writes. "That was before 3.4 billion of the world's present 6.7 billion people were born."

Check the Essential Historic Context HERE.

Apollo Veterans tour Altair Mock-Up

Dr. Neil Armstrong (Left - Apollo 11 cmdr.), Dr. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt (Center Right - Apollo 17 LM cmdr.) & Captain Gene Cernan (Right - Apollo 17 cmdr.) tour Constellation Altair Lunar Lander mock-up. Rarely do we notice history until it becomes history. That's Wayne Ottinger between Dr. Armstrong and Dr. Schmitt, who worked with all three in engineering the Apollo Lunar Module.
BIG HAT TIP to ROB COPPINGER @ Hyperbola (Flight International)

Search is on for Earth Rocks on Moon

Jill Rowbotham
The Australian

ABOUT four billion years ago, during a time called the late heavy bombardment, Earth, Mars and the moon were flinging rocks into space at a tremendous rate.

Now astrobiologists are keen to track down terrestrial meteorites that may have survived on the moon, in the hope of finding within them biomarkers to reveal information about the origins of life on Earth.

Recent research by University of NSW astronomer and associate professor Jeremy Bailey, Ian Crawford of London's Birbeck College and others has cleared up a crucial question. Some of the rocks may well have survived the journey and the crash landing.

If found, they may yield information that cannot be gleaned from the rocks on Earth. "The problem with the study of life on Earth is that the further back you go in time, the harder it is to find rocks, because Earth is continually recycling its crust through the process of plate tectonics," Bailey explains.

That makes most of Earth's crust too young for his purposes because the oldest rocks suitable for study are about 3.5billion years old. Given the Earth is estimated to be about 4.5 billion years old, there is a billion-year gap. And it is the crucial billion years, the period that holds the secrets of the origins of life.

Hence the importance of the late heavy bombardment, from 3.8 billion to 4.5 billion years ago, which is when most of the craters on the moon are believed to have been formed.

"While the moon has no atmosphere to slow them down, gravity is much weaker so (meteorites) don't hit so hard," Bailey says.

The team's computer modelling revealed how an object would deform at the moment of impact on the surface and whether it would survive or melt.

"In some cases, depending on velocity and angle of impact, they can survive. Now we want to try more, different kinds of rocks and see which ones survive best."

Ultimately it may be possible to conduct searches on the moon via the NASA space program, but more immediate hope is offered by the recent missions mounted by Japan, China and India. "They are talking about moon landing as well as orbiting it."

Still, locating terrestrial meteorites is no easy task. "Even if this stuff is sitting on the moon, it will be like finding a needle in a haystack."

Don't drink and drive on your lunar mission

Hat Tip to Ad Freak.

RCS Thruster fueled In Situ and Safe

The Engineer

At an anonymous looking facility in Redondo Beach, California, engineers are applying the finishing touches to a rocket engine that could be at the heart of NASA plans to take us back to the Moon, and ultimately Mars.

Developed by Northrop Grumman, the company behind the lunar module descent engine used for the Apollo landings, the so-called TR408 is a reaction control engine (RCS) designed to provide the subtle bursts of power required for delicate manoeuvres such as docking.

Engineered specifically for the ascent phase of a lunar lander, the engine runs on cryogenic liquid oxygen and methane which, the company claims, could be manufactured from materials in the lunar or Martian soil and atmosphere.

Outlining the design challenges, Gordon Dressler, chief engineer at Northrop's Propulsion and Fluid Products Centre, said for lengthy missions it is particularly important that the propellants are non-toxic, as the alternative air supply for astronauts is limited, and that they will not spontaneously ignite. It is also critical that exhaust gases do not contaminate the soil or atmosphere.

Fortunately, said Dressler, there is plenty of scope for innovation. 'Where I work we pride ourselves on being able to rapidly develop cutting-edge — some would call it bleeding-edge — technology to take on the challenges of advancing spacecraft propulsion,' he said.

Read more HERE.

Astrobotic to License Access to Lunar Data Library

by David Gump

Astrobotic will execute robotic lunar missions to collect exclusive data needed by space agencies and aerospace firms planning Moon expeditions. Accurate lunar surface data are key to cutting costs, accelerating schedules and enhancing safety.

Planners need a wide variety of information collected on the surface to enhance and confirm the less-detailed orbital observations of today’s lunar satellites. Astrobotic intends to collect these data sets starting in 2010 through a series of robotic missions to those areas on the Moon of high interest. Astrobotic’s missions will be self-financed, so customers pay for data only after it has been successfully collected. This contrasts with the current system of governments funding entire missions and bearing all risks of mission or sensor failure.

Astrobotic will create a “Digital Moon” by developing an integrated lunar library of company-collected data combined with information from open sources. Data types will range from radiation and soil characteristics to the performance of various components and materials in the lunar environment. Data products will range from raw collections to highly processed information solutions that meet our customers’ needs.

Read more HERE.

Moon geology could solve three mysteries of early Earth

By Lisa Zyga - PHYSORG Not much is known about the Earth before 4 billion years ago, the earliest period in the planet’s 4.5-billion-year history. Because Earth has lost almost all geological records of this era from its surface, it’s often considered our planet’s dark ages

This lack of data on the early Earth is not merely trivial. Without knowing the conditions of early Earth, researchers haven’t been able to answer some fundamental questions of earth science: when the Earth’s magnetic field originated, how the Earth’s relationship with the moon changes over time, and when oxygen first appeared in the atmosphere (and, incidentally, when life originated on Earth).

Recently, a team of researchers consisting of Minoru Ozima and Yayoi N. Miura from the University of Tokyo; Qing-Zhu Yin from the University of California, Davis; and Frank Podosek from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, have proposed a series of experiments that could answer these three mysteries, independent of other observations that sometimes give conflicting results. They hope that their proposal might serve as a useful guide for future investigation.

“I speculate that heavy bombardment by meteorite showers at around 4 billion years ago – which is well-recorded on the lunar surface as numerous craters and is known as lunar cataclysm – may also have almost totally erased surface records on the Earth [before 4 billion years ago],” Ozima told PhysOrg.com.

To make up for the lack of early geological evidence on Earth, Ozima and his coauthors suggest that examining the lunar soil for light elements such as helium, nitrogen, oxygen, neon, and argon could shed light on these questions. Previous research has shown that light elements from Earth‘s early atmosphere could be transported into space by the Solar wind and Earth’s wind, and some of these elements should reach the Moon’s near surface. However, such element transportation would be favorable only under certain conditions: namely, if the Earth did not have a permanent geomagnetic field, and if the distance between the Earth and Moon was much shorter than the present distance.

These requirements could be met by the Earth in its very early days. Scientists know that the Earth’s geomagnetic field is caused by the motion of the planet’s liquid iron core (which formed with the Earth around 4.5 billion years ago). However, the sustained geomagnetic field might also require the crystallization of a solid inner core, possibly placing the field’s origins as recently as 3.5 billion years ago, when geologists have evidence of its existence. Other studies have shown that, due to the slow loss of tidal energy, the Moon is drifting further and further from the Earth. Today, scientists estimate that the Moon is twice as far away as it was 4 billion years ago.

Therefore, carefully analyzing the amount and content of light terrestrial elements on the Moon could impose a constraint on the onset time of the Earth’s geomagnetic field. An analysis could reveal information regarding the variation of the Earth-Moon system, such as confirming the increasing day length (estimated at 0.002 seconds per day per century) in order to conserve angular momentum as the Moon drifts farther out. Since the far side of the moon has always faced away from us shortly after the moon’s formation, the research team predicts that almost no terrestrial elements should be observed in lunar soils on the far side.

Ionized oxygen could also escape from the Earth even with the Earth’s geomagnetic field, although the amount would differ. The researchers explained that if oxygen originating from Earth’s atmosphere were identified in the top 50 nanometers of suitable mineral grains collected on the Moon’s surface, augmented by the age of the mineral grains determined by radiometric dating techniques, it could provide unambiguous proof for the rise of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere in an early period. Because oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere is generally attributed to photosynthesis, the first appearance of oxygen is often regarded as synonymous with the origin of life on Earth. On this issue, sulfur isotopic records have shown conflicting results, ranging from 2.5 billion years ago to much earlier for oxygen’s appearance.

Although such experiments would require extremely precise isotopic measurements of tiny concentrations in lunar soils, the researchers said that such investigations are feasible today with minor technical improvements. Ozima said that the most challenging part of carrying out the proposed experiments is organizing a large-scale international laboratory.

“Firstly, we need to collect hundreds of thousands of lunar ilmenite grains from lunar soils, not only from the near side, but also from the far side,” he said. “And then we need tens of thousands of isotopic analyses of high precision of lunar ilmenite grains. Even a well-equipped and stuffed contemporary laboratory would be capable of a few hundred analyses at most.”

The proposed experiments show that, despite the great distance between the Earth and the Moon, our natural satellite could tell us more about our planet than we can find here. As Ozima added, answering these questions on the Earth’s earliest days could help scientists understand the origin of the solar system – “the most fundamental issue not only in Earth and Planetary Science, but also in the intellectual challenge of human beings,” he said.

More information: Ozima, Minoru; Yin, Qing-Zhu; Podosek, Frank A.; and Miura, Yayoi N. “Toward understanding early Earth evolution: Prescription for approach from terrestrial noble gas and light element records in lunar soils.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 18, 2008, vol. 105, no. 46, 17654-17658. Copyright 2008 PhysOrg.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of PhysOrg.com.

Korean launcher delayed by ITAR, etc.

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter, The Korea Times

Korea’s ambitious plan to put a satellite into the lunar orbit by 2020 could be troubled by difficulties in rocket development.

The country wants to launch a satellite into orbit from its brand new spaceport in Goheung, South Jeolla Province next summer.

But even if the launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) is a success, the Naro Space Center won’t be used again until 2017, when Korea plans to have its KSLV-2 locked and loaded.

The development of the KSLV-2 is the ultimate challenge for Korea as the government intends to localize the rocket.

Scientists and engineers at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) developed the upper part of the KSLV-1 that is designed to hold a satellite, but Russia’s Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center is providing the lower assembly of the rocket that contains the liquid-fuel propulsion system.

Countries such as the United States and Russia strictly prohibit the export of rocket propulsion technologies, due to the potential in military use, which means that the Koreans will have to figure out the hard parts themselves.

However, it seems that local scientists and policymakers have yet to agree on what the KSLV-2 should look like.

A Seoul official told The Korea Times that the government plans to spend around 22 billion won (about $15 million) next year to initiate the development of the KSLV-2, although the direction and pace of the project will be greatly effected by the results of the KSLV-1 launch.

``Most of the money will be used to create a blueprint for KSLV-2’s rocket system, which includes establishing its overall capabilities, mission and requirements for components,’’ said the official.

``Developing the liquid-fuel rocket engine will obviously be the biggest challenge, as it is the most crucial step of the project in which we won’t be getting any help. However, there is the possibility that we could partner with companies in other countries for the development of other parts,’’ he said.

There is a wide-ranging debate over how the KSLV-2, designed to support a payload of 1.5 tons, should be used. Some experts say it could be effectively used to launch multi-purpose low-orbit satellites, but the government seems to have bigger plans in mind, such as using the rocket for lunar exploration projects.

``If we have a successful launch in June, the development project for KSLV-2 could be started as early as July or August, and then we could have a clearly discussions about the purpose of the new rocket,’’ the official said.

Read more HERE.

Goodyear and NASA Successfully Recreate Original Moon Tire

Gene Cernan & Harrison Schmitt rigged up a laminated map with duct tape
and saved themselves from the heavy dusing of Lunar Rover
Rooster Tails after a fender failure during Apollo 17

Goodyear and the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) recently completed a jointly-funded project for the development and production of twelve replicates of the original wire-mesh moon tire used on the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle in the early 1970s. This was the first step toward understanding this unique non-pneumatic tire technology, and its applications on both the moon and Earth.

Read More HERE.

Koreans build unmanned lunar lander

3 Pub Alley Moments, a UK blogger, is, at first glance, an apparently unlikely source pointing to the English version of Korea's Digital Chosunilbo story on an independent and successful effort to construct a prototype unmanned lunar lander.

Kwon Se-jin, a professor of aerospace engineering at KAIST, on Thursday said the team, in collaboration with Space Solution, have developed and tested a module that can travel to the moon from the earth's orbit and land on the moon's surface with its own engine propulsion.

The lunar module can be carried on a rocket into the earth's orbit and propel itself on into lunar orbit from there with its own engine several times. It measures 40 cm by 40 cm and consists of a propulsion engine and a control system. It can land on the moon's surface using its four legs. The engine also reduces the speed for the moon landing.

The concept puts the cost of a lunar lander mission using the basic design way below that of 1998's Lunar Prospector orbiter. The data gathered by that mission may have doubled our knowledge of the Moon, and it's data is still being stretched for more discoveries.

Not much for payload, even below the International Lunar Network's proposed 40 kilogram ceiling, but it may be an outstanding achievement anyway. It shows how technology has advanced in the four decades since Surveyor (1966-1968), especially in miniaturization and in the milling of materials, like valves and tanks. Smarter, lighters, stronger. Most of the cost appears to be locked into booster, TLI and cruise.

Competitors for the Google Lunar X-Prize take note!